Mary 'the best Queen England never had'

Published on Thursday 4 March 2004 00:00

A HISTORIAN whose recent book on Mary Queen of Scots has recast her as "the greatest Queen England never had" is to give a lecture at St Andrews University on her life and the importance of her remarriage to Lord Darnley.

Professor John Guy, known to many through his television programmes, has painted a new picture of Mary as a queen who, had she lived, would have eclipsed her "cousin", Elizabeth I, as monarch.

He claims Mary was innocent of Darnley’s murder and was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by William Cecil, then the most powerful man in England.

In his lecture today, Prof Guy will discuss his reassessment of Mary’s place in history, and her time at St Andrews, where she made the decision to remarry after the death of her first husband, Francis.

He said: "It’s time for Scotland to rediscover a great queen, charismatic, successful, a modern woman who secured the succession and was viewed with favour by England."

• The lecture will take place at 5:15pm in School III, St Salvator’s Quadrangle, North Street.