Mary Stuart-had many things in common with Mary Tudor, a.k.a Mary I. And so, as the only surviving legitimate heir, Mary became queen immediately, making Mary, Queen of Scots the youngest-ever British monarch. Mary's father had numerous illegitimate children, but his two legitimate infant sons (one was 11 months, the other only a week old) by second wife Mary of Guise had both died the prior year within a day of each other. She was born on December 8-just six days prior. Mysterious as the king's death was, Mary's birth had fortuitous timing. 'He seems simply to have lost the will to live.' But on December 14, 1542, at age 30, he died 'of no discernable cause,' according to Allan Massie's book The Royal Stuarts. Mary's father, James V of Scotland, had become king at just 17 months old when his father was killed in battle.

Mary became Queen of Scotland when she was 6 days old. Her story has been told a number of ways, from Vanessa Redgrave's Oscar-nominated portrayal in the 1971 film, to the CW series Reign, to the 2018 movie starring Saoirse Ronan in the title role-but here are 11 facts about Mary that you might not know. But though Mary was forced to abdicate her Scottish throne to her infant son after a rash of uprisings and conspiracies and live out the rest of her life as an imprisoned guest in England, her desire to rule both Scotland and England did eventually come to pass when her son inherited both thrones. Mary, Queen of Scots has long been written about and portrayed as the beautiful, tragic cousin queen of Elizabeth I-the one whose disastrous marriage choices left her without a country while Elizabeth's fiercely guarded independence gave her complete control but no heir.

Mary queen of scots margaret george