Category Archives: Royal Deaths and Illnesses

Assassination of Faisal II, King of Iraq, members of his family, and palace staff (1958)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Faisal II, King of Iraq; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 14, 1958, twenty-three-year-old Faisal II, the last King of Iraq, was assassinated at al-Rihab Palace in Baghdad, Iraq along with members of the Iraqi royal family and palace staff during the 14 July Revolution, also known as the 1958 Iraqi military coup. This ended the thirty-seven-year-old Hashemite monarchy in Iraq.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq

In 1921, Transjordan became an autonomous division of Palestine under the leadership of Sharif Abdullah bin al-Hussein who then became Emir of Transjordan. Abdullah bin al-Hussein was the son of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca, who was instrumental in starting the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. In 1916, Hussein bin Ali proclaimed himself King of Hejaz, a region of present-day Saudi Arabia, and also declared himself King of all Arabs. This last move enraged another Arab leader, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who defeated Hussein bin Ali in 1924, caused him to abdicate the throne of Hejaz, and then became the first King of Saudi Arabia. Hussein bin Ali’s three sons all became kings: Ali bin Hussein was briefly King of Hejaz, Abdullah bin Hussein was King Abdullah I of Jordan, and Faisal bin Hussein was King Faisal I of Iraq and for a very brief time was also King of Syria. King Faisal I was an important figure in the revolt against the Ottoman Empire and received assistance from British Army Captain T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia. King Faisal I of Iraq, aged forty-eight, died of a heart attack in 1933 and was succeeded on the throne by his eldest son King Ghazi of Iraq.

Faisal II, King of Iraq

Five-year-old Faisal II, King of Iraq; Credit – Wikipedia

Faisal II, King of Iraq was born May 2, 1935, in Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq, the only child of King Ghazi of Iraq and his first cousin Princess Aliya bint Ali of Hejaz, the daughter of Ali bin Hussein who was briefly King of Hejaz, mentioned above. On April 4, 1939, twenty-seven-year-old, King Ghazi of Iraq was killed in a suspicious car accident. Three-year-old Faisal succeeded his father as King Faisal II. Because Faisal II was underage, his maternal uncle Prince Abdul Ilah served as regent until 1953 when Faisal II came of age. Prince Abdul Ilah also served as Crown Prince of Iraq from 1943 until his death during the assassination. During World War II, Faisal II was evacuated along with his mother to the United Kingdom. He attended the Harrow School in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England with his same-aged second cousin, the future Hussein I, King of Jordan.

Faisal II, King of Iraq (left) with his second cousin Hussein I, King of Jordan in February 1958; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Faisal II had three engagements, he never married. Faisal II first asked for the hand of Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi of Iran, the eldest daughter of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran but the princess was unwilling. In 1957, Faisal II became engaged to Princess Kiymet Hanım, a descendant of the Mamluk dynasty of Iraq but the engagement was broken three months later. At the time of his death, Faisal II was engaged to Princess Sabiha Fazile Hanımsultan, the only daughter of Prince Muhammad ‘Ali Ibrahim of Egypt but Faisal II was killed two weeks before the scheduled wedding.

What caused the assassination of King Faisal II?

Abdul Salam Arif and Abd al-Karim Qasim, the leaders of the 14 July Revolution; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1958, neighboring Syria joined with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic which Iraq did not recognize. This prompted the Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan to strengthen their ties by establishing a similar alliance called the Hashemite Arab Federation which was not universally accepted in Iraq. Tension between the United Arab Republic and the Hashemite Arab Federation worsened. During the summer of 1958, the movement of United Arab Republic troops to the Syrian border caused the Hashemite Arab Federation to mobilize troops to counter this move. Within Iraq, a group of Iraqi army officers called the Nationalist Officers Organization plotted against the monarchy. They were inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Free Officers Movement who overthrew the Egyptian monarchy in 1952. In July 1958, Iraqi troops led by Colonel Abd al-Karim Qasim and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif were moving through Baghdad on their way to the Jordanian-Syrian border, and so they took the opportunity, with troops having a legitimate excuse to be in Baghdad, to put their plan to overthrow the monarchy in motion. Colonel Abdul al-Salam Arif broadcasted the statement of the revolution from the Baghdad Radio Building and helped plan and implement the coup with Colonel Abd al-Karim Qasim, who led the 19th Brigade of the Iraqi army.

