Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Who was Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley?

Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany, styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland from 1565 until his murder at Kirk o' Field in 1567. Many contemporary narratives describing his life and death refer to him as Lord Darnley, his title as heir apparent to the Earldom of Lennox, and it is by this appellation that he is now generally known.

He was the second but eldest surviving son of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, and his wife, Lady Margaret Douglas. Darnley's maternal grandparents were Archibald Douglas, sixth Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England, and widow of James IV, king of Scots. It is the common belief that Henry Stewart was born on 7 December, but this is disputed. He was a first cousin to and the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was the father of her son James VI of Scotland, who succeeded Elizabeth I of England as James I of England.