List of Heirs of Scotland - Heirs To Mary I

Heirs To Mary I

The new Queen was only a few days old when she succeeded her father. The heir-presumptive was her kinsman

• the Earl of Arran, who was named Regent. He became a leader of the pro-French party, being instrumental in arranging the marriage of the Queen to the eldest son of King Henry II of France, the Dauphin Francis, and was rewarded by the French king with the title of Duc de Châtellherault in 1548. In 1554 he surrendered the regency to the Queen's mother, Mary of Guise, in return for confirmation of his status as heir-presumptive. He later joined the Protestant faction, and tried to marry the widowed Queen to his son James, but retired to his estates in 1565 after Mary married her first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. The couple's first child,
• James, Duke of Rothesay, was born on 19 June 1566 and was heir-apparent from that date.

After Mary's third marriage to the Earl of Bothwell, the Lords of Scotland rose in rebellion against her, and on 24 July 1567 she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son, who became James VI.