0:00:02 > 0:00:04Queen Elizabeth I.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Conqueror of the Spanish Armada.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Tudor Defender of the Protestant Faith.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12The headstrong Virgin Queen who refuses to marry.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16But of all her challenges,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20her most gruelling battle is with another woman.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Her own cousin, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26I am a free princess in that I am
0:00:26 > 0:00:28not responsible to you or any other.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Elizabeth will not face a more relentless threat to her crown.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35Or her life.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40With black ingratitude she tries to kill me,
0:00:40 > 0:00:41who so often saved her life!
0:00:43 > 0:00:47Elizabeth never forgives Mary for the fact that she has
0:00:47 > 0:00:49laid claim to her throne. She never forgets it.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54So long as I live, there shall be no other Queen in England but I.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59There is no other Queen of England but I.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Both claim the English throne.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08Two queens on opposite sides of the greatest conflicts of their time,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Protestant and Catholic,
0:01:10 > 0:01:11Tudor and Stuart
0:01:11 > 0:01:14and that most ancient of rivalries,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16English and Scottish.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22When rude Scotland vomits up a poison,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25must fine England lick it up for a restorative?
0:01:27 > 0:01:32Their combat will last from 1561 to 1587...
0:01:33 > 0:01:37..ending in one final, fatal decision.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48And yet, in nearly three decades of obsession with each other,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50they would never actually meet.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56That explosive relationship is played out entirely through letters...
0:01:57 > 0:02:02..written with an intimacy and passion that still burns through the paper.
0:02:03 > 0:02:09Beneath those elegant phrases swirls this dark, deadly current
0:02:09 > 0:02:12which is going to drag one of the writers down.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Here for the first time on television, dramatised purely
0:02:17 > 0:02:20from the words of the two queens and their courtiers,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24is the faithful story of Elizabeth and Mary.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28No more tears.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31I will think upon revenge.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Would that we, being two queens so near of kin,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51neighbours living in one isle,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55should be friends and live together like sisters,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59than by some strange means divide ourselves to the hurt of us both.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02I assure you, I be fully resolved to live with you
0:03:02 > 0:03:07in the knot of friendship, as we are in that of nature and blood.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I am glad to hear of your goodwill towards us
0:03:09 > 0:03:12and good inclination to peace and friendship.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18God could not have blessed these two kingdoms with greater felicity
0:03:18 > 0:03:22than if one of us had been a king and married the other.
0:03:24 > 0:03:261561.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Mary Stuart's arrival in Scotland has the two queens
0:03:29 > 0:03:33brimming over with goodwill.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37She is 18, Elizabeth 27.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39The fact that with Mary and Elizabeth
0:03:39 > 0:03:44we have two young women who are queens is extraordinary.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49This is not an era of female rulers and now we have two of them
0:03:49 > 0:03:52and their kingdoms border each other.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59As two young queens on one island, surrounded by a sea of male rulers,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02they seem to be drawn to one another.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Yet their characters couldn't be more different.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Elizabeth's godson, Sir John Harington, said of her
0:04:11 > 0:04:15that when she smiled, "It was like pure sunshine".
0:04:15 > 0:04:17But then he continued, he said,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21"Anon would come a storm" and then thunderous weather would fall upon them all.
0:04:21 > 0:04:22THUNDER RUMBLES
0:04:22 > 0:04:25At one point, she actually broke one of her maid's fingers
0:04:25 > 0:04:28by slamming a candlestick down on it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32She would smash things, she could say very unkind things.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Elizabeth has survived prison and death threats
0:04:36 > 0:04:39to become Queen only two years earlier.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Mary has been Queen of Scots since she was six days old.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47She's been raised in the luxury of the French court.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Mary loved life.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52She loved dancing, she loved hunting,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55she loved sewing, she loved people.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57She would have danced all night if she could.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03She'd been raised the pampered princess in France.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06She was very vulnerable, she was volatile.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09She was alluring, but she was impulsive and she was impatient,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and these were seen as quite dangerous qualities
0:05:12 > 0:05:14in a queen in the 16th century.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18'If you're a man looking at this from the 21st century backwards,'
0:05:18 > 0:05:20you think if you want a good date, you're going to choose
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Mary every time, you're never going to choose Elizabeth.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Mary Stuart hasn't chosen to come to Scotland.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31The death of her husband, the King of France,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33just left her with no role at the French court.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38She's sort of unmoored when she arrives in Scotland
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and she's got these big, brash, Scottish lords who are really
0:05:43 > 0:05:46not too sure about having this "bonnie wee lassie" as their queen.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51To Mary, Scotland must seem like Afghanistan.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54A mountainous country of feuding clans,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57warlords and religious fanatics.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01She's a Catholic but many of them are fiercely Protestant.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Her indifference is an insult to these men
0:06:06 > 0:06:09and will prove to be a dangerous mistake.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Instead, her ambition makes her look south
0:06:14 > 0:06:16to England and Elizabeth's crown.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22She has been forced back to Scotland and when she's there,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24when she arrives,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27she nags on about being recognised
0:06:27 > 0:06:29as Elizabeth's successor.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34I am the nearest kinswoman she has, being both of us
0:06:34 > 0:06:36of one house and stock.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42As the great-granddaughter of Henry VII, Mary has a strong claim
0:06:42 > 0:06:45to be named Elizabeth's successor.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48So the English Queen has every reason to be wary.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58If it became known who would succeed me, I would never think myself secure.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Tensions between Catholics and Protestants
0:07:03 > 0:07:05are worsening across Europe.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Many people fear that just the presence of Queen Mary
0:07:09 > 0:07:12could inflame the passions of English Catholics.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17One reason England had become Protestant
0:07:17 > 0:07:20was so that Henry VIII could marry Anne Boleyn,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Elizabeth's mother.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28English Catholics had a settled hatred for Anne Boleyn.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32They always favoured Mary, Queen of Scots's claim over Elizabeth's.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35They called her "bastardised Elizabeth".
