Letter written by Mary Queen of Scots hours before execution to go on display

A letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots six hours before her execution in 1587 is going on display in Perth.

The letter was penned by the doomed monarch at Fortheringhay Castle for her brother-in-law, Henri III of Franceleft, and left instructions for the care of the staff after her execution.

The letter has been held by the Scottish nation since 1917 and will leave the National Library of Scotland for the first time in a generation to go on show at the new Perth Museum in 2026.

Huge queues formed outside the Library’s George IV Bridge building in Edinburgh the last time the letter went on show in 2017.

‘We are overjoyed to be a key partner in National Library of Scotland’s centenary celebrations,’ Helen Smout, Chief Executive of Culture Perth and Kinross said.

Mary Queen of Scots last letter.

‘It is an honour that the Library has entrusted us to display Mary Queen of Scots last letter at Perth Museum in 2026 as part of this programme. 

‘This precious document will sit alongside our other iconic displays including the Stone of Destiny.

‘Perth and Kinross is at the very heart of Scotland’s story and Mary had significant links to the area, notably her abdication and 11-month imprisonment at Loch Leven Castle. 

‘This will be the first time the letter has been seen north of Edinburgh in modern history, and the longest period it will be on public view for more than 20 years.’

Part of the letter reads: ‘Tonight, after dinner, I have been advised of my sentence: I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning. I have not had time to give you a full account of everything that has happened, but if you will listen to my doctor and my other unfortunate servants, you will learn the truth, and how, thanks be to God, I scorn death and vow that I meet it innocent of any crime, even if I were their subject.’

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