About this episode

The episode discusses the brutal murder of David Rizzio, a close friend of Mary Queen of Scots, orchestrated by her husband Lord Darnley.

On the night of Saturday the 9th of March, 1566, a pregnant Mary Queen of Scots was having a dinner party. It was a night that ended in the brutal murder of one of her closest friends, David Rizzio, led by her husband, Lord Darnley. How did this happen? How did Mary handle this traumatic moment? And did Mary have a Scottish or French accent?! Joining Anthony once more as special guest co-host is author and historian Gareth Russell, to take us back to this disturbing night. You can now watch After Dark on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit Edited by Tim Arstall and Anna Brant. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. For tickets to see Anthony and Maddy talking about her new book, Hoax, click here: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/hoax/ Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe .   You can take part in our listener survey here . All music from Epidemic Sounds. After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Anthony

Guest: Gareth Russell

Topics covered

• Mary Queen of Scots
• historical murder
• Scottish history
• true crime
• 16th century
• royalty
• trauma

Keywords

• Mary Queen of Scots
• David Rizzio
• Lord Darnley
• murder
• history
• trauma
• Scottish accent
• 16th century

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: History Hit, Epidemic Sounds, Acast

Books & works: Hoax

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• Henry VIII's Descent into Darkness · April 8, 2026 · 50 min
• The Victorian Era's Wildest Murder · April 5, 2026 · 41 min

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