As a married woman, Mary Livingston was no longer a maid of honour. She remained a court favorite and continued in the Queen's retinue as a Lady-in-waiting and Keeper of the Queen's jewels and furs. John and Mary were at the Palace of Holyroodhouse when David Riccio was murdered in the Queen's chamber. Immediately after the murder, the Queen asked Mary Livingston to request that her husband remove a box containing her foreign correspondence and cypher keys from David Riccio's chamber then under the guard of John's father, Robert.
