Mary Queen of Scots, the captivating prisoner

With a dramatic and tragic life story including murder, intrigue and execution, and being exceptionally tall, beautiful and charismatic according to her contemporaries, it's no wonder that Mary, Queen of the Scots, remains a famous figure to this day.

Mary became the monarch of Scotland at just six days old in 1542, following the death of her father James V. Whilst Scotland was ruled by regents until she grew up, Mary was raised in the French court and ultimately married the French Dauphin.

Mary's husband became King of France in 1559 but died the following year. Now a widow at 18, Mary returned to Scotland. Despite the disadvantage of being a female ruler - and essentially a foreigner and a Catholic in a Protestant country - Mary's rule was initially successful and popular.

But it all began to unravel for Mary when she took her cousin, Henry Stuart, Earl of Darnley, as her second husband in a marriage that was provocative to the English monarch, Elizabeth I. Both Mary and Henry had a claim to the English throne through their grandmother. Worse, the handsome Darnley turned out to be a troublesome and violent waster, and unfit to be anywhere near the levers of power.

In 1566, Darnley stabbed Mary's secretary Rizzio to death in front of her whilst she was pregnant with Darnley's child. A year after their son James was born, Darnley died in a deliberate explosion at his house, and Mary married the man thought to have arranged the murder.

The Scots were not impressed by such behaviour and Mary was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son, fleeing to her cousin Elizabeth I in England, believing that Elizabeth would help her go back to reclaim her throne. Instead, Elizabeth imprisoned her for the next 18 years.

To Elizabeth's enemies, Mary's claim to the English throne was superior to her own, as Elizabeth had been (falsely) declared illegitimate by her own father, Henry VIII.

The end finally came for Mary when she was implicated in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, conspiring with Catholics at the English court. Mary was beheaded for treason on 7th February 1587. When the executioner held the severed head aloft, it fell from his hands and he was left holding a wig.

Many historic public buildings in the UK hold stories and mementoes of Mary's life, including the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.