List of Scottish royal consorts facts for kids

The partners of Scotland's kings and queens were called "consorts." These included queens consort (wives of kings), princesses consort, and princes consort (husbands of queens). Their titles came from their marriage to the ruler. The Kingdom of Scotland became a united country in 843 under Kenneth I of Scotland. It stopped being an independent kingdom in 1707. That's when it joined with the Kingdom of England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The early history of Scotland can be a bit confusing. Old records are often unclear or don't have many details. We don't know much about the kings before Malcolm III. Even less is known about their wives. So, it's hard to make a full list of consorts before Macbeth. His wife, Gruoch, is one of the first well-known consorts.

Early Scottish Royal Partners

While we know a few things about earlier queens, Gruoch of Scotland is the first one we have a lot of information about. She was the daughter of Boite mac Cináeda. Gruoch was married to Macbeth. Her son was Lulach. Lulach's mother was still alive in 1078. She was captured by Malcolm Canmore. But we don't know much else about her. We don't even know if she was married to Lulach.

Dunkeld Family Rulers (1058–1286)

In 1058, Malcolm Long-neck took over the Scottish throne. He was from the House of Dunkeld. He defeated his cousin, Lulach, to become king. The Dunkeld family ruled until Alexander III died in 1286. Alexander's only heir was his baby granddaughter, Margaret. She was known as "the Maid of Norway." Sadly, she died in 1290 before reaching Scotland. She was never crowned queen.

After her death, Scotland had a two-year period without a king. Then, John de Balliol was chosen as king. His wife had already passed away. So, she never became queen. John ruled for four years. Then he gave up his throne. Scotland had another period without a king until 1306.

Picture	Name	Father (Family)	Born	Married	Became Consort	Crowned	Stopped Being Consort	Died	Spouse
	Ingibiorg Finnsdottir	Finn Arnesson	?	?	1058?	–	1058/69?		Malcolm III
Saint Margaret of Scotland	Margaret of Wessex	Edward the Exile (Wessex)	around 1045	1070		–	13 November 1093	16 November 1093
	Ethelreda of Northumbria	Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria	?	1093/94		–	1094	?	Duncan II
	Sybilla of Normandy	Henry I of England (Normandy)	1092	1107		–	12/13 July 1122		Alexander I
	Maud of Northumbria	Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria	1074	1113	April/May 1124	–	1130		David I
	Ermengarde de Beaumont	Richard I, Viscount de Beaumont (House of Beaumont)	around 1170	5 September 1186		–	4 December 1214	12 February 1233/34	William I
Joan of England, Queen of Scotland	Joan of England	John of England (Plantagenet)	22 July 1210	21 June 1221		–	4 March 1238		Alexander II
Coat of Arms of Marie de Coucy	Marie de Coucy	Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy (Coucy)	around 1218	15 May 1239		–	6 July 1249	1285
Margaret of England, Queen of Scotland	Margaret of England	Henry III of England (Plantagenet)	29 September 1240	26 December 1251			26 February 1275		Alexander III
Seal of Yolande de Dreux	Yolande de Dreux	Robert IV, Count of Dreux (Dreux)	around 1265	15 October 1285			19 March 1286	2 August 1322

Bruce Family Rulers (1306–1371)

In 1306, Robert the Bruce and his wife, Elizabeth de Burgh, were crowned King and Queen of Scots. This ended the time when Scotland had no king. The Bruce family ruled until David II died in 1371.

Picture	Name	Father (Family)	Born	Married	Became Consort	Crowned	Stopped Being Consort	Died	Spouse
Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scots	Elizabeth de Burgh	Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (de Burgh)	around 1289	1302	25 March 1306	27 March 1306	27 October 1327		Robert I
Joan of England, Queen of Scotland	Joan of England	Edward II of England (Plantagenet)	5 July 1321	17 July 1328	7 June 1329	November 1331	7 September 1362		David II
Arms of Margaret Drummond	Margaret Drummond	Sir Malcolm Drummond (Drummond)	around 1340	20 February 1364			20 March 1369 Divorced by husband	31 January 1375

Stewart Family Rulers (1371–1707)

Direct Line (1371–1542)

When David II died in 1371, his nephew, Robert Stewart, became king. Robert's mother was Marjorie Bruce, the daughter of Robert I. His direct family line ruled until James V died. James V had only a six-day-old daughter, Mary, as his heir. He was upset and said, "It came with a lass, and it will pass with a lass." He thought the Stewart rule would end with a woman.

But he was wrong! Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who was also from a branch of the Stewart family. The family they started would rule Scotland, England, and Ireland. The last Stewart ruler was a woman, Anne, Queen of Great Britain.

