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Royalty who died in odd ways
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Are you including ways of death that were deliberately done to royalty? The first one that pops in my head is Edward II of England (although I don't know how much is truly known or is just rumor - supposedly his wife had him killed by sticking a hot poker in an unpleasant place).
Oh my! That may be a winner. Any other candidates?
A favorite of mine is George, Duke of Clarence, who was drowned in a butt of malmsey in 1478. What a way to go - to drown in a vat of wine!Those wacky Plantagenets!
Oh, that's a good one Susanna. I can't believe I forgot about good old George!
Does it have to be European royalty, Holly? I have quite a few notes squirreled away about various Byzantine scandals, which probably includes some interesting deaths.
No matter...this is a fun thread. Would love to hear some good Byzantine tales!Holly
Wonders and Marvels
Frederick I died on the way to the Holy land while leading the Third Crusade.Supposedly he drowned while crossing a river in Anatolia (Turkey) while wearing his armour. Some people speculate that the cold water must have been a shock to his system and caused him to have a heart attack and then weight of the armour must have pulled him down. Supposedly the water wasnt very deep, only up to his waist.
The Muslims said it was a sign of God's displeasure at the Christians for invading their homeland.
Truely a PR nightmare if ever there was one.
Mary Stuart's first husband is said to have been oversexed because of tuberculosis and "died in the saddle" while making love with her.
lol, so far there are some interesting ways to meet the Almighty.
A myth about Catherine the Great is that she died while attempting to have sex with a horse (totally untrue, but that's the legend that developed somehow!).
Ewww, Sara - I know! But I hate that people say that about Catherine, true or not, it's so wrong.
I can't remember his name but some Chinese emperor traveled seeking immortality came across a sea monster, it ended up being a whale and he died from a desease when he killed it so I guess he didn't find.
See "Doomed Queens" for odd/gory ends. I will post an interview of the author this week.
I thought I had included the link to the book. Second try...
King Philip III of Spain was very ill with a skin ailment. His courtiers placed a brazier beside his bed to keep him warm, and the smoke began to suffocate him. By rank and precedence, only the Duke of Uceda had the honor of removing it. Because Uceda was absent, no one dared usurp his position. And so Philip III choked to death because his gentlemen of the bedchamber would not violate court etiquette.
i cant believe that people back then were so weird!how on earth people can die from oversex!?ia that even a condition?and i can't believe someone actually drowned in a barrel of wine!lol!well i can think of non who died so funny but the death of amy dudley,(does she constitutes as a royal, being the wife of elizabeth I's alleged lover, Robert Dudley) intrigues me. 6 stairs and a broken neck!4 and a half century later still unsolved!! (according to Philipa Gregory's Vrigin's Lover)
suffiyan wrote: "i cant believe that people back then were so weird!how on earth people can die from oversex!?ia that even a condition?and i can't believe someone actually drowned in a barrel of wine!lol!well i can..."Yeah, Amy Dudley's death definitely was suspicious and convenient!
I doubt that anyone actually died from having too much sex. My bet would be it was a rumor started because some people were put off by the individual's sexuality (or lack of discretion in their minds - Catherine the Great had a lot of lovers and didn't really hide it and somehow that turns into her dying while having sex with a horse!).
Attila the Hun died while having sex with his wife. She stabbed him.
What are some bizarre ways that royalty met their end?
Here's one: Henri II of France. Lance in the eye, which Nostradamus was said to have predicted.
Holly
Wonders and Marvels