0:07:36 > 0:07:41In the eyes of Catholic Europe, Mary, the good Catholic that she is,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44is the rightful heir to the English throne.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48Catholic Europe could back Mary
0:07:48 > 0:07:50if she tried to seize the English throne.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55A threat that obsessed Elizabeth's Chief Minister, Lord Burghley.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00The Queen of Scots is and always will be
0:08:00 > 0:08:03a dangerous person to your estate.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07She cannot forbear from her continual ardent desire
0:08:07 > 0:08:10to possess the crown of this realm.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14He thinks he's the man appointed, almost by God,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17to save Elizabeth from herself.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Burghley is constantly dripping poison
0:08:22 > 0:08:24in Elizabeth's ear about Mary.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29Not to be neglected, trusted, nor pardoned.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34He saw Mary almost as the Antichrist.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37There was no way he was going to allow that woman
0:08:37 > 0:08:40to get anywhere near the throne of England.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Mary is aware of Burghley's opposition.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49I know how near I am descended of the blood of England.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53And what devices have been attempted to make me a stranger from it.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Elizabeth uses elaborate tactics to avoid ever giving
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Mary a straight answer about the succession.
0:09:08 > 0:09:14In September 1564, Mary's envoy, Sir James Melville,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18is sent to speak to Elizabeth to pin her down.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21But she bombards him with strangely personal questions.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26What colour of hair is reputed best?
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Is my hair or your Queen's the best?
0:09:36 > 0:09:37Well, which of us is fairer?
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Your Majesty is the fairest Queen in England.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43And ours is the fairest Queen in Scotland!
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Your Majesty is the whiter.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51But our Queen is very lovely.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52And who is taller?
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Er, my Queen is, Your Majesty.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Then she is too high.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01I am neither too high, nor too low.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08What Elizabeth does is intelligent and subtle.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12She simply does not want to have the conversation that Melville has
0:10:12 > 0:10:14travelled to her court to try and have with her.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16She refuses to do it.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20And what she does is she invokes femininity to simply evade
0:10:20 > 0:10:22this conversation.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24And he is climbing the walls with frustration.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34But then he goes back to Mary and he is not fooled at all. He says you cannot trust Elizabeth.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39There are nothing but jealousies and suspicion.
0:10:41 > 0:10:47But the two women hide their suspicions behind a charm offensive.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51We shall present to the world such friendship as has never been seen.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59They seem to compete in their declarations of love.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Elizabeth sends Mary a diamond ring but Mary goes one better.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11'Mary sends Elizabeth her portrait.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15'It's a miniature portrait in a heart-shaped diamond ring'
0:11:15 > 0:11:19and she sends it with Petrarchan, almost love lyrics,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and it's this sort of sense that she is wooing Elizabeth.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24She wants to meet her.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Mary's most comfortable writing in French.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Mary's obsession with being recognised as Elizabeth's heir
0:11:47 > 0:11:53to the English throne made her easy to manipulate. Elizabeth could deal with this.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58She's dealing with someone who wants what only Elizabeth can give.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59It's marvellous.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05But Elizabeth avoids actually meeting her cousin.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Mary was renowned for her charisma, for her charm.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14It was said that anyone who came within ten feet
0:12:14 > 0:12:16of the Queen of Scots would fall in love with her.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Now, I think Elizabeth had heard that and she believed it
0:12:20 > 0:12:22and she feared it.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23She didn't want to like Mary.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Having failed to meet and charm Elizabeth,
0:12:30 > 0:12:36Mary tries a new scheme to strengthen her claim to the Crown - marriage.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39But Elizabeth is not about to let her cousin marry
0:12:39 > 0:12:41one of her powerful European rivals.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I recommend some fit nobleman within the island,
0:12:48 > 0:12:54but I declare no child of France, Spain or Austria will be acceptable.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01And your right and title to the English Crown will depend much on your marriage.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06The root problem is Elizabeth regards herself as the superior queen
0:13:06 > 0:13:09and she regards Mary as a satellite queen
0:13:09 > 0:13:13and no Scot, then or now,
0:13:13 > 0:13:14would accept that.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Elizabeth isn't like other queens.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25She has little interest in marriage.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28That would mean handing power to a husband.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31No husband means no chance of an heir,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33no matter how much Burghley badgers her.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37God send our mistress a husband
0:13:37 > 0:13:41and by him a son that we may hope our posterity
0:13:41 > 0:13:43shall have a masculine succession.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48I am already bound unto a husband, which is the Kingdom of England.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52As many as are English are my children.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59If I am to disclose to you what I prefer
0:13:59 > 0:14:02if I follow the inclination of my nature,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05I will tell you it is this -
0:14:05 > 0:14:09beggar woman and single far rather than Queen and married.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14I think the reason Elizabeth chose not to marry had an awful lot
0:14:14 > 0:14:18to do with the examples from which she had learned in childhood.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20So, of course, it's not a great role model,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22the fact that her mother, Anne Boleyn,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24is executed by her father,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27but I think it went further than that for Elizabeth.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31There had been a number of scandals surrounding her.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35At the age of just 13, the first major scandal erupted.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Her stepfather Thomas Seymour came into Elizabeth's bedroom early
0:14:43 > 0:14:47in the morning and, basically, you might say, he sexually touched her.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53His wife Catherine was actually complicit in this
0:14:53 > 0:14:57and there is one occasion described where she held Elizabeth down
0:14:57 > 0:15:02while her husband cut Elizabeth's gown into 100 pieces.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06I could not do withal for she held me while the Lord Admiral cut it.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10I've thought about this for over 30 years
0:15:10 > 0:15:13and I now think that Elizabeth had probably pretty much
0:15:13 > 0:15:18decided that she never would marry and I think the reason for this is
0:15:18 > 0:15:20simply those teenage experiences,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23when she had seen how men could behave.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26The one exception is Lord Robert,
0:15:26 > 0:15:27Lord Robert Dudley,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and she was in love with him.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32There's absolutely no question that he was the only man
0:15:32 > 0:15:34she ever truly loved.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40My true opinion is that she will never marry.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45I know Her Majesty as well or better than anyone else.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48We were friends before she was eight years old.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51She has always said she would never do so.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58But, if by chance she should change her mind,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02I am practically assured she would choose no-one else but me.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05She told me so herself quite openly on more than one occasion.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12But even love is just a pawn in the Queen's game.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Elizabeth is willing to sacrifice Lord Robert.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17She knows he'll always be loyal to her.
