Margaret, Maid of Norway: How Scotland's fate took a tumble from a horse and fell through the fingers of a delicate child – Susan Morrison

The loss of the last legitimate heir to the Scottish throne plunged the country into the Wars of Independence

When King Alexander III lost his wife Margaret in 1275, he didn't seem to be in a big hurry to marry again. In fact, he seems to have indulged his swinging side. For ten years, he took to girl-chasing on an epic scale. According to the Lannercost Chronicle, “he used never to forbear on account of season or storm, nor for perils of flood or rocky cliffs but would visit none too creditably matrons and nuns, virgins and widows by day or by night as the fancy seized him”, sometimes “even in disguise”. As a Tinder profile, it certainly stands out.

Well, he had that king's luxury, an heir and a spare. His late wife had given him two lads, Alexander and David. Oh, and a daughter, Margaret across in Norway, married and expected to create more royal children.