On 1 February 1587, Elizabeth Queen of England, signed the death warrant of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary was executed by beheading on 8 February 1587.

Sire, my brother-in-law, having by God’s will, for my sins I think, thrown myself into the power of the Queen my cousin, at whose hands I have suffered much for almost twenty years, I have finally been condemned to death by her and her Estates.  – 8 February, 1587.

Mary had fled to England to seek the protection of her cousin, Elizabeth, Queen of England. She was promptly imprisoned in a series of castles, with worsening conditions until her final execution.

Mary was a Catholic and Elizabeth a Protestant, and after eighteen and a half years in captivity, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586 and was beheaded the following year at Fotheringhay Castle.

Mary wrote a last letter now in the care of the National Library of Scotland.

At 2am on Wednesday 8 February 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots wrote her last ever letter. Addressing her brother-in-law, King Henri III of France, she told him, “I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning”.

“The Catholic faith and the assertion of my God-given right to the English crown are the two issues on which I am condemned, and yet I am not allowed to say that it is for the Catholic religion that I die”.
Extract from the last letter of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1587

Click on this link to read the full transcript of the letter : Mary Queen of Scots, 8 February 1587.

Mary was only 44 when she was executed. Elizabeth died childless and Mary’s son, James became King of both England and Scotland.