Mary Queen of Scots -- Babington Plot

Clips on the death of Mary Queen of Scots and the events that preceded this. For an interesting dramatised account of these events, I really recommend episode four of the series 'Elizabeth R'. Gory fact: Starkey mentions at one point that it took two strokes of the axe to remove Mary's head. This is true, however even after the second strike the head was not fully decapitated and the executioner had to saw off the remaining strands of ligament. When he displayed her head to the crowd, the head is reputed to have fallen to the ground, leaving the executioner clutching a wig. Elizabeth seriously procrastinated signing her cousin's death warrant. This was probably based on a mixture of things; firstly she feared the reaction from abroad over the execution of the Catholic Mary Stuart. She also recognised Mary as an anointed Queen and felt extremely uncomfortable having her killed (just as she was always touchy when it came to matters of monarchs being deposed). And of course Mary was a relation, and Elizabeth had a hard enough time getting herself to sign her distant cousin, the 4th Duke of Norfolk's death warrant back in the 1570s. In the end she signed the warrant. Then called back the man who had taken the warrant and told him not to seal it. The man, called Davidson, was confused about what to do and so got in contact with eleven councillors, including William Cecil and Robert Dudley and was told to despatch the warrant and not tell the Queen. Elizabeth was furious when she found out about her cousin's death. She did not speak to William Cecil for a month. The death of Mary meant that her only child, James VI of Scotland, became Elizabeth's likely heir. Eventually he did inherit the English throne in 1603 and became James I of England. Thus the beginning of the Stuart dynasty in England.