0:16:21 > 0:16:22If I had ever wanted to take a husband
0:16:22 > 0:16:25I would have married him myself.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29But being determined to end my life in virginity,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31I wish that my sister should marry him.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Being matched with him would remove out of my mind
0:16:36 > 0:16:38all fear of usurpation before my death.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42He is so loving, trusty, that he
0:16:42 > 0:16:45would never suffer such a thing to be attempted.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Mary is insulted by Elizabeth's suggestion that she should
0:16:50 > 0:16:54marry Lord Robert. He's not even a very high aristocrat.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57He is the son of a traitor and he is
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Elizabeth's discarded suitor.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05Do you think it might stand with my honour to marry a subject?
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Being assured of me, you might let me marry where I best like.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Elizabeth has this sort of weird idea that they will have a
0:17:17 > 0:17:20sort of a menage a trois at Elizabeth's court.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22It's very strange.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26If the Queen, my sister, is pleased to live with me in household
0:17:26 > 0:17:28I will gladly bear the charges of the family
0:17:28 > 0:17:31as shall one sister do for another.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34I do mind to use my own choice in marriage.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I will no longer be fed with yea or nay
0:17:38 > 0:17:40and depend on uncertain dealings.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47The sisterly pretence is over.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Mary decides on her own potential husband,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52an Englishman and a Catholic,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57her cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Darnley is actually a really good bet for Mary. He's got royal blood,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04which strengthens her own claim to the English throne.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Moreover, he represents something extremely unusual for elite
0:18:07 > 0:18:10women in the 16th century and particularly queens.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13He's young, he's handsome, he's desirable.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20He is the lustiest and best proportioned tall man
0:18:20 > 0:18:21that I have ever seen.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Mary's desire scandalises her court.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30The gossip gets back to Elizabeth through her ambassador,
0:18:30 > 0:18:31Thomas Randolph.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35She is seized in love
0:18:35 > 0:18:37in more fervent passions
0:18:37 > 0:18:38than is comely
0:18:38 > 0:18:39for any mean personage.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Some report she is bewitched.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Shame is laid aside.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Darnley is but a pawn,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54but he may well checkmate me if he is promoted.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00I think Elizabeth was very suspicious of Mary's motives
0:19:00 > 0:19:02when it came to Lord Darnley
0:19:02 > 0:19:06because Darnley, too, had royal blood.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09In fact he was one of the strongest claimants to the English throne,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12so she undoubtedly saw this
0:19:12 > 0:19:14as an aggressive move on Mary's part,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17that she was considering marriage to this man.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22A Catholic couple on the Scottish throne could attract
0:19:22 > 0:19:25the support of England's enemies, France and Spain.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31So, Elizabeth simply puts any question of succession on hold.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Elizabeth turns round and says that she will not name her successor
0:19:36 > 0:19:39until she decides whether she'll marry.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Nothing shall be done until I shall be married
0:19:43 > 0:19:46or shall notify my determination never to marry.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50This is heartbreaking for Mary. She feels played.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53All the letters, the gifts, the petitions,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56it feels completely wasted.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59It shall turn to your discredit more than my loss.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02I will not fail in any good offices towards you
0:20:02 > 0:20:04but to rely or trust much from henceforth in you...
0:20:07 > 0:20:08..I will not.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16She gets up, she goes out, she has a good cry and then she goes to see Darnley.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21On July 29, 1565,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Mary marries Darnley without Elizabeth's permission.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31'When she went ahead, quite rightly, and married Lord Darnley,'
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Elizabeth was incandescent with rage.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36Mary can't see the problem.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39She thinks she's upheld her side of the bargain, effectively.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43She's married an Englishman as Elizabeth had wanted,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45so what's the problem?
0:20:45 > 0:20:48You can never persuade me that I have failed you
0:20:48 > 0:20:49but you have failed me.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53I have found your proceedings of late very strange.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57You forget yourself marvellously.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01The naming of your husband King
0:21:01 > 0:21:03shall not give him any authority to do anything.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Her Majesty desires her good sister to meddle no further.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Mary now has both a Catholic husband
0:21:17 > 0:21:19and a stronger claim to the English throne.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23The Queen of Scots is delighted.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Suddenly, probably for the first time,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Mary really has the upper hand in this relationship.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Madame, ma soeur,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I understand you are offended without just cause
0:21:38 > 0:21:41against the king, my husband, and myself.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Mary's marriage to Darnley doesn't just offend Elizabeth.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51The Scottish lords are horrified.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Darnley, he was awful.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55The Protestant lords couldn't bear him.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57He may have had Scottish blood.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59He may even have had Stuart blood
0:21:59 > 0:22:05but to them he was this effete, bisexual, beardless Englishman.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09One contemporary even called him a great cock chick.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12This is not the kind of guy that they want telling them
0:22:12 > 0:22:14what to do in Scotland.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17He's unfaithful to Mary from very early on.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21He's a terrible drinker. He's a big whisky drinker.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23He goes into uncontrollable rages.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28- THOMAS RANDOLPH:- 'I know for certain that Queen Mary repents her marriage
0:22:28 > 0:22:29'and that she hates him.'
