Charles de Prunelé, Baron d'Esneval

[2] Henry III of France and his mother Catherine de' Medici wrote to James VI in November 1585, introducing the new resident ambassador charged with promoting the Auld alliance.

[4] The appointment of a resident ambassador was a recognition by the Valois court that James VI, rather than his mother, the exiled Mary, Queen of Scots, was ruler of Scotland.

Cecil described the situation of the rival diplomats in Scotland in his letter:Mr Randolph is to go to the Scottish king, and so the treaty, as I think, shall go forward.

[11] When the English diplomat Thomas Randolph arrived in Edinburgh, James VI told him D'Esneval was younger than him, and had no experience of Scotland.

[13] Walsingham was convinced that D'Esneval had brought a significant sum of money to Scotland, possibly originating in Spain, while Randolph only had words to counter the effect of this gold.

[15] Their efforts were unsuccessful, due in part to the banishment of their ally at court, James Stewart, Earl of Arran, and offers of an English subsidy.

[16] On 3 July, D'Esneval wrote to Henry III about the English treaty, and a conversation he had with James about personal letters from his mother since the mission of Albert Fontenay.

She had written to him on 30 April (and to Courcelles) asking him to procure a life-size picture taken from life (recouvrer de mon filz ung sien pourtraict en grand, faict sur sa personne propre).

James intended to send the first version of the portrait to Denmark, (son pourtraict qu'il veut envoyir en Dannemarc).

[27] In France, a spy for England strained to overhear Secretary Pinart discussing his son-in-law D'Esneval's letters with Catherine de' Medici.

[29] Courcelles noted Young's return, and understood that his mission included the subject of Orkney and the marriage of one of the Danish king's daughters.

D'Esneval asked Courcelles to liaise with the painter, "pour le tableau du mon paisage" (for my landscape), to agree a price and pay him, perhaps meaning the portrait of James or another work.

At first, D'Esneval thought the Babington affair might blow over, being only the "special affection which some young (Jesuit) gentlemen students had to the religion rather than an enterprise against the state".