WelCom August 2021
A set of gold rosary beads carried by Mary Queen of Scots at her execution in 1587 was among items worth more than £1m stolen in a raid on Arundel Castle in May this year. The castle spokesman said the rosary had ‘little intrinsic value as metal’ but was ‘irreplaceable’. Professor Kate Williams of Reading University said: ‘When [Mary] fled Scotland into England most of her belongings were despoiled and shared out. Then after she was executed, nearly everything she had was taken and burned because people were concerned she would turn into a Catholic martyr. ‘So we had one tiny memorial of Mary Queen of Scots – and now it has gone.’