16. Correct: Mary and Elizabeth did actually exchange portraits to better understand how one another looked, as well as sending each other further gifts
As depicted in Mary, Queen of Scots, following Mary’s return to Scotland in 1561 the young monarch initiated contact with her English cousin. Whilst the film speeds up the timeline of events to spare the audience unbearable tedium, which in real-life spanned more than a year of messages between the pair and their representatives, Mary requested a portrait of Elizabeth to gain a greater understanding of her distant relation. Elizabeth, in turn, stubbornly insisted that she receive a portrait of Mary first before sending one depicting herself. Receiving a painting from the Queen of Scotland later that year, Elizabeth did not reciprocate with her own until the following year.
As suggested by the film, it is entirely plausible and in line with Elizabeth’s character that the Virgin Queen grew immensely insecure at her younger cousin’s reputed beauty. Elizabeth’s vanity would go some way to explain the delay in sending her own portrait to Scotland, intimating repeated drafts before she was finally satisfied with its portrayal of her aging self. These portraits would not be the last tokens sent between the monarchs, for although not depicted in the film Elizabeth gifted the widowed Mary a diamond ring in 1563 alongside the suggestion of a suitable English husband.