0:22:30 > 0:22:33She is so much altered, her wits are not what they were.
0:22:33 > 0:22:34Her beauty another.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Her cheer and countenance changed.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41A woman more to be pitied than any I ever saw.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Once he's married, that's it. He is King.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47He thinks that she should be a submissive wee wife
0:22:47 > 0:22:49and do exactly as he tells her.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Then comes big news.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Mary is pregnant.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01If it's a boy he'll strengthen the Stuart claim to the English Crown.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04But some wonder if Darnley is the father,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06or one of Mary's courtiers,
0:23:06 > 0:23:08David Rizzio.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13David Rizzio is an Italian musician and he's Catholic,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15so, of course, he has to be a papal spy.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18He is everything that the Protestant lords can't bear.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22He seems to have inveigled himself into Mary's intimacies,
0:23:22 > 0:23:23into her familiarity.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Jealous of the influence the Italian has over Mary,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Darnley goes after him.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35There are practices in hand that David, with the consent of the King,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38shall have his throat cut within these ten days.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42The attack comes suddenly.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Darnley and Lord Ruthven, a Scottish Lord, came in.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48They tried to detach Mary from Rizzio
0:23:48 > 0:23:50but she was shielding him.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52He hid behind her skirts.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55They dragged Rizzio away and they stabbed him.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57It was like a cell block shanking.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00He was stabbed 56 times, Mary recalled.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07With her friend lying in a pool of blood at her feet,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Mary could take no more of Darnley.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17You have taken your last of me
0:24:17 > 0:24:18and your farewell.
0:24:31 > 0:24:32No more tears.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37I will think upon revenge.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43'She despises her husband now
0:24:43 > 0:24:46'and this makes her into a decisive,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49'fearsome, strong ruler.'
0:24:49 > 0:24:53The sort of Queen that Elizabeth already is
0:24:53 > 0:24:55and Mary now seizes the initiative.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Fearing that Darnley will try to push her off the throne,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Mary writes directly to Elizabeth asking for support.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Praying you remember your honour and our nearness of blood.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21The word of God commands that all princes should defend the just
0:25:21 > 0:25:25actions of other princes as well as their own.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31For once, Elizabeth shows solidarity with her sister Queen.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35She wears her portrait around her waist
0:25:35 > 0:25:39and she seems genuinely sympathetic towards Mary at this time.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Do you think the Queen of Scotland has been well treated?
0:25:44 > 0:25:46If it had been me,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I would have taken her husband's dagger and stabbed him with it.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54'What she doesn't know is that Burghley
0:25:54 > 0:25:56'had advance notice of the Rizzio plot'
0:25:56 > 0:25:59and didn't bother to tell his own Queen
0:25:59 > 0:26:03because he knew that this would bring about turmoil in Scotland
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and this would help to destabilise Mary.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13But on June 19, 1566,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Mary Stuart does something Elizabeth will never do.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21She gives birth to a male heir, James.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26But Mary is still miserable, shackled to her husband.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Unless I am quit of the King by one means or another
0:26:31 > 0:26:33I can never have a good day for the rest of my life.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39I could wish to be dead.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Elizabeth may despise Darnley
0:26:46 > 0:26:49but she never sends a single soldier to defend her cousin.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Instead, Mary turns to another violent man.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59'At the moment that Mary is at her most vulnerable, somebody steps forward.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01'In this case it's the Earl of Bothwell.'
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Yes, he will help Mary.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06He will be her protector but he wants something back.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08She doesn't know that yet.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Bothwell. Violently malicious beyond measure.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Treacherous and dishonest as the devil.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23It isn't long before an explosion destroys Darnley's bedroom,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26as seen in illustrations from the time.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Blown in the air with such vehemence
0:27:38 > 0:27:42that the whole lodging walls and other...
0:27:42 > 0:27:44There is nothing remaining, no.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Not a stone above another,
0:27:48 > 0:27:53but all carried away or dashed in dross to the very ground.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Mysteriously, Darnley's half naked body
0:27:58 > 0:28:02is found 60 paces from the house, strangled.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06Many Scots suspect that Mary and Bothwell are behind it.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Killing a king is considered the worst crime in the Christian world.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16With public opinion turning against Mary,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Elizabeth is losing patience with her cousin.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23She procured her husband's murder.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Bothwell, the chief murderer, was protected by her.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34But Mary is adamant that she has nothing to do with it.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38I lament the tragedy of my husband's death more than
0:28:38 > 0:28:40any of my subjects can do.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44I had never knowledge, art, nor part thereof.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49For the love of God, Madam, use such sincerity
0:28:49 > 0:28:52and prudence in this case that all the world may feel
0:28:52 > 0:28:57justified in believing you innocent of so enormous a crime,
0:28:57 > 0:28:59which if you are not
0:28:59 > 0:29:02would be good cause for degrading you from the rank of princes.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07All of Scotland cried out upon the foul murder of the King.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Everybody suspected Bothwell.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Now Bothwell calls in Mary's debt.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17He abducts her for 12 days
0:29:17 > 0:29:21and some think he rapes her to force her into marriage.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28I cannot dissemble that he has used me as I would have wished or deserved at his hand.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33'There are people that have tried to defend Mary,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36'who have said that she was raped by Bothwell.
0:29:36 > 0:29:37'I don't agree with that, actually,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40'because the one thing that everyone knew Mary for'
0:29:40 > 0:29:42was that she stood on her grandeur as a former Queen of France.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44She was not going to marry a man who had raped her,
0:29:44 > 0:29:49so I think that she was talked round.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53May 14, 1567,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Mary marries Bothwell in the middle of the night.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00They have so little support now only a few people attend.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04The news soon reaches Elizabeth.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10How could a worse choice be made for your honour,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13than in such haste,
0:30:13 > 0:30:18to marry a subject, who besides other notorious lacks,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21public fame has charged with the murder of your late husband?
