chunk: To complicate matters further, Mortimer plans to free Mary from the prison by force, a dramatized version of the unsuccessful Babington Plot, but when his attempt is found out, he commits suicide.
  Queen Elizabeth eventually persuades herself to sign Mary's death warrant. Elizabeth insists that her only reason for signing is the pressure from her own people to do so.
  The signed warrant is handed to Queen Elizabeth's undersecretary Davison without any clear instructions on what to do with it. In the process, Elizabeth transfers the burden of responsibility to him, fully aware that he in turn will hand over the warrant to Lord Burleigh, and thus confirm Mary's death sentence.
  Burleigh demands the signed document from Davison, who â despite his uncertainty â eventually hands it to him. As a result, Burleigh has Mary executed.