She was the tenth child of twelve born to Roman Catholic parents,[4] a Dominican mother and Antiguan father.

Scotland was an unsuccessful contender for a cabinet position in 2003, when Blair reportedly considered appointing her Leader of the House of Lords.

[19][20] Scotland was re-elected to a second term at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, reportedly defeating Jamaican foreign minister Kamina Johnson Smith by 27 votes to 24.

[21] In her capacity as Secretary General, Baroness Scotland performed a scripture reading at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey on 19 September 2022.

Tapui was later jailed for eight months for fraud, possessing a false identity stamp, and overstaying her UK visa.

[24] In November 2016, political blogger Guido Fawkes published purported extracts from leaked documents exposing Scotland's extravagant spending on redecorating her grace and favour apartment in Mayfair, London.

[25][26] In January 2020, Scotland faced further criticism of her role as secretary-general of the Commonwealth for awarding a consultancy contract to a company run by a friend.

The Audit Committee of the international organisation noted that she offered a contract to a fellow Labour peer, Lord Patel of Bradford, despite his firm being "apparently insolvent" and "circumventing" the normal competitive tendering process.

[29] In 2024, she attended an event in Baku organized by a newly created Azerbaijani NGO run by a businessperson with close ties to the authoritarian regime.

[29] She attended an event in 2015 at Baku’s Four Seasons Hotel launching a glossy book praising Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company SOCAR.

[29] Scotland was decreed and invested by Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, as a Dame of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George in 2003.

In 2014 she was appointed to the Council of the British and Irish Delegation of the Constantinian Order and promoted in rank to Dame Grand Cross of Merit.

[39] Scotland resides in London[40] and in Asthal, Oxfordshire, where she and her husband Richard Mawhinney, also a barrister, live with their two sons.

In 2021, he was arrested and fined for abusing cabin crew on a British Airways flight, including shouting "Look up who my mum is – Baroness Scotland [...] go and get me a drink" after being refused alcohol.