![]() ![]() 'The other key misconception is that Mary (or Elizabeth for that matter) could exercise power simply by being crowned. It was a reasonable, generous offer – one that Elizabeth’s chief minister, William Cecil, interpreted as a sign of weakness, causing him to double the stakes. In return for such recognition, Mary offered to renounce her immediate dynastic claim to the English throne. And for much of the time, that was what Elizabeth wanted too. She wanted Elizabeth to recognise her as the lawful successor should the English queen not marry and have a child. 'What Mary always wanted was a political settlement with Elizabeth, not to claim her throne during her cousin’s own lifetime. For much of the time before Babington’s plot to kill Elizabeth in 1586, both "British " queens were, as it might whimsically be said, fully paid-up members of the women monarchs’ trade union. Here, Dr Guy talks to us about the ways in which Mary Stewart has been misunderstood over the years: 'To assume that Mary was Elizabeth’s mortal enemy from the beginning of the story is completely false. The movie Mary Queen of Scot s was based on his books My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots and Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart. ![]() History Scotland talks to historian Dr John Guy, whose books inspired the movie Mary Queen of Scots, about the misconceptions of Mary as queen.ĭr John Guy is a fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge. ![]()
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