Food - Drink
Even While Imprisoned Mary, Queen Of Scots Ate Like Royalty
By TESSA HAYLEY HELLBERG
Historians know that Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned for 19 years before her execution, but recent discoveries have revealed what her life in prison was actually like. English Heritage says that the queen spent the majority of her incarceration under house arrest with a number of luxuries still provided to her, which includes her diet.
According to documents obtained by The British Library and published by The Guardian's Observer, the queen regularly ate delicacies like mutton, salmon, boar, and fish, all seasoned with expensive spices. The fish was especially fancy, since only the elite were permitted to eat it during the Middle Ages, according to The Atlantic.
The queen was also served desserts, like biscuits with caraway seeds and fruits, in abundant supply. Mary, Queen of Scots even took her meals under her baldachin, a ceremonial fabric canopy reserved for people of very high status, so while being imprisoned for 19 years couldn't have been an easy stint, at least she still ate like royalty.