Mary was sentenced to death after being found guilty of plotting the assassination of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. As Mary prepared for her execution, she made sure her attire would send one last message to the world.
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TRANSCRIPT
The execution of a monarch -- a dishonorable traitor's death -- shocks Europe.
Despite this, Mary retains control of the narrative.
-"In my end is my beginning."
She could be saying, you know, "I am going into the afterlife as a martyr."
She has kept her faith.
She has never wavered.
I think Mary is referring to, "You might execute me, but my line lives on, in James."
So even though James had gone behind her back, she still understands that he will go on to inherit what she did not.
-Brought to the block in front of English noblemen and other witnesses, Mary makes her final, triumphant move.
-One of the shaming things of the execution is going to be that she will be required to disrobe in public.
It's designed to humiliate her.
So, when her outer garments are removed, rather than standing in shame, she appears in glorious crimson red.
The color of martyrdom.
This is political theater at its absolute finest.
-She knows it's going to be reported across Europe.
So, she's thinking long-term, and saying, "I'm undiminished.
I am defiant in the face of you."
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