Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley not together in early 1545 and a letter of March 1566, from Mary Queen of Scots, indicates Darnley was then nineteen years old. Therefore the date 1546 would seem probable. A descendant of both James II of Scotland and Henry VII of England, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was heir to two royal houses, the House of Stuart and the House of Tudor, thus he had claim to both the Scottish and English thrones, a claim that may have cost him his life. In 1545, his father, Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was found guilty of treason in Scotland for
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley Scots ... Thirdly, and most significantly, the elevation of the Lennoxes presented an obstacle between the Queen of Scots and the English throne. Thus was Darnley's uniquely 'British' inheritance put to use at last ... The subsequent release of Darnley into Scotland and the restoration of his father at the Scottish Court were part of this policy: the political disaster of the Darnley marriage as yet unforeseen." In September 1564, the Scottish Parliament restored Matthew Stewart's rights and titles as Earl of Lennox, and listened to a lengthy speech from the Queen's secretary William Maitland, who offered;"[I]t may be affirmid