Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley were Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret, daughter of Henry VII of England and widow of James IV of Scotland. It is the common belief that Darnley was born on 7 December, but this is disputed. He was a first cousin and the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was the father of her son James VI of Scotland, who succeeded Elizabeth I of England as James I. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was born, at Temple Newsam, Leeds, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England in 1545. However this date is uncertain as his parents were
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley of marriage were called in the parish of Canongate. A proclamation was made at the Cross of Edinburgh on 28 July that government would be in the joint names of the king and queen of Scots, thus giving Darnley equality with, and precedence over, Mary. This was confirmed in the circulation of a silver ryal in the names of Henry and Mary. On 29 July 1565, the marriage took place by Roman Catholic rites in Mary's private chapel at Holyrood, but Darnley (whose religious beliefs were unfixed – he was raised as a Catholic, but was later influenced by Protestantism)