0:30:22 > 0:30:27Burghley and the Scottish lords used Darnley's assassination
0:30:27 > 0:30:31to accuse Mary and Bothwell of adultery and murder,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34declaring them morally unfit to rule.
0:30:36 > 0:30:37She feigned herself
0:30:37 > 0:30:40to be forcibly taken by him
0:30:40 > 0:30:42and then married this murderer,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46giving him greater estates than ever she gave her own husband.
0:30:48 > 0:30:55She could now be completely rubbished as a woman of any status,
0:30:55 > 0:30:59any pretentions or rights to royalty.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03She's a whore, she's a murderess, she's an adulteress.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05You know, what more do you want?
0:31:05 > 0:31:07Scots think their nation dishonoured, the Queen shamed
0:31:07 > 0:31:10and country undone.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12She is now in utter contempt of her people
0:31:12 > 0:31:15and so far in doubt of them herself,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18that without speedy redress, worse is to be feared.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24With the Scottish lords gathering their armies against her,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27Mary realises she has no chance.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31She surrenders herself in order to save Bothwell.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34Perhaps she did love him after all.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37It basically ends with Bothwell offering to fight
0:31:37 > 0:31:38the lords in single combat.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40At the last moment, Mary stops it.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43She wants to try and end the thing with non-violence,
0:31:43 > 0:31:47so she proposes that Bothwell be allowed to escape
0:31:47 > 0:31:51and not to return. And she will go with the lords.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58Bothwell flees to Norway and Mary is paraded, as a trophy,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00through Edinburgh.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04She's brought back to Edinburgh as a captive,
0:32:04 > 0:32:08dressed in very ordinary clothes, not the great robes of a queen,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12with the Edinburgh mob howling at her.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14"Burn her."
0:32:14 > 0:32:17"Burn her."
0:32:17 > 0:32:19"She's not worthy to live."
0:32:19 > 0:32:22"Kill her."
0:32:22 > 0:32:24"Drown her."
0:32:24 > 0:32:27Or so I'm told.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31Of course, Burghley is, of course just rubbing his hands with glee.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Now Scotland is in chaos.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37But in England, Elizabeth is having none of it.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41First, she throws her support behind Mary.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46You have a good neighbour, a dear sister and a faithful friend.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52You shall not lack my friendship or power for the preservation
0:32:52 > 0:32:54of your honour in quietness.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58'You don't rebel against an anointed queen.'
0:32:58 > 0:33:00That's a red line for Elizabeth.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03So she's always going to support Mary, against the lords
0:33:03 > 0:33:06who are undermining her sovereignty.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11Then Elizabeth threatens war against the Scottish lords.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16You have no warrant, by God's or man's law, to act as superiors,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20vindicators or judges over your prince,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24whatever disorders you gather against her.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29If you continue to keep her in prison or touch her life or person,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32I will not fail to revenge it to the uttermost.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Rather than fight Elizabeth,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41the Scottish lords imprison Mary on an island in Loch Leven
0:33:41 > 0:33:43and force her to abdicate.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49They show her the documents, she reads it through,
0:33:49 > 0:33:51she doesn't want to sign it,
0:33:51 > 0:33:53they threaten to slit her throat.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03If I did not sign this letter, they would have taken me from Loch Leven...
0:34:04 > 0:34:08..and as they were crossing the lake, would've thrown me into it.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15Or secretly conveyed me to some island in the middle of the sea,
0:34:15 > 0:34:19there to be left unknown for the remainder of my life.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25They advised me to sign...
0:34:27 > 0:34:29..for if I did not...
0:34:31 > 0:34:34..they would cut my throat.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47'You don't imprison a woman like that and expect her just to, you know, keep her composure.'
0:34:47 > 0:34:51So they just brutally wear her down.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55Of course, she also has to fear... She's fearing for her son.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57You know, what will happen to him?
0:34:57 > 0:35:00They do, of course, say he will be crowned King.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Mary will never see her infant son, James, again.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07But she can ensure he'll be King.
0:35:08 > 0:35:14On July 24th 1567, Mary signs the letter of abdication.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17She is now a queen without a country.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23'Mary was in a pretty bad mental state.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28'It's a reminder of the problem of Mary's character all along.'
0:35:28 > 0:35:32She's not got that quality of toughness, of steel,
0:35:32 > 0:35:36that enables monarchs to rule in very difficult circumstances.
0:35:40 > 0:35:48She panicked, hared off down to Galloway, and fled to England.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53'Her Majesty lost all courage.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55'And took so great fear that she never rested till'
0:35:55 > 0:36:00she was in England, thinking herself of refuge there.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Mary will never return to Scotland.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07Her last hope is with Elizabeth,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10a woman she has never met.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15I am now completely forced out of my kingdom...
0:36:17 > 0:36:21..and driven to such straits, that next to God...
0:36:24 > 0:36:27..I have no hope, but in you.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33'She believed Elizabeth when she'd offered her support,
0:36:33 > 0:36:37'when she'd expressed her love for her sister queen.'
0:36:37 > 0:36:42And so she took her at her word and the result was disaster for Mary.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Instead of a royal welcome, Mary runs straight into a trap.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55Burghley has her immediately placed under house arrest.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59'Burghley makes sure that Mary's locked up straight away.'
0:36:59 > 0:37:03And around her are put people whom he knows are loyal to the
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Protestant cause and to him.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10When rude Scotland vomits up a poison,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14must fine England lick it up for a restorative?
