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Question
#52789. Buck540
asks:
Who was Mary Queen of Scots?
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kaylofgorons
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Cousin to Queen Elizabeth I, and beheaded for conspiracy.
Is it true she wore a wig at the time of her death, or is that another legend?
Nov 30 04, 4:07 PM
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picqero
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Wearing a wig was quite common practice in the Tudor era, and Mary was no exception. As a young woman she was reputed to be tall, slender and beautiful with long auburn hair. As she became older and suffered the trauma of imprisonment, she lost her good looks - as shown in portraits of the time, and took to wearing a wig. Her execution was a bloody affair and it took three blows of the axe to sever her head. The executioner then picked up the severed head by the hair only to be left holding a bloody wig. Much to the consternation of those present, her headless body then started to move and it was found to be her small pet dog which she had concealed in her dress! In some ways Mary had the final laugh on Elizabeth I who had ordered her execution, as Mary's son James inherited the English throne, after the childless Elizabeth died, starting the Stuart Dynasty. Unfortunately James's son Charles I also suffered beheading after the English Civil War - but that's another story!
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/maryqosbio.html
Dec 01 04, 6:21 AM
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