Tag Archives: Stuart history

Rival Queens by Kate Williams – The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots

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Rival Queens which is subtitled The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots by Kate Williams was published in 2018. I borrowed this one from the library, and I swithered about taking it as I’ve read quite a few books about Mary, Q of S – what more could there be to say? Well it turned out that there’s quite a lot in this book that was new to me about Mary and Elizabeth. I had thought that Antonia Fraser’s Mary, Queen of Scots couldn’t be topped, but the author seems to have far more insights into both personalities, although it’s Mary and her predicaments which are to the fore in this book. The writing style is very relaxed somehow,  it flows so clearly and is never heavy going, and Kate Williams is just like her readers would be – enthralled and sometimes almost amazed by the fact that she has access to historic  letters and documents that she has been able to study during her research for the book. Other historians have been a bit reticent on the reasons that Mary ended up marrying Bothwell, but Williams seems in no doubt that she had been raped by Bothwell, and was pressured into marrying him.

I hadn’t quite realised how much Mary had been used by her various relatives, with them seeing her as just a way for  them to grab more power and kingdoms in the future. I don’t remember reading that the four wee Marys who sailed to France with Mary Stuart to be her playmates had been separated from her almost immediately. The Scottish side of Mary was going to be stamped out so that she would be a completely French queen when the time came.

Both queens suffered from a lack of the respect which would have been automatic for any young king, simply because they were male. With both women having so much in common it’s a tragedy that they never actually met, but Elizabeth couldn’t be persuaded.

I’ve always thought that Mary was at a disadvantage where men were concerned as her father died when she was just days old, it meant that she never had a man in her life that she could judge any possible husband against – for good or bad. I’m sure that’s a disadvantage.

As it happens I’ve visited almost all of the places that are mentioned in the book, some of which she escaped from.

Anyway I enjoyed this book so much that I’m going to track down anything else that Kate Williams has written, both non-fiction and fiction.

Elizabeth and Mary edited by Susan Doran

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Elizabeth and Mary – Royal Cousins, Rival Queens – which is edited by Susan Doran is a lovely book and I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of it by British Library for review. Among many things the book contains contributions in the shape of essays by 14 academics, mainly historians, as you would expect.

This is a really sumptuous book with beautiful photographs of historic portraits, jewels and religious works, maps and drawings of castles, but by far most of the photographs are of letters sent by and to Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots to each other and to many of the prominent people of the times.
It’s not all letters though, there are also poems and speeches written by Elizabeth and Mary and even John Knox makes an appearance.

My only gripe is that most of the documents are not big enough to be able to read, but as many are in French or Latin possibly it was thought that readers wouldn’t want to read them for themselves. I must admit that it’s quite some time since I was sent this one for review, but it isn’t really the sort of book that you sit down and read quickly from cover to cover, it’s the sort that you dip in and out of and savour over quite some time.

This book was produced by British Library to accompany an Elizabeth and Mary exhibition, which I so wish I had been able to go to, but this book is the next best thing I suppose.

Thank you to British Library for sending me a copy of the book.