Carter Roy

Once the letters were written, Mary sealed them using letter locking.

Think origami meets espionage.

For those who aren't watching, I've got a little sample right here that we've done.

Basically, it makes it so you can't open the letter without ripping the paper.

Mary's favorite spiral lock was so complicated, historians weren't able to reverse engineer it until 2021.

Pretty impressive.

Though Mary didn't operate alone.

Throughout her captivity, she kept her own loyal staff.

Even though she wasn't ruling, she was rich and could pay well.

Still, Mary was careful, seeking out people loyal to her cause or unable to read her mail.

She hired at least one illiterate teen, and she wrote her letters in multiple languages.

Mary was fluent in at least five.

Five languages, complex ciphers, elaborate letter folding.

I'm starting to question the moron allegations.

Most of Mary's ciphered letters began as notes or dictation to her French secretary.

He gave the complete letter to her Scottish secretary, who translated it into English, then translated it again into the cipher code before it was sent.

So that's three people communicating in three written languages.

Think a very high-stakes game of telephone.

Once the message was written and sealed, Mary's staff snuck it out.

Over the years, they hid messages in sword scabbards, dirty laundry, fancy Renaissance sleeves...