The letter written by Mary Queen of Scots two hours before her beheading is presently in exhibition at the Perth Museum in Scotland.

Mary Stuart, who became queen of Scotland at age 6, was imprisoned by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I on the grounds of treason for allegedly plotting the death of Elizabeth. She spent half her life in prison before her execution at age 44.

According to the letter and history, Mary was at her dinner table when she received news of her impending death. She rose from the table, went to her cell, and penned the four-page manuscript missive, which she gave her physician to deliver to her brother-in-law, King Henry III of France.

In the letter, she reveals that the motives behind her imprisonment and execution hinge around her Catholic faith (which she refused to renounce), and for exercising her natural rights to lead the throne, contrary to the now centuries-old rumours that it was more of a political intrigue. The letter also shows her settling her household affairs.

It reads:

“Tonight, after dinner, I have been advised of my sentence: I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning.

“The Catholic faith and the assertion of my God-given right to the English crown are the two issues on which I am condemned, and yet I am not allowed to say that it is for the Catholic religion that I die.”

The letter has survived 5,268 months of tumult and trading since Mary wrote on February 7, 1587.

Stories of Mary’s courage—her red Catholic pinafore at the scaffold and her final words forgiving her executioner—raced through Europe. When the letter appeared, it cemented her image as a fearless martyr.

Part of the letter’s appeal is the mere fact that it has survived, still legible centuries after it was penned. Her physician dispatched it by horseback to the English coast, then by boat to France. From thence, it passed from royal archives to a Catholic seminary, then disappeared for a time into the chaos of the French Revolution. When it reappeared, it had become a highly valued collectable.

The letter eventually ended up in the hands of the English autograph connoisseur, Alfred Morrison. His widow had planned to include the letter in one of the lots to be auctioned off at Sotheby’s, when, out of fear of losing ‘this national treasure’, a group of 26 wealthy Scots banded together to purchase it directly (not at an auction).

That is how it came into the hands of the National Library of Scotland.

The exhibition opened in late January 2026 and will remain on display until the end of April 2026.