In 1567, finally Mary, Queen of Scots found enduring happiness with her third husband James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell who she married on this historic day at the Holyrood Palace in the great city of Edinburgh. In fact, the Queen was so madly in love with Bothwell that she now appeared to give up even her Catholicism for him because the wedding was conducted according to the Protestant rites.

Happy Endings Part 4
The Wedding at HolyroodTo be sure the groom's elevation to Duke of Orkney fostered resentment in some quarters of Scottish society. And some Catholics even considered the marriage unlawful, since they did not recognise Bothwell's divorce or the validity of the Protestant service Also during the early months of their rule, murmurings of a rebellion were heard amongs the Scottish nobility who required little encourage to revert to lawlessness, violence, feuds and rapacity.

However the arrest and conviction of Mary's treacherous half-brother, the Earl of Moray, removed a mischievous key individual who could have siezed the thrown given the slightest opportunity. Another conspirator removed from the scene was the Queen's second husband, Lord Darney; it took a seven-hour murder trial to prove Bothwell's innocence. At last, Mary was able to put down a stable governance platform to build upon for the future. They never looked back; the royal couple were able to move the political situation forward, diminishing the power of the nobles and thus properly immersing Stuart Rule in the fabric of the still-Independent Kingdom of Scotland.