The new Mary Queen of Scots film features Oscar Nominee Saoirse Ronan performs the role of the ambitious Mary, whose attempts to reclaim the throne of Scotland incurs the wrath of the maniacal virgin queen, Elizabeth I, played by Margot Robbie.
Linlithgow Palace
Linlithgow Palace is where Mary was born in 1542.
Next to the Palace is the medieval St Michael’s Parish Church where Mary was baptised. A new bronze statue of Mary has been erected next to the church.
Linlithgow Palace featured as Wentworth Prison in Outlander.
This royal pleasure palace and birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots
Stirling Castle is where Mary was brought to be crowned as an infant.
This was her home until she was 5 years old. The castle features the royal palace, rose gardens and Royal Apartments. In the castle Mary saw the baptism of her son, James VI. Sadly this is also the place where she sees him for the last time.
Loch Leven
Loch Leven recalls one of the more sombre periods in Mary’s life. Loch Leven Castle is where Mary was imprisoned for nearly a year, suffered a miscarriage and was forced to abdicate in favour of her son James. She eventually escaped with the help of George Douglas but went on to suffer defeat at The Battle of Langside, and on to imprisonment in England.
Falkland Palace, the favourite retreat of the Stewarts. Mary is thought to have enjoyed some of her happiest days here, enjoying hunting and hawking and playing tennis on the world’s oldest tennis court. On a more haunting note, it is here that her father James V was said to utter the prophecy of The Stewart Dynasty “It cam’ wi’ a lass and it’ll gang wi’ a lass” and you can also see a copy of her death mask.
Nine key dates in the life of Mary Queen of Scots
- Born 8 December 1542 in Linlithgow Palace.
- Crowned Queen of Scots in the Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle, aged just nine months.
- Smuggled to France aged five, where she lived until she was 18.
- Gave birth to her only child in Edinburgh Castle. He would rise to become James VI of Scotland and I of England.
- Some believe she arranged to have her second husband, Lord Darnley, assassinated.
- Married for a third time to Lord Bothwell – some believe he abducted her against her will.
- Imprisoned for almost a year in Lochleven Castle in Kinross before managing to escape.
- Last hours in Scotland were spent in Dundrennan Abbey in Dumfries & Galloway before journeying to England to seek protection from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
- Confined in England for 18 years before Elizabeth sanctioned her death warrant and she was beheaded. She died 8 February 1587 in Fotheringhay Castle.
