10. Wrong: Although Mary was present at the murder of David Rizzio – who was inaccurately portrayed as a homosexual rather than her alleged lover in Mary, Queen of Scots – his death most likely did not occur literally in front of her
An Italian courtier from Turin, David Rizzio, failing to ingratiate himself into the circles of Italian nobility, departed for Scotland in 1561 with the embassy led by the Count de Moretto. Failing once again to find employment at the Court of Scotland, Rizzio successfully attached himself to Mary’s musicians as a bass singer. Gaining the attentions of the young monarch, Rizzio grew immensely wealthy and rose to the position of the Queen’s private secretary by 1564. Unlike in Mary, Queen of Scots, which falsely depicted Rizzio as a homosexual and engaging in adulterous relations with Mary’s second husband, Lord Darnley, the preponderance of historical gossip centered on Mary’s supposed infidelity with the Italian.
Sparking jealously in Darnley, and with Mary five months pregnant, the Scottish nobility felt action was needed to stem the damaging rumors surrounding the crown and prospective heir. On the evening of March 9, 1566, a group of nobles, led by Patrick Ruthven, stormed the Queen’s apartments in the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Interrupting Rizzio and Mary eating dinner, the former, as represented accurately by the film, sought to hide behind Mary for protection. Dragged into a separate room, rather than in front of Mary, Rizzio was indeed brutally murdered after being stabbed fifty-seven times by the conspirators.