A Nationalist MSP has begun a parliamentary campaign to have the body of Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Scotland.

A Nationalist MSP has begun a parliamentary campaign to have the body of Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Scotland.

Scottish National Party MSP Christine Grahame has tabled a motion to this effect, and has written to the Scottish Culture Minister, Linda Fabiani, requesting government support.

The motion declares the sixteenth century queen to be “an iconic historical figure and ultimately the victim of English plotting” and suggests Falkland Palace, Fife, “a place where Mary is believed to have spent her happiest days,” as an alternative final resting place.

Grahame told Student that she hopes such a campaign would rekindle interest in Scottish history, particularly the life of Mary and her relationship with her cousin, Elizabeth I, saying “there’s kind of a caricature of that period.”

She continued that she would like to see Scottish students looking with fresh eyes at “two very political women, and at an extraordinary time for these two women’s paths to cross.”

She added that, though this was not the primary motivation behind the campaign, the return of Mary’s body would have a positive impact on Scottish tourism.

Ms. Grahame first became involved with the campaign after being approached by The Sunday Times, who were covering a petition by the Catholic historian, Frank Dougan to have the remains returned to Scotland.

According to Ms. Grahame, the move has drawn “warm support and even hotter condemnation from some quarters.”

The campaign has already received backing from the composer James MacMillan and the Catholic Church in Scotland.

It also appears to have found some resonance with the public imagination, and Ms. Grahame commented that considerable support has even come in from “Scots who are part of the diaspora.”

However, some have accused Ms. Grahame of a political stunt, among them the former Scottish Office Minister, Brian Wilson, who said: “I doubt if many people are interested in carting corpses around Britain.”

After six turbulent years as Queen of Scotland, Mary was forced to abdicate the throne in 1567. Fleeing, perhaps unwisely, to England she spent the next twenty years imprisoned on the orders of her cousin Elizabeth I, who considered the Catholic monarch a threat.

In 1587, having been tricked into declaring her support for a plot against Elizabeth, Mary was convicted of treason and beheaded at Fotheringay Castle.

She was initially buried at Peterborough Cathedral before her son, King James VI of Scotland and I of England, had her reinterred at Westminster Abbey in 1612.

A spokesman for Westminster Abbey commenting on the remains said: “That is a responsibility which the Abbey takes very seriously, and the body has remained in our care ever since.”