0:37:14 > 0:37:18From the moment Mary sets foot in England, he wants her dead.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25Mary tries to meet Elizabeth, face to face,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28so she can clear her name.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31If it please you that I come to you in private,
0:37:31 > 0:37:35I can tell you the truth against all their lies.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40When it is proposed, yet again, that Elizabeth and Mary meet,
0:37:40 > 0:37:47the English Queen gives the excuse that she cannot meet her cousin,
0:37:47 > 0:37:49because Mary is still embroiled
0:37:49 > 0:37:53in the scandal of Lord Darnley's murder.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56And until her name has been cleared, once and for all,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00the English Queen cannot be seen to meet her.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04If you find it strange not to see me,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06you will see that it would be malaise of me
0:38:06 > 0:38:10to receive you before your justification.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13But once honourably acquitted of this crime,
0:38:13 > 0:38:14I swear to you, before God,
0:38:14 > 0:38:20among all worldly pleasures, meeting you will hold the first rank.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27Now that Mary is actually in England, Elizabeth isn't so friendly,
0:38:27 > 0:38:31as Mary realises.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36I see how things frame evil for me.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43I have many enemies about the Queen, my good sister,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46who do all they can to keep me from her.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53She is reduced to making empty threats.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58I have made great wars in Scotland
0:38:58 > 0:39:05and I pray God I make no trouble in other realms also.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08Have some consideration for me,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11rather than always thinking of yourself.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15I assure you, I will do nothing to hurt you,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19but rather honour and aid you.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23The question becomes, what's to be done with her?
0:39:23 > 0:39:27And for this, of course, Burghley needs some evidence.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Burghley's spies intercept encrypted letters
0:39:32 > 0:39:34from Mary's Catholic supporters,
0:39:34 > 0:39:38which show that they are plotting to put her on the throne.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41Now Mary really is a potential threat.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Now, whether or not she is trying to get Elizabeth's throne,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47other people are trying to get it.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49And put her on it.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Mary denies any part of it.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56I never wrote anything concerning that matter to any creature
0:39:56 > 0:40:00and if any such writings be, they are false and feigned,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04invented only by themselves to my dishonour and slander.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08I am no enchantress, but your sister and natural cousin.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16But Mary's protests fall on deaf ears.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20The queens are caught up in a battle bigger than themselves.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24'Catholics and Protestants are dying on both sides, in the Netherlands, in France.'
0:40:24 > 0:40:28And what happens with Elizabeth and Mary is that,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31privately moderate though they may have been,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35they become polarized as figureheads of two sides
0:40:35 > 0:40:38in a more and more extreme conflict,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41in which their particular conflict with one another
0:40:41 > 0:40:44has become emblematic.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49To Lord Burghley, the Catholics are a clear and imminent danger.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54Their malice is bent against your person.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59They will never cease, as long as the Scottish queen lives.
0:41:00 > 0:41:05Elizabeth refuses to be bounced into executing Mary, Queen of Scots.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08The evidence is not watertight
0:41:08 > 0:41:11and also she has this abhorrence at the idea
0:41:11 > 0:41:15of executing an anointed queen.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19Can I put to death the bird, that to escape the pursuit of the hawk,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22has fled to my feet for protection?
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Honour and conscience forbid.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31Mary's held in castles all over England,
0:41:31 > 0:41:34but she never accepts being a prisoner.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Since you have detained me forcibly, if you suspect that
0:41:37 > 0:41:41I desire my liberty, I cannot help it. I am a free princess
0:41:41 > 0:41:44in that I am not responsible to you or any other.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51Months turn into years of confinement.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Mary never tires of writing to Elizabeth.
0:41:54 > 0:42:00Tens of thousands of words, demanding her freedom and pleading to meet.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Each word scored into her embittered heart.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09I have written to you several times during the last year...
0:42:11 > 0:42:16..to lay before your consideration the unworthy treatment which
0:42:16 > 0:42:19I have received in this...
0:42:22 > 0:42:24..captivity.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30'In her more desperate moments in captivity, she becomes,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33'increasingly, a prisoner of her own imagination,
0:42:33 > 0:42:35'within this claustrophobic world.'
0:42:35 > 0:42:39Mary did start sending small gifts to Elizabeth
0:42:39 > 0:42:41to attract her attention.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46'Elizabeth had a terribly sweet tooth, so Mary would send marzipan,
0:42:46 > 0:42:48'she would send nuts.'
0:42:48 > 0:42:55She also had a mirror on a chain. She also sent this to Elizabeth as a gift.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02'She's trying to open up a line of communication,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04'so that, maybe, they can work this out.'
0:43:04 > 0:43:07But Elizabeth just stonewalls them all.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15I beg you to relieve yourself of the charge which I am to you.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20But things only get worse for Mary.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24After 17 years in prison, she still hopes her son, James,
0:43:24 > 0:43:28the King of Scotland, will negotiate her release.
0:43:29 > 0:43:35Elizabeth had the bright idea that Mary might go back to Scotland
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and rule jointly with James.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44Now, young James grew up to be a very effective king.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49James, who's now approaching adulthood...
0:43:50 > 0:43:52..decides he's going to ditch his mum.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57The last thing he wanted was a discredited mother back,
0:43:57 > 0:43:59messing things up and getting in the way.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Was there ever a sight so detestable and impious
0:44:06 > 0:44:10before God and man than an only child despoiling his mother
0:44:10 > 0:44:12of her crown and royal estate?
0:44:19 > 0:44:21There is no king of Scotland...
0:44:24 > 0:44:26..nor any queen but me.
0:44:30 > 0:44:31'What this does
0:44:31 > 0:44:34'is it forces Mary to say, "I've got to get out of here."'
