The final resting place of one of Scotland’s most notorious noblemen remains a mystery more than four centuries after his death, with historical records and modern investigations revealing that the mummified remains of James Hepburn, the fourth Earl of Bothwell and third husband of Mary Queen of Scots, have been lost, stolen, or destroyed in a bizarre chain of events that has left his body unburied and unaccounted for.
The revelation that the remains of the man who once held a queen captive and forced her into marriage may have been displayed in a wax museum before vanishing entirely has sent shockwaves through the historical community, reigniting questions about the fate of a figure whose life was marked by 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓁, violence, and ultimate tragedy. The story of Bothwell’s remains is as macabre and twisted as the man himself, a tale that spans centuries and crosses national borders, leaving historians and genealogists scrambling for answers.
James Hepburn was born into power and privilege as the son of Patrick Hepburn, the third Earl of Bothwell, and Agnes Sinclair. From birth, he held the title Master of Bothwell, and at the age of eighteen, he inherited his father’s earldom, stepping into a world of political intrigue and naval command. As Lord High Admiral of Scotland, Hepburn embarked on numerous expeditions, including a voyage to Copenhagen in 1559, where he became entangled in a romantic relationship with a Norwegian noblewoman named Anna Throndsen.
The pair became engaged, but their union was never to be, as Bothwell’s ambitions and appetites led him down a far darker path.
The relationship with Anna soured dramatically, with the noblewoman later complaining of ill-treatment at the hands of her betrothed. Bothwell, however, moved on without remorse, marrying Lady Jean Gordon, the daughter of the fourth Earl of Huntley, in February 1566. That marriage, too, would collapse within a year, marred by Bothwell’s numerous adulterous affairs with his wife’s own servants.
But it was his connection to the Scottish crown that would seal his fate and cement his infamy in the annals of British history.
Bothwell had first encountered Mary Queen of Scots at the French Court in the autumn of 1560, where he was well received by the young queen and her then-husband, King Francis II. He would later play a role in arranging Mary’s return to Scotland following Francis’s death, but his relationship with the queen would evolve into something far more sinister. By 1567, Bothwell was at the center of the most 𝓈𝒽𝓸𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 crime of the era: the murder of Mary’s second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
Darnley’s body was discovered in a field on the morning of February 10, 1567, following two massive explosions at his lodgings. The body was found some distance away, smothered, and suspicion immediately fell on Bothwell, who was later acquitted in a trial widely condemned as a sham.
Despite the accusations, Bothwell’s ambition only grew. On April 24, 1567, as Mary rode from Linlithgow Palace to Edinburgh, Bothwell intercepted her with a force of 800 men, claiming her life was in danger. He took her to his castle at Dunbar, where she was effectively held prisoner.
It was there that Mary was subjected to a series of assaults by Bothwell, who sought to secure both her hand in marriage and the crown of Scotland. He was subsequently made Duke of Orkney and Marquess of Fife, and the two were married on May 15, 1567, in the Great Hall at Holyrood Palace. The marriage was catastrophic, splitting the country and leading to a showdown at Carberry Hill on June 15, where Bothwell fled the field, leaving Mary behind in a final embrace that would be their last.
Bothwell’s flight from Scotland marked the beginning of his end. His estates were forfeited, and he became a hunted man. He traveled to Shetland, where he was pursued by his enemies and fought a desperate three-hour sea battle before a storm forced him toward Norway.
His intention was to reach Denmark and raise an army to restore Mary to the throne, but he was captured off the coast of Norway without proper papers and escorted to the port of Bergen. There, he was confronted by Anna Throndsen, the woman he had jilted years earlier, who raised a formal complaint against him, backed by her wealthy and powerful family. Bothwell was held in custody at Bergenhus Fortress while facing a lawsuit for abandonment and the return of Anna’s dowry.
He might have been released, but the Danish King Frederick II soon learned that Bothwell was wanted for Darnley’s murder, and his fate was sealed.
Transferred to Denmark, Bothwell was imprisoned at Malmöhus Castle before being moved to Dragsholm Castle, where he was subjected to a brutal and inhumane confinement. He was kept in solitary confinement, chained constantly to a pillar that was only half his height, preventing him from ever standing upright. He was forced to spend his days hunched over or seated, held in complete darkness, with the floor around the pillar eroded into a circular groove by his constant, desperate movement.
The torture drove him completely insane, and on April 14, 1578, five years after his initial imprisonment, he died, broken and mad.
But death did not bring peace to James Hepburn. He was buried at Fårevejle Church, near the castle where he died, but in 1858, his body was exhumed. Remarkably, the remains were found in a dried, relatively well-preserved condition, and they were soon referred to as Bothwell’s Mummy.
His descendants petitioned to have the body returned to Scotland, but their request was denied. Over the following decades, the remains were exhumed multiple times and even displayed in an open casket at a museum in Copenhagen, where thousands of people came to view the macabre spectacle of the man who had once married a queen.
The most 𝓈𝒽𝓸𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 development, however, came in 1976, when the Edinburgh Wax Museum claimed to have acquired the mummified remains of Bothwell and put them on public display. The museum, which typically featured wax figures, presented the alleged body of the Earl as a genuine artifact, claiming it had been brought back to Scotland. But when the museum closed, the remains vanished without a trace.
To this day, the whereabouts of James Hepburn’s body are completely unknown, leaving historians to wonder whether the husband of Mary Queen of Scots is still unburied, lost in a storage unit, destroyed, or lying in an unmarked grave somewhere, forgotten by the world.
The disappearance of the remains has sparked renewed interest in Bothwell’s story, with experts calling for a thorough investigation into the museum’s records and the chain of custody of the artifacts. The painting of his mummified head, showing a decayed visage with a full head of hair, remains one of the only visual records of his posthumous state. The question that haunts historians is simple yet profound: where is James Hepburn, and will his body ever be laid to rest?
The answer remains elusive, buried in the murky depths of history, much like the man himself. The legacy of the unburied husband of Mary Queen of Scots is one of 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓁, suffering, and a final, unresolved mystery that continues to captivate and disturb in equal measure.