Random Tragic Facts About Mary, Queen of Scots, Most Unlucky Queen In History (14 items)

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  (#11) After Abdicating In Favor Of Her Young Son, Mary Never Got To See Him Again

  24-year-old Mary officially abdicated the throne on July 24, 1567. Her young son was crowned King James VI of Scotland, and a retinue of regents would rule the kingdom until he came of age. Though Mary would live for another 20 years, she would never get to see her son again. James would be raised a Protestant, without ever truly knowing his mother and hearing from his own tutor that Scotland was correct in getting rid of her. 
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  (#3) She Was Queen Of France Until Her First Husband Died Of An Ear Condition

  Mary's first husband was the young dauphin, or heir, to the French throne, Francis II. So when her father-in-law King Henry II died in a tragic jousting accident in 1559, young Francis took the throne with Mary as his queen. The reign was brief; Francis would die only 17 months later of an ear condition. Without her husband, the French court lost the charms and delights it had once held for Mary. Catherine de Medici became regent, ruling in the stead of her 10-year-old son Charles. As a result, Mary soon returned to Scotland to take up her royal duties. 
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  (#12) She Saw Herself As A Catholic Martyr

  When Mary returned to Scotland after living at the French court for the better part of 13 years, the religious landscape of the country had changed. Mary was a Catholic queen in an increasingly Protestant country. A firebrand Protestant reformer by the name of John Knox spoke vehemently against the Catholic Mary – as well as female rulers in general. Mary wasn't just a political and cultural outsider in her country; she was also a religious outsider. As evidenced by the very last letter she wrote only hours before her death, it seems as though Mary saw herself as a Catholic martyr. 
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  (#1) She Became Queen Of Scotland At The Tender Age Of Six Days Old

  Mary was born at Linlithgow Palace outside of Edinburgh on December 7 or 8, 1542 – she succeeded her father to the throne six days later. James V had unfortunately died from disease some believe he may have contracted from drinking contaminated water. So the infant Queen relied on regents – including her formidable French mother Marie of Guise – to rule on her behalf. She would not take full command of her throne until she was 19 years old.
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  (#13) She Carried Her Little Dog With Her To Her Very Public Execution

  After her trial for high treason – though, as Mary herself pointed out, she was not an English subject and therefore could not be tried for treason – in the wake of the Babington Plot, Mary was swiftly sentenced to death. On February 8, 1587, she mounted a scaffold that had been constructed at Fotheringay Castle and lowered her head for the executioner with dignity. 500 spectators watched in horror as the executioner swung a few times before finally decapitating her. It must have been an excruciating death.

  According to at least one eyewitness, her little dog had been hidden in the voluminous folds of her dress and was discovered covered in its mistress's blood and in a state of great agitation. He wouldn't leave her body. At the end of her life, it seems that Mary still had at least one loyal friend.
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  (#14) Her Son Inherited The English Throne

  Though Mary would be executed because Elizabeth feared she would usurp her throne, it was Mary's line that persevered. The unmarried, childless Elizabeth named Mary's only son James as her heir. So when good Queen Bess died on March 24, 1603, James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. Thus, Mary's son (James I), grandson (Charles I), great-grandsons (Charles II and James II), and great-great-granddaughters (Mary II and Anne) all ruled the English and Scottish thrones. The Stuart dynasty would survive as the royal house of England and Scotland until 1714, when Germanic cousins – more of Mary's descendants – took over and ruled as the House of Hanover. Mary's blood, not Elizabeth's, runs through the veins of the current royal family. 

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