Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley — the 500-year-old Unsolved Murder
The Murder of the Unpopular Second Husband of Mary, Queen of Scots
Henry Stuart who also went by Lord Darnley, was Mary, Queen of Scots, second husband. Together, they had one child, King James VI and I.
*(His son would preside over England and Ireland as James VI from July 24, 1567. When the union of the Scottish and English occurred on March 24, 1603, he would rule until his death in 1625.)
Mary and Lord Darnley would stay married until he was found murdered in 1597 in the garden of his destroyed residence due to an explosion.
The suspects were Mary and her soon-to-be third husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.
The Courtship of Mary and Henry
First cousins Mary and Henry married in 1565. Since both had strong ties to the English and Scottish thrones, the union made practical sense. However, it didn’t take long before arguments and fights broke out between the newlyweds, causing them to drift apart.
Their marriage produced one child but the couple’s problems remained unresolved. Henry wanted Mary to grant him the crown matrimonial to give him equal rights in the government but she refused. Now, her husband didn’t have a good track record when it came to…
