Interview between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots

An interview between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots was planned to take place at Nottingham in England in September 1562. Despite diplomatic negotiation and detailed planning the meeting did not take place. There would have been theatrical entertainments celebrating the amity of England and Scotland.Tracey Sowerby, "A Memorial and a Pledge of Faith: Portraiture and Early Modern Diplomatic Culture", English Historical Review, 129:537 (April 2014), p. 311: Sarah Carpenter, "Performing Diplomacies: The 1560s Court Entertainments of Mary Queen of Scots", Scottish Historical Review, 82:2 no. 214 (2003), pp. 209–211.

Background There had been plans for Mary's father James V and Henry VIII to meet from December 1534 onwards.Helen Newsome-Chandler, The Holograph Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, 1489–1541 (Cambridge: Camden, 2025), pp. 55–56, 236: John Hosack, Mary Queen of Scots and Her Accusers, 1 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1880), p. 97: State Papers of King Henry the Eighth, 5 (London, 1836), p. 3. Scotland was traditionally allied with France and remained a Catholic country while there had been a Protestant Reformation in England. James Learmonth of Dairsie, master of James V's household, was prominent in the negotiations. James V preferred to meet at Newcastle or York rather than London, and was understood to be reluctant to come to England in 1542 while his wife, Mary of Guise, was pregnant.Joseph Bain, Hamilton Papers, 1 (Edinburgh, 1890), pp. 230–231, 236, 244. The breakdown of arrangements for a meeting at York was claimed to have led to the battles of Haddon Rig and Solway Moss in 1542.David Potter, Henry VIII and Francis I: The Final Conflict, 1540–47 (Brill, 2011), pp. 89–90: Jenny Wormald, Mary, Queen of Scots: Politics, Passion and a Kingdom Lost (Tauris Parke, 2001), p. 47: Jamie Cameron, James V (Tuckwell, 1998), p. 131: Denys Hay, Letters of James V (Edinburgh, 1954), p. 320: Thomas P. Campbell, Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty, Tapestries at the Tudor Court (Yale, 2007), p. 261: Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland: Mary of Lorraine, 1 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1850), p. 399.Thomas Thomson, Memoirs of his own life by James Melville of Halhill (Edinburgh, 1827), pp. 60, 67.David M. Head, "Henry VIII's Scottish Policy: A Reassessment", Scottish Historical Review, 61:171, Part 1 (April 1982), p. 16.

Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to Scotland from France in August 1561.A. A. MacDonald, 'Mary Stewart's Entry to Edinburgh: an Ambiguous Triumph', Innes Review, 42:2 (Autumn 1991), pp. 101–110: A. R. MacDonald, 'The Triumph of Protestantism: the burgh council of Edinburgh and the entry of Mary Queen of Scots', Innes Review, 48:1 (Spring 1997), pp. 73–82. Elizabeth I was preoccupied with the terms of the 1560 treaty of Edinburgh, and sent Peter Meutas to ask for Mary's ratification. Issues about the treaty and its implications for the English succession might have been settled following a meeting in person.Tracy Borman, Elizabeth's Women (Vintage, 2010), pp. 239–242: Conyers Read, Mr. Secretary Cecil And Queen Elizabeth (New York, 1961), p. 229: David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1897), pp. 68–71. Mary told the English diplomat Thomas Randolph that she would like to meet Elizabeth I, saying that "above all other things, I do desire to see and speak with her". William Cecil was positive about the idea in December, but cautioned the diplomat Nicholas Throckmorton of the danger to be "any singular doer therein".Philip Yorke, Miscellaneous State Papers, vol. 1 (London, 1778), p. 179. By January 1562, a meeting of the two Queens regularly features in diplomatic correspondence.Conyers Read, Mr. Secretary Cecil And Queen Elizabeth (New York, 1961), pp. 235–238: Thomas Finlayson Henderson, Mary Queen of Scots, 1 (London, 1905), p. 209: Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547-1563, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 576 no. 1049, 585 no. 1058.

There were rumours that Nicholas Throckmorton was an enthusiastic advocate for the interview and the prospect of Mary as Elizabeth's heir, influenced by gifts of silver plate which he had received from Mary.Simon Adams, Ian Archer, George W. Bernard, 'A Journall of Matters of State', Religion, Politics, and Society in Sixteenth-Century England (Cambridge: Camden Society, 2003), pp. 108–109. His son Arthur's will mentions a silver gilt cup which Mary had given to Nicholas Throckmorton in France.Throckmorton, Arthur (c.1557-1626), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981

Preliminary discussions for a meeting of Mary and Elizabeth in 1562 included an exchange of diamond rings.Thomas Finlayson Henderson, Mary Queen of Scots, 1 (London, 1905), p. 215: John Guy, The Life of Mary Queen of Scots (Fourth Estate, 2009), p. 159: Calendar State Papers Domestic, Elizabeth, p. 202: Ada Jane Evelyn Arbuthnot, Queen Mary's Book: A Collection of Poems and Essays (Bell, 1907), p. 174: Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1562 (London, 1867), p. 101 no. 201. Mary sent verses with her gift,Morna R. Fleming, "An Unequal Correspondence", Sarah M. Dunningan, C. Marie Harker, Evelyn S. Newlyn, Women and the Feminine in Medieval and Early Modern Scottish Writing (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), pp. 107-9: Kate McClune, 'New Year and the Giving of Advice at the Stewart Court', Steven J. Reid, Rethinking the Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Boydell, 2024), 206: British Library Cotton Caligula B.IX (2), f.284: Anna Groundwater, 'Tracing Royal Stewart Jewels in the Archives', Decoding the Jewels (Sidestone, 2024), pp. 172–75: Antonia Fraser, Mary Queen of Scots (Phoenix Press, 2002), p. 206. and the English bishop John Jewel sent copies to his friend Henry Bullinger. The Bishop was sceptical of Mary's diplomatic overtures and the plans for a meeting of the two queens, and attributed Mary's part in the initiative to her uncle François, Duke of Guise. Bishop Jewel also sent the verses to Josias Simmler, commenting on Mary's statecraft with a quotation, "He who knows not how to dissemble, knows not how to govern".J. E. Neale, Queen Elizabeth (London: Jonathan Cape, 1934), p. 112: Frank Arthur Mumby, Elizabeth and Mary Stuart: The Beginning of the Feud (London, 1914), p. 238: Hastings Robinson, Zurich Letters, 1 (Cambridge, 1842), pp. 114–115, 120, and in Latin pp. 68, 71, Jewel attributed the quotation to Louis XI.

