How was Mary queen of Scots remembered?

Answer 1

Through her execution she became a martyr for the Roman Catholic cause in England. But at the time (and also by later historians) she was and is remembered as a less than effective ruler of Scotland who regularly got herself in trouble with Scotland's ruling classes and who was at the center of several scandals.

Knowing that having a fellow monarch executed would create a big scandal, Elisabeth I did this with great reluctance and only in the face of overwhelming evidence that Mary even as an English prisoner actively conspired with England's enemies for Elisabeth's downfall and offered herself as the alternative for Queen Elisabeth and as someone who would make England a Catholic country again.