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Holyrood Palace

There are two well-known supernatural phenomena associated with the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which graces the foot of the Royal Mile. Both bear relation to Mary Queen of Scots. The first concerns the Italian, David Rizzio, with whom the young queen formed a close friendship when she arrived in Scotland. Mary's new husband, Lord Darnley, did not approve of the friendship and became increasingly jealous of his wife's closeness to Rizzio. With the support of some of the most powerful of Scotland's nobility, Darnley plotted against Rizzio.

One night in 1566, Darnley and some of his co-conspirators burst into Mary's private apartments, grabbed Rizzio and stabbed him brutally and repeatedly. After his death, attempts were made to clean the floor of his bloodstains, but these were unsuccessful. The stains reappeared again and again, no matter how often the floor was scrubbed. They can still, some say, be seen to this day

Darnley, of course, met an unpleasant end himself when his house at Kirk o' Field was blown up barely a year after the murder of Rizzio. He also left his mark on the Palace of Holyroodhouse, albeit in a less colourful manner than Rizzio. In one of the rooms that Darnley frequented at Holyrood, the apartment where he entertained his visitors, strange shadows have been seen many a time by visitors and staff. It seems as if someone is still there, hovering about the room. Canterbury | Eaton | Egypt | London |