Queen Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots were two of recorded history's most significant, most legendary rivals—although they never met. Elizabeth was the childless “virgin” queen in one castle: bawdy, brilliant, tactical and cynical. On the other hand, Mary is feminine, charming, romantic and reckless. Their decades-long battle over the English crown would end with Mary’s beheading at Fotheringhay Castle—with Elizabeth’s blessing—in 1587. But the two cousins’ tortured relationship was determined long before, during childhoods, so dissimilar and defining that they would inform both Queens’ characters—and seal Mary’s tragic fate. The rivalry between the two queens was marked by imprisonment, escape and execution.