Picture	Arms	Name	Father (Family)	Born	Married	Became Consort	Crowned	Stopped Being Consort	Died	Spouse
Euphemia de Ross, Queen of Scots	Arms of Euphemia de Ross	Euphemia de Ross	Aodh, Earl of Ross (Ross)	before 1333	2 May 1355	22 February 1371		1386		Robert II
Annabella Drummond, Queen of Scots	Arms of Anabella Drummond	Anabella Drummond	John Drummond, 11th Thane of Lennox (Drummond)	around 1350	1367	19 April 1390	August 1390	1401		Robert III
Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland	Arms of Joan Beaufort	Joan Beaufort	John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (Beaufort)	around 1404	2 February 1424		21 May 1424	21 February 1437	15 July 1445	James I
Mary of Guelders, Queen of Scots	Arms of Mary of Guelders	Mary of Guelders	Arnold, Duke of Guelders (Egmond)	around 1434	3 July 1449			3 August 1460	1 December 1463	James II
Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scots	Arms of Margaret of Denmark	Margaret of Denmark	Christian I of Denmark (Oldenburg)	23 June 1456	July 1469			before 14 July 1486		James III
Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots	Arms of Margaret Tudor	Margaret of England	Henry VII of England (Tudor)	28 November 1489	25 January 1502 (by proxy) 8 August 1503		8 August 1503	9 September 1513	18 October 1541	James IV
Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scots	Arms of Madeleine of Valois	Madeleine of Valois	Francis I of France (Valois)	10 August 1520	1 January 1537			7 July 1537		James V
Mary of Guise, Queen of Scots	Arms of Mary of Guise	Mary of Guise	Claude, Duke of Guise (Guise)	22 November 1515	18 May 1538		22 February 1540	14 December 1542	11 June 1560

Stuart Family Rulers (1542–1649)

In 1542, James V passed away. His daughter, Mary, became Queen of Scots. Mary was later sent to the French court. There, her family name "Stewart" was changed to "Stuart" (the French way). Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. He was also from a branch of the Stewart family. Their son, James VI, started the Stuart dynasty. This family ruled Scotland, England, and Ireland.

Their rule was stopped for a short time during the Civil War. King Charles I was executed. England, Scotland, and Ireland were ruled by Parliament. This period lasted from 1649 to 1660. Oliver Cromwell was a very powerful leader during this time.

Picture	Arms	Name	Father (Family)	Born	Married	Became Consort	Crowned	Stopped Being Consort	Died	Spouse
Francis II of France, King Consort of Scotland	Arms of Francis II of France	Francis II of France	Henry II of France (Valois)	19 January 1544	24 April 1558			5 December 1560		Mary I
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, King Consort of Scotland	Arms of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley	Henry Stuart	Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (Stuart)	7 December 1545	29 July 1565			9/10 February 1567
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell	Arms of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell	James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell	Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell (Hepburn)	around 1534	15 May 1567			24 July 1567 Wife's abdication	14 April 1578
Anne of Denmark, Queen of Scots	Arms of Anne of Denmark	Anne of Denmark	Frederick II of Denmark (Oldenburg)	12 December 1574	23 November 1589		17 May 1590	2 March 1619		James VI
Henrietta Maria of France, Queen of Scots	Arms of Henrietta Maria of France	Henrietta Maria of France	Henry IV of France (Bourbon)	25 November 1609	13 June 1625			30 January 1649 husband's execution	10 September 1669	Charles I

Stuart Family Rulers (Restored) (1660–1707)

In 1660, Charles II became king again. He was the son of the executed Charles I. The Stuart rule began once more in England, Scotland, and Ireland. His brother, James VII, was removed from the throne in 1688–89. This happened because he was Catholic. His daughters, Mary II and Anne, were the last Stuart rulers in the British Isles. Anne died in 1714.

However, the Kingdom of Scotland had already ended in 1707. That's when the Act of Union joined the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. They became one country, the Kingdom of Great Britain. James VII's son, James Francis Edward Stuart, claimed the thrones of England and Scotland. He did not accept the Act of Union. His son, Charles Edward Stuart, also made this claim. But they are not seen as true Kings of Scotland. This is because they never actually took control. So, their wives are not listed here.

Picture	Name	Father (Family)	Born	Married	Became Consort	Crowned	Stopped Being Consort	Died	Spouse
Catherine of Braganza, Queen of Scots	Catherine of Braganza	John IV of Portugal (Braganza)	25 November 1638	21 May 1662			6 February 1685	31 December 1705	Charles II
Mary of Modena, Queen of Scots	Mary of Modena	Alfonso IV d'Este, Duke of Modena (Este)	5 October 1658	30 September 1673	6 February 1685	23 April 1685	11 December 1688	7 May 1718	James VII
George, Prince of Denmark, Prince Consort of Scotland	George of Denmark	Frederick III of Denmark (Oldenburg)	2 April 1653	28 July 1683	8 March 1702		1 May 1707 Kingdoms of Scotland and England joined; Anne became Queen of Great Britain, George became her consort	28 October 1708	Anne

• For the consorts of Great Britain and the United Kingdom after 1707, see List of British consorts.

See also

• List of Scottish monarchs
• List of Scottish royal mistresses