Henry Stuart

It was the first action of a long and glorious series, and the news of it came most timely to add its inch to the lengthening stride of the epic.

For the Netherlands were sullenly turning upon their Spanish governor, the English Catholics were staring dumbfounded at the blackened relics of Darnley's murder, and Elizabeth felt she could for the present snap her fingers at the Spanish ambassador and indulge in a little more buccaneering.

It was her favorite investment.

For her the risk was small and the hopes of profit too rosy to be resisted.

Neither man carried a burn, a bruise, or any mark of the explosion, and near the bodies sat a chair, a length of rope, a dagger, and a furred cloak.

Somebody had brought enough gunpowder to level a building, and somehow, that isn't what ended Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley.

Darnley was born at Temple Newsome in Yorkshire, most likely in 1546, to Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox, and Lady Margaret Douglas.

That parentage made him dangerous from the cradle, and through his grandmother Margaret Tudor, he carried a legitimate claim to the English throne, and through his father he held a claim to the Scottish one.

In an age when royal blood was the most valuable and hazardous substance a person could possess, Darnley had it from both sides, and he grew up polished for royal greatness.

He stood over six feet at a time when that was remarkable, and he could dance, ride, hunt, and play the lute.

His mother had spent years maneuvering to put him near a throne, When Elizabeth permitted him to travel north to Scotland in early 1565, plenty of observers suspected the English Queen was making a mistake she'd regret.

They married at Holyrood on July 29, 1565, by Catholic rite, and Mary proclaimed him King Henry.

Her title was Lady Lennox.

She had a son, named Henry Stuart, whose title was Lord Darnley.

It was a question whether Mary or Margaret were best entitled to consider herself the heir to the British crown after Elizabeth.

Mary, therefore, had two obstacles in the way of the accomplishment of her wishes to be Queen of England.

One was the claim of Elizabeth, who was already in possession of the throne, and the other the claims of Lady Lennox, and, after her, of her son Darnley.

there was a plan of disposing of this last difficulty in a very simple manner it was to have mary marry lord darnley and thus unite these two claims this plan had been proposed but there had been no decision in respect to it there was one objection that darnley being mary's cousin the marriage was forbidden by the laws of the catholic church there was no way of obviating this difficulty but by applying to the pope to grant them a special dispensation in the meantime a great many other plans were formed for mary's marriage several of the princes and potentates of europe applied for her hand They were allured somewhat, no doubt, by her youth and beauty, and, still more, very probably by the desire to annex her kingdom to their dominions.

Mary, wishing to please Elizabeth, communicated often with her, to ask her advice and counsel in regard to her marriage.

Afterward she asked Melville what he thought of him.

You have thought of someone? She is seen much with the Earl of Bothwell.

I have thought of Darnley.

But after herself, Lord Darnley is in fact heir to the English throne.

The better,

the better.

Whatever I may be, it shall be said only that I am the Queen of England and that I rule well.

With expert prompting from Elizabethan England, the court of Scotland first becomes involved in a morass of lies, deceits, and petty intrigue.

Lord Darnley, rapid of countenance, vain in bearing, has already begun to press his favor with Mary, Queen of Scots.

[footsteps plodding] Milady, I have terrible news for you.

Your husband, the earl, was killed in the explosion that destroyed Lord Darnley.

[dramatic music]

[footsteps plodding] Milady, the Guy Fawkes plan to blow up the House of Parliament has failed.

[footsteps clanking] Milady, I have terrible news for you.

Your husband, the earl, was killed in the explosion that destroyed Lord Darnley.

[dramatic music]

[footsteps clanking] Milady, the Guy Fawkes plan to blow up the House of Parliament has failed.

Milady, I have terrible news for you.

Your husband, the Earl, was killed in the explosion that destroyed Lord Darnley.

Milady,

The Guy Fawkes plan to blow up the House of Parliament has failed.