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after the baby's birth. But he soon began plotting against his wife again to seize power for himself. Rumor had it that his philandering had earned him the pox and he was likely increasingly deranged. He planned to have her killed by blowing up one of his houses with a basement full of gunpowder.

Perhaps with the help of her lover, James Earl of Bothwell, the nobles conspired to beat Darnley at his game and the house was blown up with him inside. He may have survived the explosion and been strangled. Because suspicions turned quickly to the two of them, Mary and Bothwell got fairly desperate. In a drama that may or may not have been staged, Bothwell captured Mary and raped her. She then agreed to Marry him.

Battles raged back and forth between the sides loyal to Mary and those behind her brother, Earl of Moray, but ultimately Bothwell was exiled to Denmark where he would die insane in prison, and she fled to England. Why she did this has been subject of some debate. With hindsight it was a pretty bad move, but Elizabeth, the original PR expert, had shown her outwardly only kindness. Ostensibly she had mary lodged in England for protection. But increasingly her captivity was more harsh and restrictive.

They say history is written by the winners. Elizabeth eventually won the struggle for a long and prosperous reign, so her story of events tends to be the official version. She said at the time that she was only interested in having Mary clear her name of Darnley's murder. And during the twenty years proceedings evidence was produced to accuse her of worse. In what is known as the Babington Plot, Mary stood accused of an assassination attempt on the life of Elizabeth.

The historical jury is still out on whether Mary was complicit in the attempted assassination. Clearly she would have plotted to save her life and freedom. But the only 'iron-clad' evidence of her involvement was contained in the post script of a letter to one of her conspirators. Interestingly, Elizabeth was not new to this concept. She had once while she was just a teenager sent her sister Mary a letter with diagonal lines drawn across the empty space to avoid just such an attempt to frame her. Likely the author of the first letter was the originator of the idea to frame Mary, though she publicly protested.

Ultimately in what was likely a show trial Mary was convicted, though none who judged her was her equal and she was not Elizabeth's subject, therefore not responsible to protect her life. She was executed at Fotheringay Castle in one of history's most famously botched beheaddings. But history would work to redeem Mary's memory. Elizabeth had no children and therefore James I, Mary's son, ascended the throne at her death. Every British monarch from that day has ruled because he had the royal blood of Mary Stuart, one of history's most loved yet ill-fated queens.

Learn more about this author, Carol H. Morgan.
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