Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was born at Temple Newsam, Leeds, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1546. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, and Lady Margaret Douglas. His maternal grandparents were Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Queen Margaret Tudor, making him a great-grandson of Henry VII of England and a great-great-great-grandson of James II of Scotland. This lineage gave him potential claims to both the Scottish and English thrones. Darnley was married to Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1565, and became king consort of Scotland. He fathered James VI of Scotland and I of England. Darnley was an athletic individual, skilled in horsemanship and weaponry, and had a passion for hunting and hawking. His life was marked by political intrigue, as his parents’ Roman Catholic faith and royal lineage posed a threat to the Protestant establishment in England.

Darnley’s father was exiled for 22 years due to his involvement in the War of the Rough Wooing, and his mother had left Scotland in 1528. Darnley’s education was overseen by tutors such as the Scottish scholar John Elder. He was murdered at Kirk o’ Field in 1567, less than a year after the birth of his son. Contemporary narratives often refer to him as Lord Darnley, his title as heir apparent to the Earldom of Lennox.