Exile and Embroidery: The final years of Mary, Queen of Scots

What does it mean to live as a queen in exile, and how can creativity become a language of power? In this special event at Perth Museum, two leading Scottish writers explore the final years of Mary, Queen of Scots, a period marked by captivity, coded messages and contested legacies. Rosemary Goring, author of Exile: The Captive Years of Mary, Queen of Scots, examines Mary's imprisonment in England, a time when political intrigue, shifting alliances and dashed hopes shaped her fate and reputation. Clare Hunter, author of Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the language of Power, reveals how Mary used embroidery as a means of self-expression and subtle resistance, stitching her politics and her personal story into cloth. Together, Rosemary and Clare will reflect the intersections of exile, creativity and power in Mary's final years.

A book signing will follow the talk, and copies of Exile: The Captive Years of Mary, Queen of Scots and Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots will be available to purchase.

About Rosemary Goring

Rosemary Goring is the author of two historical novels, After Flodden and Dacre’s War. Other books include Scotland: The Autobiography, Scotland: Her Story and Homecoming: The Scottish Years of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her most recent work is Exile: The Captive Years of Mary, Queen of Scots. She is a columnist and reviewer with The Herald newspaper, and a regular abridger of books for BBC Radio 4. Born in Dunbar, she studied history at the University of St Andrews and now lives in the Scottish Borders.

About Clare Hunter

Clare Hunter has been a community textile artist, banner maker and textile curator for over twenty years and established the award-winning community sewing enterprise Needlework's in Glasgow in the 1980s. Threads of Life: the History of the World through the Eye of a Needle, was her first book. It was warmly received, reaching The Sunday Times Bestseller List, chosen as Waterstone’s Book of the Month in Scotland and BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week and becoming joint winner of the Saltire Award for First Book. Her second book, Embroidering her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power, was published in March 2022, reached the Scottish Books Bestseller list and was an inspiration for Dior’s 2024 Cruise Collection in Scotland. Her third book, Making Matters: In Seach of Creative Wonders, was published in August 2025.

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