Mary, Queen of Scots execution: Monarch used ‘spiral locking’ technique to preserve the secrecy of her last letter

Fun bit of history from CNN Style.

Mary, Queen of Scots used a “spiral locking” technique to seal the last letter she wrote before her execution, indicating that she wanted the contents to remain secret, according to research published in the Electronic British Library Journal.

An example of letterlocking — where people doubled letters as envelopes to ensure the security of a document — the fallen monarch used a spiral locking process to seal a message that was “a last will and testament and a bid for martyrdom,” the research published on Friday says.

Mary was shrouded in political controversy during her lifetime. She was next in line to the throne after Henry VIII’s children, and was targeted by conspirators under the reign of her English cousin, Elizabeth I. Mary was interned for 19 years, after which she was executed at the age of 44, according to the royal family website.

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