There are so many fabulous things to do in London that it can sometimes be easy to completely forget the extent of its history and significance while you are there. Okay, of course that’s not true. Every where you go you are reminded of the incredible history behind this great city and outstanding personalities that have created it. Even the London hotel in which you are staying is likely to have an incredible history. The royal family continues to be an ongoing world obsession and while the current point of interest seems to lean toward Prince William
and his potential future bride, the kinds and queens, princes and princess in the past have had much heavier and sometimes even significantly controversial topics surrounding them. Oh, wait, there is the latest scandal with the Duchess of York, but really, can that compare to something as horrific as say one cousin plotting to kill the other and being put to death by beheading for the crime? This is gruesome enough sounding but not a particularly uncommon event in the history of the crown and the one who wears it in London.

The above mentioned incident refers specifically to the Babington Plot in which Mary Queen of Scots was accused and convicted for her part in the secret plot to assassinate her cousin Queen Elizabeth the First. Mary was a Catholic and her supporters wished for her to take Elizabeth’s place on the throne. This was a common concern for the Queen throughout her rule and her spies were always on the lookout for potential plots and conspirators. The main figure behind the Babington Plot was Anthony Babington, who was a young Catholic nobleman from Derbyshire. Mary Queen of Scots had been confined to her estate and he sent secret communications about the plot in barrels that were headed to Mary in Scotland. This was the second plot that was discovered and deterred in a very short time. Sir Francis Walsingham was the Queen’s spy master and was an essential personality in the discovery of thee plots.

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