In Edinburgh, Thomas Randolph canvassed opinions about "th'intrevew" or "solemn meeting". He heard that the meeting might "repair the dishonour" of James V not coming to York with new "affiance and trust". Mary's secretary William Maitland of Lethington had been an advocate for the interview,Maurice Lee, jnr., James Stewart, Earl of Moray: A Political Study of the Reformation in Scotland (New York, 1953), pp. 95–97. and he began to make arrangements in London. Maitland brought Elizabeth's picture, possibly a portrait miniature, to Mary at Dunfermline Palace or Holyroodhouse in July 1562. Randolph said that although Mary wanted to limit numbers, many Scottish courtiers wanted to see Elizabeth and were glad to behold her picture.Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547-1563, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 607–608 no. 1083, 639–640 no. 1125.

Discussions in 1562

In April 1562, Thomas Randolph wrote about Mary's plans for the interview with Elizabeth. He thought the Scottish party would be dressed in black cloth, to suit Mary's wearing of mourning clothes and also save money. The courtiers were also worried about exchange rates.Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 620–621 nos. 1095, 1096.

Mary's plans were held up for a couple of weeks after she was bruised in a riding accident at Falkland Palace.Retha Warnicke, Mary Queen of Scots (Routledge, 2006), p. 77. She sent James Stewart, Lord Inchcolm to Elizabeth, and on 19 May asked the Privy Council to support her interview plans. Mary's brother, Lord James, Earl of Mar, suggested that Christopher Goodman would a suitable minister and preacher for the Scottish retinue in England.John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. 206: Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1562 (London, 1867), p. 31 no. 49.

At the end of May, Mary invited the Hepburn or Cockburn Laird of Ormistoun, the Earl of Cassilis, and others to come the borders for the meeting of the queens. They were instructed that her "whole train will be clad in dule, therefore address you and such as will be in your company in like sort". Mary went to Dunfermline on 9 June and waited for Maitland's return from Elizabeth's court.Thomas Wright, Queen Elizabeth and her times, 1 (London, 1838), p. 98: Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1562 (London, 1867), pp. 61 no. 117, 89 no. 176.HMC 5th Report: Marquis of Ailsa (London, 1876), p. 615.

Elizabeth was pleased with letters brought by Maitland and spoke in favour of the interview answering objections made by her privy councillors. She began to make arrangements for a meeting at York or near the River Trent at "Bartholomew Tide", meaning on 24 August.Tracy Borman, The Stolen Crown: Treachery, deceit and the death of the Tudor dynasty (Hodder & Stoughton, 2025), pp. 47–48: Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1562 (London, 1867), pp. 93 no. 187, 103–194 nos. 207–216. Lord Grey was anxious that Mary should not cross the Tweed at Norham Castle, which was in disrepair, and offered to make an honourable reception at Berwick-upon-Tweed. However, it was felt that news of the changing situation in France might end the project. Henry Sidney suggested that the English diplomat in Paris, Nicholas Throckmorton, was in a position to prevent the interview and save the expense, estimated at £40,000.Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1562 (London, 1867), pp. 93, no. 187, 110 no. 229.

The French ambassador in London Paul de Foix made a memorandum detailing plans for the interview between Mary and Elizabeth. He had discussed the plans with William Maitland, who was finalising details at Greenwich Palace. De Foix's secretary was sent to show Charles IX of France the schedule of events. The Earls of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lord Arundel would meet Mary at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The meeting would have been at Nottingham, and Elizabeth would have awaited Mary's arrival at the Bishop's Palace at Southwell.Alexandre Teulet, Papiers d'État Relatifs à l'Histoire de l'Écosse, 2 (Paris: Plon, Bannatyne Club, 1852), pp. 24-30: John Guy, The Life of Mary Queen of Scots (Fourth Estate, 2009), p. 159.

Articles for the interview were agreed by Maitland and William Cecil, setting a date for the meeting between 20 August and 20 September 1562.Allan White, "Queen Mary's Northern Province", Michael Lynch, Mary Stewart, Queen in Three Kingdoms (Basil Blackwell, 1988), p. 59: Samuel Haynes, Collection of State Papers (London: Bowyer, 1740), pp. 388–390.

Masque at Nottingham Castle In July a tournament at the interview was announced.Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1562 (London, 1867), p. 157 no. 309. Elizabeth sent out invitations, including, on 5 July, Edward Seymour. He was asked to come to Nottingham Castle by 4 September 1562.HMC 15th Report Appendix 7: The manuscripts of the Duke of Somerset (London, 1898), p. 1.