FOUR HUNDRED YEARS AGO, a princess lay dying in the Tower of London, recalling her childhood in north Derbyshire and reflecting on a life that could have been so different.
The story of Lady Arbella Stuart – featured in Reflections a couple of years ago – is one of those ‘what if’ moments in English history; if Queen Elizabeth I had been succeeded by Queen Arbella and not by James VI of Scotland, would the union of England and Scotland taken place the way we know it? Would the lines of succession of monarchs down to the present Elizabeth II have been the same?…