| “ | I want to be a better man. I do. But what are the odds of that? | ” |
— Darnley to Mary in Pulling Strings
| ||
Lord Darnley is a main character and antagonist of the final season of Reign. He is portrayed by Will Kemp.
He is a nobleman with a claim to the English throne and husband of Mary Stuart, as well as the father of their only child. He is the king consort of Scotland, though he would love nothing more than to be granted the crown matrimonial. Darnley is a member of the House of Stuart by both birth and marriage.
Biography
Early Life
Darnley's father was originally Scottish but later betrayed the Scottish for the English. He has a blood claim to the English throne through his mother, Lady Lennox.
Darnley grew up in the Scottish countryside. In All It Cost Her, his mother recalls how he loved spending summers with his cousins at his estates in the country.
In the Series
Season Four
Lord Darnley makes his first appearance in With Friends Like These.
Personality
Darnley is kind, charming, and breezily confident. However, his strengths are overshadowed by his blinding ambition and focus on self-preserverance, which he reinforces throughout the series. And although he appears to be confident, he is shown to be very insecure, particularly in his lack of real power. Since he is the King Consort, he feels as though he is not Mary's equal but her underdog, which bothers him and he resorts to expedient ways of gaining power, to the point where he actively works against Mary and her people.
In Coup de Grace, Mary described Darnley as "not a complex man". She said that all Darnley ever needed and wanted was to be loved and respected. Darnley confirms Mary's belief by repeating it throughout the series.
Physical Appearance
Darnley is a tall man, likely in his late twenties. He has short brown hair and a stubble. His eyes are blue.
Relationships
Mary Stuart
Mary and Darnley married for political power since Darnley have relative bloodline to both of England and Scottish throne, which pose a threat to Elizabeth. Darnley and Mary loved each other for the time when Kira was away and married. But after Kira came back, he had an affair with her and Mary said she will presume with the marriage, but Darnley will be her husband in name only.
Keira White
Keira was Darnley's lover. However, Darnley's mother Lady Lennox managed to destroy their relationship and Keira ended up marrying Lord White. Later, Keira travels to Scotland secretly to be with Darnley. She was to be escorted out of Scotland by Mary's brother, James, but dies after accidentally getting hit by a frightened horse. It was later revealed that she was also ill with fever.
Lady Lennox
Lady Lennox seemed to care for her son, but only in a superficial sense. She would always put power and influence above Darnley, and manipulate him to do the same and choose the crown over his own happiness.
John Knox
Darnley briefly found an ally in John Knox, a beloved Protestant orator. Despite their differences in religion, they both had one common goal: dethrone Mary and ensure Scotland was ruled by a man.Appearances
| Season Three | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status | ||
| Three Queens, Two Tigers | Absent | ||
| Betrothed | Absent | ||
| Extreme Measures | Absent | ||
| The Price | Absent | ||
| In a Clearing | Absent | ||
| Fight or Flight | Absent | ||
| The Hound and the Hare | Absent | ||
| Our Undoing | Absent | ||
| Wedlock | Absent | ||
| Bruises That Lie | Absent | ||
| Succession | Absent | ||
| No Way Out | Absent | ||
| Strange Bedfellows | Absent | ||
| To The Death | Absent | ||
| Safe Passage | Absent | ||
| Clans | Absent | ||
| Intruders | Mentioned | ||
| Spiders in a Jar | Absent | ||
| Season Four | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Appearance Status | ||
| With Friends Like These | Appears | ||
| A Grain of Deception | Appears | ||
| Leaps of Faith | Appears | ||
| Playing with Fire | Appears | ||
| Highland Games | Appears | ||
| Love & Death | Appears | ||
| Hanging Swords | Appears | ||
| Uncharted Waters | Appears | ||
| Pulling Strings | Appears | ||
| A Better Man | Appears | ||
| Dead of Night | Appears | ||
| The Shakedown | Appears | ||
| Coup de Grace | Appears | ||
| A Bride. A Box. A Body. | Appears | ||
| Blood in the Water | Appears | ||
| All It Cost Her | Appears | ||
Trivia
- He is Mary's half-cousin, as they share a grandmother, Margaret Tudor. Margaret married in 1503 to James IV, and their son was Mary's father. Margaret married for the second time to Archibald Douglas, and their daughter was Darnley's mother.
- He was named Henry by his mother, who named him after her uncle, Henry VIII.
- His mother, Margaret Douglas, was once chosen by Mary I to be her successor instead of Elizabeth I or Mary.
- His full name is Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
- His claim to the English throne is through his mother and his claim to the Scottish throne is through his father, Matthew Stuart.
Gallery
See Also