0:44:34 > 0:44:40And from this point, she's willing to listen to even desperate plots.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44Having lost all hope of regaining her crown
0:44:44 > 0:44:47or convincing Elizabeth to help her,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50Mary becomes obsessed with getting Elizabeth's crown.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55I will not leave my prison save as Queen of England.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02Burghley suspects Mary is plotting to have Elizabeth killed
0:45:02 > 0:45:04and trying to make England Catholic again.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08So he sends his spies out to get proof.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Mary becomes this romanticised figurehead
0:45:13 > 0:45:17for a generation of young men educated in the Catholic colleges
0:45:17 > 0:45:20in France, in Rome and in the Netherlands,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23who want to give their lives for their faith.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29It doesn't take long before a young man
0:45:29 > 0:45:30writes to Mary.
0:45:32 > 0:45:33Burghley's trap is set.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39'Anthony Babington is a young and not very bright,'
0:45:39 > 0:45:42but enthusiastic Catholic gentleman with too much money
0:45:42 > 0:45:45and a lot of time on his hands.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52He writes to her and he says that he will help spring her
0:45:52 > 0:45:55from her imprisonment and, at the same time,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58six gentlemen will do the deed.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00They will assassinate Elizabeth.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06There be six noble gentlemen, all my private friends,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08who, for the zeal they bear the Catholic cause
0:46:08 > 0:46:10and Your Majesty's service,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12will undertake the execution.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21'Everyone's waiting. Burghley's waiting, Babington's waiting for Mary to reply.'
0:46:21 > 0:46:25And 12 days later, it comes.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28She basically damns herself in that letter.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34The affairs being thus prepared and forces and readiness
0:46:34 > 0:46:37both without and within the realm,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41then shall it be time to put the six gentlemen to work
0:46:41 > 0:46:43upon the accomplishing of their design.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49Babington's promising her ships and soldiers and there never were any.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51There were no ships, there were no soldiers,
0:46:51 > 0:46:54there were no loyal Catholics waiting to carry her
0:46:54 > 0:46:57to elegance and luxury and freedom, such as she'd known
0:46:57 > 0:46:58in her childhood.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01It was all a fantasy and what's terribly, terribly sad
0:47:01 > 0:47:04is that Mary still believed it.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10Burghley's spies bring him a copy of Mary's letter.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13But will it be enough to condemn her to death?
0:47:14 > 0:47:17I hope that God which hath given us the light
0:47:17 > 0:47:19to discover this great conspiracy,
0:47:19 > 0:47:22will also give assistance to punish it.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28Any sympathy Elizabeth ever had for Mary is gone.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Well, what do you think of your Queen of Scotland?
0:47:34 > 0:47:37With black ingratitude and treachery,
0:47:37 > 0:47:41she tries to kill me who so often saved her life!
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Now I am certain of her evil intent, it may be she will not
0:47:48 > 0:47:51have another opportunity to behave like this.
0:47:51 > 0:47:56Despite the proof, Elizabeth can't bring herself to condemn Mary.
0:47:56 > 0:48:04She felt guilty, she felt terrified that God would judge her on the last day
0:48:04 > 0:48:06for putting to death a divine right ruler,
0:48:06 > 0:48:10and, you know, she probably felt upset and annoyed
0:48:10 > 0:48:13that she'd been boxed into this situation that she never wanted
0:48:13 > 0:48:17to be in, that she had managed to avoid for most of her reign.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Instead, she turns her rage on the young plotters.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28Babington and his associates were hanged on the gibbet,
0:48:28 > 0:48:30they were cut down while still alive
0:48:30 > 0:48:34and they had their private parts chopped off in front of them,
0:48:34 > 0:48:37they were eviscerated, their entrails were burnt in front of them
0:48:37 > 0:48:40and then they were executed,
0:48:40 > 0:48:41and then they were quartered.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44And what's really gruesome about this is that
0:48:44 > 0:48:48'Elizabeth asks Burghley if he could come up with something else.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51'And Burghley assures her that if it's done properly -
0:48:51 > 0:48:54'ie if they're cut down soon enough so that they can witness'
0:48:54 > 0:48:56their own evisceration -
0:48:56 > 0:48:57then it would be pain enough.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06On October 25th 1586, Mary is pronounced guilty
0:49:06 > 0:49:08of conspiring to murder Elizabeth.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18I am quite ready and very happy to die.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24And to shed my blood for God Almighty, my saviour and my creator.
0:49:26 > 0:49:32So, the sentence was proclaimed. But even then, Elizabeth wouldn't do anything.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Why? She just wanted it all to go away.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38She didn't want to be the source of...
0:49:40 > 0:49:43..the execution of an anointed queen.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46If it had pleased God to have made us both milkmaids
0:49:46 > 0:49:51with pails on our arms, so that the matter rested between us two
0:49:51 > 0:49:54and that I knew she should still seek my destruction,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57yet could I not consent to her death.
0:49:58 > 0:50:03'This is my own personal speculation, but I think she wanted Mary dead.'
0:50:03 > 0:50:08She knew that Mary had to die, but when it came to it,
0:50:08 > 0:50:12she couldn't quite bring herself to believe that she was the person
0:50:12 > 0:50:14who was striking Mary's head off.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43'To bounce Elizabeth into making this decision,
0:50:43 > 0:50:45'she is told by Burghley, and this...'
0:50:45 > 0:50:47When I first discovered this in the archives,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50I could hardly believe it.
0:50:50 > 0:50:55She's told by Burghley that the Spanish Armada's landed a year early in Wales.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58Burghley invents a full-scale invasion to push her into signing.
0:51:00 > 0:51:05The realm will be in great danger, principally the person of Your Majesty.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09Burghley tells the Queen to double her guards. Who knows what might happen?
0:51:11 > 0:51:14'She calls for the warrant and she signs.'
0:51:17 > 0:51:20'She signs it after they've been pressuring her and
0:51:20 > 0:51:21'pressuring her to do it'
0:51:21 > 0:51:23and, suddenly, it's done.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28Burghley quickly sends off the executioners.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32'But then, almost immediately,
0:51:32 > 0:51:36'Elizabeth acts as if she didn't know what she was signing.'
