Her first marriage at 16, to the French dauphin, was over by the time she was 17.
She returned to Scotland a widow and fell head over heels for her cousin, the notorious womaniser Lord Darnley.
"Everyone warned her. He was a vile man; a sadist and a womaniser. But he was tall, handsome and charismatic and Mary was utterly infat
uated," says David Templeman.
"But letters prove that within six months, she had realised her mistake. Darnley beat her and belittled her in public. Although they had a child together, fortunately she had never made him King.
"She made a statement that she wished to be rid of him and shortly after, Darnley was found strangled and the house he had been staying at with Mary burned to the ground." Historians say Mary had left the house only hours earlier to ride to a "meeting" she had forgotten about.
Adds David: "Only three months later, she married the man who was the chief suspect - Lord Bothwell.
"He seduced her a few weeks after the murder. Initially he was her 'bit of rough'. He was very much a man's man, bold and fearless. But I think he became the love of her life."
Many, including the Protestant Lords, were outraged at the Queen's behaviour and battle commenced. Mary's forces were defeated. Her husband escaped but as he sailed from Scotland he was captured by Danish pirates and died insane after five years of solitary confinement in a Danish prison.
Meanwhile Mary had been captured and her baby son James, later to be James VI of Scotland and James I of England, was taken from her.
She believed her only chance of survival was to flee to England.
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