To see: count the small kneeling figures along the sides of the chest. Margaret Douglas — niece of Henry VIII, mother-in-law of Mary, Queen of Scots, and grandmother of the future James I — lies in alabaster in a French cap and ruff, wrapped in a red fur-lined cloak over a blue-and-gold gown still touched with colour. But the heart of the story is on the flanks of the tomb: her eight children are carved as "weepers", kneeling in prayer, four sons and four daughters, most of whom died young. Find one of the boys, in armour, with a small crown set just above his head: this is Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and father of James I — the crown speaks of the king he never was but his son became.
Did you know?
It was Queen Elizabeth I who paid for her cousin's funeral; the monument was completed in 1578 by the executor Thomas Fowler, and Margaret shares her grave with her son Charles.
Info
South aisle of Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster Abbey. Polychrome alabaster effigy (French cap, red cloak). Chest with 8 kneeling weepers; Darnley in armour, crown above his head. Completed 1578.