Robert Stuart, Duke of Kintyre and Lorne

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Primary sources Template:Infobox royalty Robert Bruce Stuart, Duke of Kintyre and Lorne (18 January 1602 – 27 May 1602) was the fifth child of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark.

A royal birth

He was born at Dunfermline Palace, Fife.<ref>Mark Turnbull, Charles I's Private Life (Pen and Sword, 2023), p. 3.</ref> On 2 May 1602 he was created Duke of Kintyre and Lorne, Marquess of Wigton, Earl of Carrick and Lord of Annandale. He died at Dunfermline Palace on 27 May 1602 and was buried at Holyrood Abbey. His older siblings included Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, Elizabeth, and Charles.<ref>Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (Pimlico: London, 1989): Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:2 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 998.</ref>

Robert's birth was attended by the physicians Martin Schöner and John Naysmyth and the midwife Janet Kinloch.<ref>Winifred Coutts, The Business of the College of Justice in 1600 (Edinburgh: Stair Society, 2003), p. 188.</ref> He was born at 1 o'clock in the morning. The page John Murray brought news of the birth to the king, who was staying at Edinburgh, and had set out to visit the queen.<ref>Heather R. Darsie, Stuart Spouses: A Compendium of Consorts from James I of Scotland to Queen Anne of Great Britain (Pen and Sword, 2024), p. 126.</ref> Edinburgh Castle gave a cannon salute.<ref>John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:2 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 931.</ref> James VI gave Anne of Denmark a gift of a pointed diamond. Robert's nurse Isobel Colt was dressed in black velvet.<ref>Ethel Carleton Williams, Anne of Denmark (London: Longman, 1970), p. 66.</ref>

Baptism

The baptism was delayed longer than was usual.<ref>HMC Salisbury Cecil, vol. 13 (London, 1923), p. 211.</ref> It was widely believed that Prince Henry would be godfather and after the baptism he would stay at Dunfermline Palace with his mother, but this did not come to be, despite the king's promise.<ref>Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:2 (Edinburgh, 1969), pp. 945, 948, 962.</ref>

On 2 May 1602 Robert was carried from Dunfermline Palace into the Abbey by the Duke of Lennox on a large purple cushion for his baptism. Lord Oliphant carried the crown ducal, the Master of Angus carried the ewer and towel, and the Master of Paisley brought the basin.<ref>James Maidment, Ancient Heraldic and Antiquarian Tracts (Edinburgh, 1837), p. 55.</ref> The crown ducal used at the baptism of Prince Henry in 1594 was described as "low crown, competent for a duke, set with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies", meaning a circlet without the raised arches of imperial crowns.<ref>Alexander Nisbet, A System of Heraldry, 2 (Edinburgh, 1804), p. 155: True Reportarie (London: Peter Short), sig. B2v</ref>

Robert's name and titles were proclaimed by trumpeters at the windows of the abbey, and the celebrations involved a tournament of "running at the ring" which damaged a cornfield. The sum of £66-13s-4d Scots was thrown into the crowd as largesse. On the previous day an English Catholic, Humphrey Dethick, either the son of a London baker or from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, killed one of the guests, claiming to be acting to fulfil a prophecy told to him in Spain.<ref>Letters to King James the Sixth from the Queen, Prince Henry, Prince Charles etc (Edinburgh, 1835), p. lxxxi-lxxxii: John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), pp. 977-983.</ref><ref>Steven Veerapen, The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2013), p. 213.</ref>

Sickness and death

Margaret Stewart, Mistress of Ochiltree, the senior lady in waiting, was in charge of Robert's care.<ref>Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1625-1657, 2nd series vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1899), pp. 201-202.</ref> Marion Hepburn was appointed to rock Robert's cradle.<ref>Letters to King James the Sixth from the Queen, Prince Henry, Prince Charles etc (Edinburgh, 1835), p. lxxxii.</ref> Isobel Colt, the nurse, was the wife of Patrick Smith, an Edinburgh lawyer and writer to the signet. She was dismissed shortly before the death of Duke Robert, as it was thought a new nurse would improve his health. Isobel was given £200 Scots as a reward for her service by the English courtier Roger Aston on 25 May. The payment was witnessed by John Buchanan, who later married Margaret Hartsyde, a servant of the queen.<ref>Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 988: National Records of Scotland NRS E23/11.</ref>

When Robert was ill and Princess Elizabeth at Linlithgow Palace was sick with the measles, Anne of Denmark was "sorrowful and more than ever she was before", but she told James, "If it please God to take one of our children, He will send us another, for I feel myself with child."<ref>Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), pp. 998, 996.</ref>

David Calderwood wrote that Doctor Hereis got little thanks for his care of the prince.<ref>David Calderwood,History of the Kirk, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1844), p. 151.</ref>