0:51:36 > 0:51:39"I was given a whole pile of papers by my secretary.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44"He should've told me that top of the pile was the warrant
0:51:44 > 0:51:46"for the execution of the Queen of Scots."
0:51:46 > 0:51:49So, she blames everybody but herself.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54All the time, she's trying to wash her hands of the blood of Mary,
0:51:54 > 0:51:56but they are covered in it.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02After 19 years of confinement,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Mary is suddenly told that she will die the next morning at
0:52:05 > 0:52:09Fotheringhay Castle, February 8th, 1587.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13I did not think the Queen, my sister,
0:52:13 > 0:52:15would have consented to my death.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21But seeing that your pleasure is so,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24death shall be to me
0:52:24 > 0:52:25most welcome.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32Do not accuse me of presumption if on the eve of leaving this world
0:52:32 > 0:52:35and preparing myself for a better one,
0:52:35 > 0:52:39I remind you that one day you will have to answer for your charge.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44Mary had decided that she would die a death that would
0:52:44 > 0:52:46always be remembered.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49She was going to go for a Catholic martyrdom.
0:52:50 > 0:52:51If she couldn't win in life,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53she would triumph in death.
0:53:00 > 0:53:06'Mary may not have had much sense, but what she did have was great style.'
0:53:06 > 0:53:09And right until the end, she kept that up.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18'She's dressed in black, she's got a cross in one hand,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22'a Latin prayer book in the other, there's a rosary around her wrist.'
0:53:23 > 0:53:27I hope you shall make an end to all my troubles.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30'She shows charity to her executioner,'
0:53:30 > 0:53:33she consoles her weeping ladies.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39'Under her outer garment, she's dressed in tawny red -
0:53:39 > 0:53:41'the colour of martyrdom.'
0:53:41 > 0:53:44There's even sort of gallows humour that you would get,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48so she jokes with her executioner that she hasn't had
0:53:48 > 0:53:50'such a servant undressing her before and certainly not
0:53:50 > 0:53:53'in front of the audience that she had there.'
0:53:56 > 0:54:00I have never taken off my clothes before such a company.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13IN LATIN
0:54:17 > 0:54:20SHE CONTINUES TO PRAY IN LATIN
0:54:37 > 0:54:39The first stroke goes right into the back of the neck.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43She continues praying, "Into thy hands, O Lord,
0:54:43 > 0:54:45"I commend my spirit," in Latin.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51The second blow goes really nine tenths of the way,
0:54:51 > 0:54:55but he finishes it off using the axe as a meat cleaver.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59'The headsman picks up the head, as you do,
0:54:59 > 0:55:00'and say "God save the Queen,"'
0:55:00 > 0:55:03except that, of course, Mary was wearing a wig,
0:55:03 > 0:55:05so the head rolls off the stage like a football.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08In a sense, it's a terribly fitting kind of end
0:55:08 > 0:55:12because like so much of Mary, Queen of Scots' life,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14it's theatrical.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17And very good theatre this time.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24In my end is my beginning.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29"In my end is my beginning." That was so apt.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32She's been immortalised after her death in many ways
0:55:32 > 0:55:35as the ultimate doomed heroine,
0:55:35 > 0:55:37THE damsel in distress.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41'Also as a figure of Scots nationalism in a way
0:55:41 > 0:55:42'against those beastly English
0:55:42 > 0:55:45'and, perhaps above all,'
0:55:45 > 0:55:48she is the ultimate Catholic martyr.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53We will never be sure what Elizabeth really felt for her cousin.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57But Mary's execution marked her forever.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59This is something Elizabeth never got over.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03She always denied that she'd been responsible for Mary's death.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05She lied point-blank to James that she was responsible.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07She blamed her councillors.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12I would you know, though not felt,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16the extreme pain which overwhelms my mind
0:56:16 > 0:56:20for that miserable...accident...
0:56:20 > 0:56:22far contrary to my meaning!
0:56:22 > 0:56:25I beseech you, God and many more
0:56:25 > 0:56:27know how innocent I am in this case.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35After 26 years of never having met Mary,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38Elizabeth now finds she's left it too late.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44History will have to decide who won their battle.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48'It may seem that the winner is obvious.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51'It is Elizabeth, she has put to death Mary, Queen of Scots.'
0:56:51 > 0:56:55She's vanquished her rival in the end.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59But arguably, Mary has the last laugh
0:56:59 > 0:57:03because it's her son James who becomes King of England.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07When Elizabeth dies without any children of her own,
0:57:07 > 0:57:09without anyone else to leave the throne to,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13she's forced to leave it to the son of her greatest rival.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21Mary's son James not only went on to rule both Scotland and England,
0:57:21 > 0:57:24he ensured that every subsequent British monarch
0:57:24 > 0:57:27would carry the blood of Mary, Queen of Scots.
0:57:28 > 0:57:34Mary had shaped history as profoundly as she had affected Elizabeth.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37Elizabeth was haunted by Mary's ghost
0:57:37 > 0:57:40for the rest of her days.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42She could never quite get out of her head
0:57:42 > 0:57:46the guilt that she felt at putting Mary to death
0:57:46 > 0:57:49and it's said that on Elizabeth's own deathbed,
0:57:49 > 0:57:52the name that she uttered last was that
0:57:52 > 0:57:53of the Queen of Scots.
0:57:57 > 0:58:02Would that we being two queens so near of kin...
0:58:03 > 0:58:06..neighbours and living in one isle...
0:58:07 > 0:58:11..should be friends and live together like sisters...
0:58:13 > 0:58:17..than by strange means divide ourselves
0:58:17 > 0:58:18to the hurt of us both.