Lady Arbella Stuart

Lady Arbella Stuart
Lady Arbella in her later years
Born	1575 Nottinghamshire or Hackney
Died	25 September 1615 Tower of London
Cause of death	Unspecified chronic illness and malnutrition
Resting place	Westminster Abbey
Residence	Hardwick Hall from childhood to adulthood Tower of London
Nationality	English
Known for	Claimant to the English throne
Spouse(s)	William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset.
Parent(s)	Elizabeth Cavendish Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox

Lady Arbella Stuart (or "Arabella" and/or "Stewart") (1575 – 25 September 1615) was a noblewoman who was for some time considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Born in England, Arbella Stuart was the only child of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox (of the third creation), by his marriage to Elizabeth Cavendish. She was a grandchild of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (of the second creation) and Lady Margaret Douglas, who was in turn the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and of Queen Margaret Tudor, the widow of James IV of Scotland. Arbella was therefore a great-great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England and in line to the English throne, although she did not herself aspire to it.

Her paternal grandparents, the 4th Earl of Lennox and Margaret Douglas, had, of their eight children, two sons who survived childhood: Arbella's father Charles and his older brother Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who became the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the father of Arbella's cousin James VI and I of Scotland, England and Ireland. Her maternal grandparents were Sir William Cavendish and his wife Elizabeth, better known as "Bess of Hardwick".

In her final days as a prisoner in the Tower of London, Arbella Beauchamp (her married name), refusing to eat, fell ill, and died on 25 September 1615. She was buried in Westminster Abbey on 29 September 1615. In the 19th century, during a search for the tomb of James VI and I, Arbella's lead coffin was found in the vault of Mary, Queen of Scots, placed directly on top of that of the Scots queen.