Craigmillar Castle

After a visit to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary I took this cropped photo looking across the carpark towards Craigmillar Castle. The hospital is situated in Little France where many of Mary Queen of Scots’ French retinue stayed while attending to the Queen after she returned from France when her husband the King of France died. She had spent most of her childhood in France and liked to escape from the intrigues and plots in nearby Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace and stayed a while recuperating at Craigmillar after illness and again after her close private Secretary, David Rizzio, was killed.  However the ‘Craigmillar Bond’ was plotted to get rid of her very unpopular husband, Darnley, and although there is no proof of her knowledge of the plot it was the start of her downfall which lead eventually to her abdication in favour of her infant son who eventually became James VI of Scotland and James I of England. Unfortunately Mary never again experienced the peace and tranquillity that she had at Craigmillar Castle.

This is part of my occasional series on places connected with the famous, but tragic, Mary Queen of Scots (see the tags)

(Mary Queen of Scots 10)