Two strokes of the axe
Mary, Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire on 8 February 1587. She had been queen of Scotland from six days old, queen consort of France at sixteen, and a prisoner in England for nineteen years. She was 44 years old.
Mary entered the great hall of Fotheringhay wearing a black gown, which she removed to reveal a bodice and petticoat of deep crimson — the Catholic colour of martyrdom. She forgave her executioner, knelt at the block, and stretched out her arms. The first blow struck the back of her head. The second severed her neck. When the executioner lifted her head by the hair, it fell away — Mary had been wearing a wig. Her lips continued to move for several minutes.
The execution was a political earthquake. Catholic Europe was outraged. Philip II of Spain used it as justification for the Armada the following year. In Scotland, James VI protested but did not break with England — he was, after all, the next in line for Elizabeth's throne. Sixteen years later, he got it.
Mary's body was initially buried at Peterborough Cathedral. In 1612, her son James — by then James I of England — had her remains moved to Westminster Abbey, where she was placed in a magnificent tomb directly opposite Elizabeth I. The two queens who had been enemies in life now lie just yards apart in death. Mary's life has been the subject of more books, plays, films, and operas than any other Scottish historical figure. Her story — of love, betrayal, imprisonment, and execution — remains one of the most dramatic in European history.