Kate Williams - Rival Queens: The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots

This thrilling history from bestselling historian and broadcaster, Kate Williams tells the story of Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of Marys eventual betrayal, by forces around her, by herself and by her cousin.

At the end of the Tudor era, two queens ruled one island. But sixteenth-century Europe was a mans world and powerful voices believed that no woman could govern. All around Mary and Elizabeth were sycophants, spies and detractors who wanted their dominion, their favour and their bodies.

Elizabeth and Mary shared the struggle to be both woman and queen. But the forces rising against the two regnants, and the conflicts of love and dynasty, drove them apart. For Mary, Elizabeth was a fellow queen with whom she dreamed of a lasting friendship. For Elizabeth, Mary was a threat. It was a schism that would end in secret assassination plots, devastating betrayal and, eventually, a terrible final act.

Mary is often seen as a defeated or tragic sovereign, but Rival Queens argues against this, showing instead how she attempted to reinvent queenship and the monarchy in one of the hardest fights in royal history. Where the Queen of Scots failed, Elizabeth, as Gloriana, would succeed. Yet in doing so, she would lose a part of herself and her power.

Kate Williams has examined letters and archives to create an electrifying new perspective on Mary and on Elizabeth and, ultimately, on the great sacrifices a woman must make to be a queen.

Kate Williams is an author, social historian and broadcaster. She fell in love with history whilst studying for her BA and DPhil at the University of Oxford and has MAs from Queen Mary and Royal Holloway. She is a Professor of History and appears regularly on television she recently presented her series on The Stuarts, is the in-house historian and royal expert for CNN and has appeared on programmes from The Great British Bake Off to election coverage and comedy panel shows. She has written four historical biographies, a series of historical novels and loves nothing more than a spending her time in dusty archives.

Also by Kate Williams

NON-FICTION

Englands Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton

Becoming Queen

Young Elizabeth: The Making of our Monarch

Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon

The Ring and the Crown (co-authored)

FICTION

The Pleasures of Men

The Storms of War

The Edge of the Fall

The House of Shadows

. James V and Mary of Guise. Public domain.

. Mary of Guise. GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo.

. Mary, Queen of Scots family tree. Public domain.

. Henry VIII with his children. Art Collection 3/Alamy Stock Photo.

. Elizabeth I as a young woman. Getty Fine Art/Contributor.

. Mary, Queen of Scots in her teenage years. Public domain.

. Francis, the Dauphin. Getty Heritage Images/Contributor.

. Rosary and prayer book belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots. His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Arundel Castle/Bridgeman Images.

. Elizabeth I in her coronation robes. Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo.

. Locket ring. Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo.

. Mary, Queen of Scots by Franois Clouet. Getty Fine Art/Contributor.

. Commemorative medal. Science Museum, London.

. Holyroodhouse. The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo.

. James Stewart, Earl of Moray. Public domain.

. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Getty/Dea Picture Library/Contributor.

. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. ART Collection/Alamy Stock Photo.

. Lennox Jewel. Royal Collection Trust/ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2018.

. David Rizzio. Royal Collection Trust/ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2018.

. Marys chambers. Royal Collection Trust/ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2018; photographer: Peter Smith.

. The Murder of David Rizzio. National Galleries/Presented by the 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, 1927.

. Mary, Queen of Scots with her son, James VI. Granger, NYC/TopFoto.

. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. Getty/Dea Picture Library/Contributor.

. Kirk oField after the murder of Darnley. The National Archives.

. The Mermaid and the Hare. The National Archives.

. Elizabeth I, aged around forty-two. Getty/Dea Picture Library/Contributor.

. Letter from Elizabeth to Mary, February 1567. British Library, London, UK/ British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/Bridgeman Image.

. Dunbar Castle. Getty/Universal History Archive/Contributor.

. Letter from Elizabeth to Mary, December 1568. British Library, London, UK/ British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/Bridgeman Image.

. Letter from Mary to Elizabeth, October 1571. Heritage-Images/TopFoto.

. Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Public domain.

. Marys ciphers and codes. The National Archives.

. Babington postscript and cipher, July 1586. The National Archives.

. Tutbury Castle. NorthScape/Alamy Stock Photo.

. Trial at Fotheringhay Castle. Granger, NYC/TopFoto.

. Execution warrant for Mary, Queen of Scots, 1587. Lambeth Palace Library, London, UK/Bridgeman Images.

. Armada Portrait by George Gower. Getty/Universal History Archive/Contributor.

THE AXE LAY in a wooden box, cushioned, locked up in Mr Bulls modest home. He had been long expecting to use it for this, the biggest job of his life for he kept up with the news and the pamphlets and he knew what was afoot, as anyone would, no matter what the queen and Cecil said officially. He had polished the axe, tended it, ensured the blade was shining. Finally, Walsinghams messenger came on his fine horse and Mr Bull saddled up his own, packed up his mask and cape, and tied the box containing the axe to his saddle. He sent a messenger to call for his assistants to accompany him. The three men rode quickly north. They stopped at taverns on the way but spoke to nobody, keeping away from the crowds and stowing the box in their rooms. Bull and his men had not been told for whom they and their axe were destined, but they could guess. They were nervous. They knew they would be expected to perform the job with speed and skill. No one forgot tales of executions that had taken ten or more blows. Nearly fifty years before, a fellow executioner had missed the neck of Margaret Pole when she knelt over the block and caught only her shoulder it took eleven blows to kill her, during which she attempted to escape and was hauled back, screaming, to the block. Mr Bull knew he must kill in one blow. Particularly as it was a woman.

There was no room at the castle where the captive was held, too full of dignitaries who had come to observe. Bull and his men had been due to stay at the nearby home of Sir Walter Mildmay, but on arrival, they had been turned away, the man in charge of the household declaring it impossible. Mr Bull presumed Sir Walter had changed his mind about hosting an executioner and his axe; this was not uncommon. They took up at a local inn under extreme secrecy. No word could get out as to why they were there in case she tried to escape or, worse, the queen heard of the matter and tried to put a stop to it. Already, it was risky that they had had to ride first to Sir Walters and then on to the inn the place was crawling with spies and they had made themselves conspicuous. They tried to hide, keep close. Mr Bull and his assistants dined together and received a message from the castle that all was ready to proceed. The innkeeper had become used to strange people coming to stay, foreigners who looked like spies, wild-eyed young men, priests in disguise, men whispering in corners. The captive at the castle was good business for him and he did not ask questions.