Mary of Guise grace may perceive the perplexed state of affairs in Scotland." At first Guise stayed unwillingly at Linlithgow Palace, then in July 1543 she moved with the infant Queen to Stirling Castle. When Ralph Sadler spoke to her again in August, Guise assured him the English marriage would go ahead when Mary was ten years old. In the meantime Mary was safe at Stirling, and Guise said she was glad to be at Stirling and, "much she praised there about the house." It soon became clear to Henry VIII that Mary and Edward would not be married, despite Scottish promises and
Mary, Queen of Scots of England, Elizabeth was recognised as her sister's heir, and Henry VIII's last will and testament had excluded the Stuarts from succeeding to the English throne. Yet, in the eyes of many Catholics, Elizabeth was illegitimate, and Mary Stuart, as the senior descendant of Henry VIII's elder sister, was the rightful queen of England. Henry II of France proclaimed his eldest son and daughter-in-law king and queen of England, and in France the royal arms of England were quartered with those of Francis and Mary. Mary's claim to the English throne was a perennial sticking point between her and Elizabeth