MARY’S SECRET CODE

Mary, Queen of Scots is one of Scotland’s most enduring historical figures. The appetite for tales of her fated life in print and on screen remains voracious. As Dr Steven Reid, Senior Lecturer in Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, puts it, “her story is consumed for its drama and tragedy”.

And it’s easy to see why. Mary was a woman, no less, at the heart of religious, and therefore political, divisions between Scotland and England in the 16th century. She endured an alleged kidnapping, accusations of murder and infidelity, as well as captivity and much personal heartache, ranging from abandonment by her son to the prickly relationship she had with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. It really is the stuff of a delectable medieval soap