How to read the Mary Queen of Scots family tree
Read the Mary Queen of Scots family tree from the top down, one generation to a row. Mary is the index person, drawn with a double ring, and her three husbands stand beside her in the fourth row. The line to Bothwell runs lowest because he was the last.
Elizabeth I hangs from her father alone, since her mother Anne Boleyn passed on no claim that matters here. The King Henry VIII family tree draws the whole of that family.
The Tudor link on the Mary Queen of Scots family tree
Henry VII married Elizabeth of York in 1486. The Royal Family records that their daughter Margaret married James IV of Scotland and that Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI and I descend from that marriage.4 Margaret was thirteen when she was sent to Scotland in 1503.2
After James IV was killed at Flodden in September 1513, Margaret was regent for her son, and in August 1514 she married Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, in secret.29 Their daughter Margaret Douglas was born in 1515. So Margaret Tudor had a grandchild in each of her two marriages, Mary through James V and Lord Darnley through Margaret Douglas.10 When Mary married Darnley in 1565, she married her half-cousin.5
Two grandchildren of Margaret Tudor
- Monarchs of England
- Margaret Tudor
- Stewart
- Douglas and Lennox
- A monarch of England
- A marriage
James IV, James V and Mary of Guise
James IV became king in 1488 and married Margaret at Holyrood Abbey on 8 August 1503, after the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with England.6 He died with many of his nobles at Flodden in 1513.6 Their son James V was king at seventeen months.7
James V married Madeleine of Valois in 1537, and after her death that year he married Mary of Guise at St Andrews in June 1538.78 He died at Falkland Palace on 14 December 1542, and his daughter Mary, born at Linlithgow six days before, became queen.57 Mary of Guise was regent of Scotland from 1554 until her death in 1560.8
Three husbands on the Mary Queen of Scots family tree
Mary was educated at the French court and betrothed to the Dauphin.1 She married Francis at Notre-Dame in Paris in April 1558. He became king and died in December 1560, and Mary landed at Leith in August 1561.5
In July 1565 she married Darnley at Holyrood. Their son James was born at Edinburgh Castle in June 1566. In February 1567 Darnley was found dead at Kirk o’Field after an explosion, and in May Mary married James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who had been acquitted of the murder.511 Bothwell fled after Carberry Hill and died a prisoner in Denmark in 1578.11
| Husband | Married | How it ended |
|---|---|---|
| Francis II of France | 24 April 1558, Notre-Dame de Paris | His death, December 1560 |
| Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley | 29 July 1565, Holyrood | His murder, February 1567 |
| James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell | 15 May 1567, Holyrood | His flight in 1567 and death in 1578 |
James VI and I and the union of the crowns
Mary was forced to abdicate in July 1567, and James became James VI of Scotland at thirteen months old.512 His grandfather Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox, was regent from 1570 and was assassinated in 1571.10 James married Anne of Denmark in 1589.12
Elizabeth I died childless in March 1603, and James succeeded her as James I of England. He was a great-great-grandson of Henry VII through Margaret Tudor, the elder sister of Henry VIII.123 He had been King of Scotland for 36 years when he came to England, and he died in 1625.3
Captivity, execution and burial
Mary fled to England after her army was defeated in 1568 and was held in confinement by Elizabeth.1 She was found guilty of plotting against Elizabeth and executed at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587.51 Elizabeth ordered her burial at Peterborough Cathedral.1
In 1612 her son ordered her remains brought to Westminster Abbey, where she was reburied on 11 October.1 Margaret Douglas, the mother of Darnley, is buried in the Abbey too.10 The Tudor family tree follows the English side of this family.
Who is who on the Mary Queen of Scots family tree
All 17 people on the chart are listed.
| Portrait | Person | Years | Life | On the chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Henry VIIKing of England, 1485 to 1509 | 1457–1509 | Great-grandfather of Mary. Sources4 | |
 | Elizabeth of YorkQueen of Henry VII | 1466–1503 | Mother of Margaret Tudor. Sources4 | |
 | James IVKing of Scots, 1488 to 1513 | 1473–1513 | Killed at Flodden. Sources6 | |
 | Margaret TudorQueen of Scots | 1489–1541 | Grandmother of both Mary and Darnley. | |
 | Archibald DouglasEarl of Angus | c. 1489–1557 | Second husband of Margaret Tudor. Sources9 | |
 | Henry VIIIKing of England, 1509 to 1547 | 1491–1547 | Brother of Margaret Tudor. Sources12 | |
 | Mary of GuiseRegent of Scotland | 1515–1560 | Mother of Mary. Sources8 | |
 | James VKing of Scots, 1513 to 1542 | 1512–1542 | Father of Mary. Sources7 | |
 | Margaret DouglasCountess of Lennox | 1515–1578 | Mother of Darnley. Sources10 | |
| MS | Matthew StewartEarl of Lennox | 1516–1571 | Regent for his grandson. Sources10 | |
 | Elizabeth IQueen of England, 1558 to 1603 | 1533–1603 | She held Mary captive. | |
| JH | James HepburnEarl of Bothwell | c. 1534–1578 | Third husband of Mary. Sources11 | |
 | Francis IIKing of France | 1544–1560 | First husband of Mary. Sources5 | |
 | Mary, Queen of ScotsQueen of Scots, 1542 to 1567 | 1542–1587 | Executed at Fotheringhay in 1587. | |
 | Lord DarnleySecond husband of Mary | 1546–1567 | Killed at Kirk o’Field. | |
 | James VI and IKing of Scots and of England | 1566–1625 | Son of Mary and Darnley. | |
 | Anne of DenmarkQueen of James VI and I | c. 1574–1619 | Married in 1589. Sources12 |
Questions about the Mary Queen of Scots family tree
How Mary, Queen of Scots, was related to Elizabeth I
Mary was the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, and Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII, the brother of Margaret.
How Mary and Darnley were related
Both were grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, so their son James carried both claims to the English crown.
People and sources
A page of its own lists the 12 numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the portraits and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.