Mary Queen of Scots a mystery to half of us despite life of high drama
WHEN Saoirse Ronan played Mary Queen of Scots on film, she was instantly recognisable to most cinemagoers – even with her hair dyed red.
However, the public are not so familiar with the Stuart queen’s own portrait, research suggests.
Some 51 per cent of respondents to a Glasgow University survey did not recognise Mary Stuart in a likeness by François Clouet from 1558.
Although the portrait hangs in the British Library, the West Lothian-born monarch’s dramatic life is often glossed over, it seems.
Mary – born a week before the premature death of her father, James V of Scotland – married three times and was widowed twice before the age of 25.
Following the mysterious circumstances of the death of her second husband, Lord Darnley, and quick third marriage to the Earl of Bothwell, his possible murderer, Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle by nobles.
She raised an army but was defeated, and fled to England where she sought the protection of Elizabeth I, her cousin.
Elizabeth was so concerned that Mary would raise enough Catholic support to usurp her in England that she imprisoned her for 19 years.
Mary was ultimately found guilty of treason when letters were discovered between her and an English Catholic that revealed a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, and put Mary on the throne.
She was sentenced to death and beheaded in 1587 at the age of 44.
Less than half of the 2,055 people surveyed by researchers knew that Mary ascended the throne in the 1500s or that she was six days old when she became queen, a fact known by just 18 per cent.
However, 62 per cent knew she had red hair, and 63 per cent that she was accused of killing her second husband.
Mary has been portrayed several times in film, with Samantha Morton and Vanessa Redgrave taking the role.
In the 2018 film Mary Queen of Scots, Ronan starred opposite Margot Robbie as Elizabeth. It was nominated for Oscars in costume design as well as hair and make-up.
Dr Steven Reid, a senior lecturer in Scottish history at the University of Glasgow, said: “We’ve found over 2,000 different objects, ranging from art to personal relics, that tell us how Mary was remembered and how stories about her were told throughout centuries.
“These stories tell us as much about the cultural biases of the people who tell them – their views on gender, on religion, and on power, for example – as they do about how Mary has lived on in the popular imagination.”