When you think of Mary Stuart, you probably think of the tragic ending. The executioner’s block, the red petticoat, or maybe the decades she spent locked away in English castles. But there is one detail about her that hits differently if you were standing in a room with her.
She was massive.
Actually, let’s be more precise. Mary Queen of Scots height was roughly 5 feet 11 inches.
In the 16th century, that wasn’t just "tall for a girl." It was statistically startling. Most women back then were lucky to hit 5 feet 2 inches. Even the men were significantly shorter on average than they are today. Imagine a woman walking into a crowded room in 1561 and standing nearly six feet tall, even before she put on a pair of heels or a massive French hood. Honestly, it must have been intimidating as hell.
The 5'11" Reality Check
People love to romanticize the "waif-like" queen, but Mary was a physical powerhouse. Her height wasn't just a quirk of her DNA; it was a political statement.
She inherited those genes from her mother, Mary of Guise, who was also a tall, formidable woman at about 5 feet 9 inches. The Guise family in France were known for being "long," a trait that usually signaled good health and noble breeding. When Mary was sent to the French court as a child, she grew like a weed. By the time she married the Dauphin, Francis II, she was already towering over him.
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Poor Francis. He was sickly, frail, and reportedly much shorter than his bride. It created this weird visual dynamic at the French court where the future King and Queen of France looked like a mother and child rather than a couple.
Why the extra inches mattered
Being tall in the 1500s wasn't just about reaching the top shelf. It meant you had been fed well. It meant you were strong.
Mary loved the outdoors. She hunted. She played golf (actually, she's often credited as one of the first women to play the game at St Andrews). She rode horses for days on end without getting tired. Her height gave her a presence that made it very easy for her to command a room, something her cousin Elizabeth I was reportedly quite jealous of.
Mary Queen of Scots Height vs. Elizabeth I
There is a famous story about Elizabeth I asking a Scottish ambassador, Sir James Melville, who was the better-looking queen. Elizabeth was obsessed with Mary, even though they never actually met face-to-face.
She asked him who was taller. Melville, being a savvy diplomat, told Elizabeth that Mary was indeed taller. Elizabeth’s response? She supposedly said Mary was "too tall," implying that her own height (which was around 5 feet 3 or 5 feet 5 inches) was the "perfect" feminine standard.
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It was a classic "mean girl" move from the English Queen. But let’s be real—Elizabeth knew that Mary’s height gave her a certain "divine right" vibe. In an era where physical stature was linked to the ability to lead and produce heirs, Mary looked the part of a ruler more than almost anyone else in Europe.
The Darnley Match
When it came time for Mary to marry a second time, her height actually played a role in her choice of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
Darnley was one of the few men who could actually look her in the eye. He was about 6 feet 1 or 6 feet 2 inches tall. Mary famously remarked that he was the "lustiest and best-proportioned long lad" she had ever seen.
You've got to wonder if she was just tired of looking down at the top of men's heads. Marrying Darnley was a disaster for many reasons—he was a drunk and a narcissist—but physically, they were the ultimate power couple of the 1560s.
The Logistics of Being a 6-Foot Queen
Everything about Mary’s life had to be custom-fitted.
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Think about the clothes. The 16th-century fashion involved massive amounts of fabric, farthingales, and layers of velvet. If you are 5 feet 11 inches, you are using significantly more expensive silk than the average lady-in-waiting. Her gowns would have been heavy, yet she was known for her "grace and lightness of movement."
- The Bedding: Royal beds were often shorter than modern ones because people slept propped up on pillows. Mary probably needed a custom-length bed just to stretch out.
- The Saddles: She rode "man-style" on occasion and was incredibly active, which required her horses to be larger and stronger to accommodate her frame.
- The Execution: Even at the very end, her height was noted. When she was led to the scaffold at Fotheringhay Castle, witnesses mentioned her "stature tall" as she stripped down to her red silk bodice.
Was she actually 5'11"?
Some modern historians have poked at this number. Skeletal remains from that era can be tricky to measure after centuries, and Mary's body was moved several times before landing in Westminster Abbey.
However, the consensus among experts like Antonia Fraser, who wrote the definitive biography of Mary, is that the 5'11" figure is pretty accurate based on contemporary accounts. When every single person who meets you mentions how tall you are, you’re probably not just "slightly above average." You’re a giant.
Basically, Mary was the 16th-century version of a supermodel-turned-CEO, only with more beheadings and less job security.
How to use this bit of history
If you’re a history buff or just someone interested in the Stuart line, understanding Mary’s physical presence changes how you view her portraits. She isn't just a face in a frame; she was a woman who literally looked down on almost every man in her court.
To get a better sense of her life beyond her measurements, you should visit the National Portrait Gallery in London or the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Seeing her jewelry or the tiny personal items she owned next to her reported height makes her feel much more like a real person and less like a character from a textbook.
You can also look into the measurements of her son, James VI and I. He didn't quite inherit her height, which is an interesting look into how genetics can be a total coin toss. Understanding the physical reality of these monarchs helps strip away the myths and reminds us that they were people dealing with the same physical world we are—just with more lace and a lot more danger.