Mary staged her execution as a theatrical act of defiance, using clothing, prayers, and hidden symbols to embarrass her enemies and die as a Catholic martyr.

57:25course, she does. She's a diva. She's the star of the show. You know, she was never going to turn up on time. And it's only at 9:00, so an hour after she was meant to have appeared in the Great Hall that she turns up. And all night carpenters had been preparing the scene of execution, building the scaffold, draping the the walls of the hall in black, draping

57:47the scaffold in the black. By the time Mary arrives, the hall is lined by halberdiers, a crowd of people have been allowed in to to watch the proceedings. And of course, up on the scaffold the the executioner, Bull, is waiting with his assistant. And both men, they wear black masks, they have long black gowns, and they have white aprons over those gowns. And Bull, of course, is holding

58:15his giant axe. [clears throat] Mary has dressed with great care and consideration for her final hour. As at her trial, she appears in the Great Hall dressed in a flowing gown of black velvet. Um she has a white veil, and she has a frill of very delicate white lace at her throat. She's helped onto the scaffold by Paulet, her austere and formidable jailer. And as he helps her up, Mary says to him, "This

58:47will be the last trouble I shall give you, and the most agreeable service you have ever done me." She walks across the stage, and she takes a seat where she is flanked by the Earls of Kent and Shrewsbury. And Beal, stepping forward once again, reads out the warrant of execution. And then it's the turn of the preacher who has been chosen personally by Elizabeth for the occasion. This is a

59:11man called Robert Fletcher, who is the Dean of Peterborough, and in fact is the father of John Fletcher, the dramatist, occasional collaborator with Shakespeare. Oh my goodness, I mean, this is such a Shakespearean scene. The kind of the the sense of tragedy about it is so strong. So, Fletcher is giving his sermon, but Mary is having none of it. And first of all, she intimidates Fletcher into

59:36abandoning the sermon, and then as he begins to read his prayers, his Anglican prayers in English, Mary and the six women who are in attendance on her, they start answering these English prayers with prayers of their own, and these prayers are in the Latin of their own Catholic faith. And the voices of these seven women's drowned the sound of Fletcher, and it's completely mortifying for him, and again he is intimidated

60:04into silence, but Mary carries on. >> [laughter] >> You know, I said she's a diva. She slips to her knees, and she pulls out a silver cross from her skirts, and she raises it, and then she begins to pray in English so that everyone present will understand what she's saying. And her prayers are for her enemies, for Elizabeth, and for England, and it's incredible theater. >> Very embarrassing for her executioners,

60:32of course, but there's worse to come, isn't there? And this is about what she's wearing. >> Yes, so we said she dressed with great care. >> The time has come for >> her execution, and so her attendants prepare her for the chopping block by removing first her veil, and then her black outer garments. And I will read from Mattingly's account. Um, we actually began our series um, on Mary