King James VI of Scotland and I of England

Concentrating on the man as well as the king, this is a portrait of James, only son of Mary Queen of Scots and her consort, Lord Darnley. James passed the first 12 years of his dramatic life at Stirling Castle, where he was crowned King of Scotland when scarcely 13 months old, his mother having been forced to abdicate. He became a brilliant Latin scholar, but his lonely boyhood and his friendship with a succession of attractive favourites were to influence his later life.