Robert Throckmorton 1584 for acting as a go-between for Mary, Queen of Scots and the Spanish Ambassador in an attempt to invade England and place Mary on the throne. A niece Elizabeth, also known as Bess, the daughter of Sir Nicholas, and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, also got into trouble by secretly marrying Sir Walter Raleigh. Robert Throckmorton died on 12 February 1581, six days after making a will in which he styled himself as being of Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire, but asked to be buried at Coughton, where an alabaster and marble tomb was accordingly erected to his memory. There is
Elizabeth I of England for a smooth succession. Since Elizabeth would never name her successor, Cecil was obliged to proceed in secret. He therefore entered into a coded negotiation with James VI of Scotland, who had a strong but unrecognised claim. Cecil coached the impatient James to humour Elizabeth and "secure the heart of the highest, to whose sex and quality nothing is so improper as either needless expostulations or over much curiosity in her own actions". The advice worked. James's tone delighted Elizabeth, who responded: "So trust I that you will not doubt but that your last letters are so acceptably taken as