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24 July 2017

Mary, Queen of Scots , but there are a few things about the tragic monarch that you might not know.

Mary was described as having a fine, pale complexion

Mary was fond of having white wine in the bath. Not drinking it, though: she apparently had it poured into the tub.

It’s been said that , although .

This isn’t just a 16th Century phenomenon, .

French wine was imported into Scotland

There were close ties between Scotland and France during the 16th Century.

Mary’s mother was a French noblewoman and in 1558 Mary married the heir to the French throne. She was even briefly the queen of France.

The relationship between the two countries saw French cuisine being imported to Scotland during this time.

At Falkland Palace in Fife, .

Mary was executed at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587

While it is well-known that , it .

Her physician wrote that she ‘endured two strokes of the other executioner with an axe, she making very small noise or none at all, and not stirring any part of her from the place where she lay; and so the executioners cut off her head saving one little gristle, which being cut asunder he lifted up her head to the view of all the assembly and bade God save the Queen.’

Joseph Goebbels used a variety of media to spread Nazi ideology

Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels used Mary Queen of Scots’ life story for propaganda purposes during World War Two.

One of his directors, Carl Froelich, which focussed on the English queen’s oppression of her Scottish cousin.

Goebbels was intitially disappointed with the film, noting after watching a preview that it ‘’.

While Mary is best known as the Queen of Scots, she actually spent the majority of her life outside Scotland.

She moved to France in 1548, aged five, and returned in 1561 following the death of her first husband, Francis.

But Mary would only stay on Scottish soil until 1568.

She fled across the Solway Firth to England in 1568 and spent the next 19 years of her life in captivity in various locations in England, including and Tutbury Castle.

Mary’s choice of husband was a matter deemed worthy of war.

Henry VIII had wanted to force the Scots to agree to Mary marrying his son Edward.

When they refused, ’.

The Scots sought help from the French to fight off the English. But the price of this support was promising that Mary would marry the heir to the French throne, Dauphin Francis.

James became king of England and Ireland in 1603

Following her execution .

But once her son James became king of England, he ordered her body to be removed and taken to Westminster Abbey.

Mary’s remains .