Wasn't her: Mary Queen of Scots, depicted here around 1565,

Mary, Queen of Scots has been cleared of any involvement in the notorious murder of her husband, more than four centuries after the unsolved crime took place.

The rebel queen, who plotted against Elizabeth I, has long been suspected of bringing about the death of Lord Darnley, her royal consort who himself had royal blood.

Their marriage had been under serious strain since they wed in 1565, and just two years later he and his squire were found dead in an orchard in Kirk o'Field, Edinburgh.

Not long before the bodies were discovered, an explosion had rocked Lord Darnley's home, throwing even more confusion over the deaths, which are believed to have been carried out by suffocation.

However, a panel assembled by the Royal Society of Edinburgh was convened this week and has begun considering the crime with modern investigative methods - and has concluded that Mary's hands are clean.

The congregated experts include pathologists, explosives experts, scientists and historians.

They met on Thursday night at Jedburgh town hall on the Scottish Borders to examine evidence from the killings.

At the core of the new investigation was a detailed contemporary drawing of the site of Darnley's death, which shows the bodies, the buildings and the effects of the blast.

They were also presented with a modern 'crime scene photograph', which is based on an original sketch and offers more clues.

Killed: Above is an image from around the time of the killing showing Lord Darnley killed in Kirk o'Field, Edinburgh. He is often described as being only partly dressed

Couple: Darnley, who had royal lineage himself, is pictured above with Mary, whom he married in 1565

Forensic scientist Professor Sue Black, led the inquiry on Thursday and said she believes Darnely and his squire were strangled.

She said: 'When you look at the picture in the way it was intended, it just looks as if Darnley is lying there, his nightgown around his waist.'

Murdered: One expert said she believes Darnley was strangled - potential by his own family

The anatomy and forensic anthropology expert, who Dundee University, continued: 'But when you turn it round through 180 degrees, you get a different perspective of where the head lies in relation to the shoulders.

'It does look as if the body has been dragged.'

This explanation would account for Darnley's state of undress - the image shows his nightshirt ridden part way up his body, leaving him exposed.

Professor Black said: 'It might be that he was murdered somewhere else and then pulled out there so his body could be found'.

Karly Kehoe, a senior lecturer in history at Glasgow Caledonian University, said she accepted the view that Darnley had been killed by his kinsmen.

It is believed they were angry at his apparent betrayal of them after he killed David Rizzio, Mary's private secretary.

Rizzio was rumoured to be the father of Mary's unborn child, and as a result was was stabbed 56 times by Darnley and his friends.

Dr Kehoe said the most plausible account of Darnley's murder had been put forward by Caroline Bingham, his biographer.

Bingham wrote: 'On the night of his death, he was awoken by people outside his lodging, and feared for his life.

'Not pausing to dress, he and his servant attempted to flee, using sheets to descend from a window.

'When they arrived in the garden, they were surrounded and were either strangled or suffocated, and then removed to the orchard where the bodies were found.'

Explosion: Adding to the confusion around Darnley's death, there was an explosion at his residence shortly before he was found

Chaos: The image of the slain Darnley is part of a large drawing of Kirk o'Field, seen above, with the two victims in the top-right corner

It is believed the blast was detonated after the murder, a possible attempt to cover the real cause of death.

However, it was impossible to determine from the scant evidence whether Darnley and his valet had been strangled or suffocated.

The inquiry appeared to exonerate Mary, but was inconclusive on cause of death, and the precise identity of perpetrators remains unknown.

John Dunn, the procurator fiscal, said: 'The jury remains out.' The case continues.

Although the experts concluded that Mary had no part in this murder, she was eventually executed after being implicated in plot against Elizabeth I, her cousin.