James Stuart was a gay man before the word homosexual even existed. He fell in love three times – with Sandie, Robert, and Steenie – and he was infatuated three more times – with Huntley, Ruthven, and Philip. We have so much on the six wives of Henry VIII, why not the six loves of James I?

There has never been a biography of King James that looks honestly at the entirety of his private life, much less at the men he loved over the course of that life. It is among the most dramatic stories in British royal history. Beginning with the assassination of his bisexual father in 1567, James’s life ran through kidnapping, religious fundamentalism, witchcraft trials, torture, poison, political radicalism, the unification of Scotland and England, a queen’s alleged abortion, passionate sex, strong love, stronger hate, espionage, one-night stands, group sex, brothels, and a decade-long love affair that ended in murder.

Apart from being a series of love stories, Queen James covers a fascinating piece of royal history. Child of a murdered father and a beheaded mother, he was kidnapped twice, his mentor’s heart was sent to him in a box, he slept with a suspected spy and was nearly murdered by another of his lovers. James Stuart did not always love wisely but he never failed to do so boldly.