The Assassination

Iraqi soldiers in front of the gutted Rihab Palace after the assassination

On July 14, 1958, King Faisal II was to travel to Turkey for diplomatic meetings and then travel to London to meet his fiancée Princess Sabiha Fazile Hanımsultan. That morning Faisal II was awakened at the al-Rihab Palace in Baghdad by the sound of gunfire. Members of the royal guard investigated but they did not find the source of the gunfire. Then a servant heard on the radio the announcement of a revolution. From a nearby balcony, Faisal II’s maternal uncle Prince Abdul Ilah called to the royal guards outside the palace to investigate. The royal guards reported that many rebel soldiers had surrounded the palace.

The commander of the royal guard informed King Faisal II that rebel army units had taken control of important areas in Baghdad, had declared a republic, and were requesting the royal family to surrender. King Faisal II announced his surrender and was asked to leave al-Rihab Palace along with the family members and the staff with him. Leaving the palace with the king were his maternal uncle Prince Abdul Ilah and his wife Princess Hiyam, his maternal aunt Princess Abadiya, his maternal grandmother Princess Nafissa, his Turkish cook Abigail Raziqia, and two members of the royal guard Lafi Al-Azmi and Captain Thabet.

Captain Abdul Sattar Sabaa Al-Ibousi, leading the rebel assault group at the al-Rihab Palace, ordered King Faisal II and those with him to gather in the palace courtyard. When they were passing the kitchen garden, through a row of rebel soldiers, the soldiers opened fire. King Faisal II was shot in the head and neck. Prince Abdul Ilah, Queen Nafisa, Princess Abadiya, and Captain Thabet of the royal guard were shot and died instantly. Princess Hiyam was shot in the thigh and was the only member of the royal family to survive. Abigail Raziqia, the Turkish cook, and Lafi Al-Azmi, a member of the royal guard were injured but also survived.

The deceased and the survivors were then taken by car to the Ministry of Defense. King Faisal II reportedly died along the way, and the cars were stopped. King Faisal II’s body was hanged and the body of Prince Abdul Ilah was defiled, dragged through the streets, and then burned. King Faisal II’s body was then transported to Al-Rashid Military Hospital to verify his death. In the evening, a hole was dug near the hospital, and King Faisal II’s body was buried. The remains of the others were transferred to Al-Rashid Military Hospital before they were burned and thrown into the Tigris River.

Tomb of King Faisal II of Iraq; Credit – Wikipedia

During the regime of Saddam Hussein (1979 – 2003), the remains of King Faisal II were reburied in a marble tomb next to his father’s tomb in the Royal Mausoleum in Baghdad, Iraq.

Princess Hayim, the only member of the royal family to survive; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Hiyam, the wife of Prince Abdul Ilah, was the only member of the royal family to survive. In the confusion after the initial shooting, she was protected by some soldiers from her family tribe. Princess Hiyam later married her cousin and had two children. In the 1980s she managed to escape from Iraq and lived the rest of her life in Jordan, where she died in 1999, aged 66.

What happened to the conspirators?

Abd al-Karim Qasim assumed the posts of Prime Minister and Defense Minister and Abdul Salam Arif became Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister. They were the highest authority in Iraq with both executive and legislative powers.

Abd al-Karim Qasim; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1962, both the Ba’ath Party and the United States Central Intelligence Agency began plotting to overthrow Abd al-Karim Qasim with United States government officials cultivating supportive relationships with Ba’athist leaders and others opposed to Qasim. On February 8, 1963, Qasim was overthrown by the Ba’athists, long suspected to be supported by the CIA, in the Ramadan Revolution. After a short show trial on February 9, 1963, Abd al-Karim Qasim was shot by the Ba’athists at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense building.

Abdul Salam Arif; Credit – Wikipedia

Almost immediately after taking power in 1958 with Abd al-Karim Qasim, Abdul Salam Arif had issues with him. The two leaders engaged in a power struggle, ending with Qasim prevailing and the removal of Arif from his positions on September 12, 1963. Before the coup that overthrew Qasim, Arif had been selected as the leader of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council, and after the coup, he was elected President of Iraq. He served as President of Iraq until his death in an airplane crash on April 13, 1966.

Abdul Sattar Sabaa Al-Ibousi; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1970, Abdul Sattar Sabaa Al-Ibousi, then a colonel in the Iraqi army, who had been the leader of the revolutionary assault group at Rihab Palace, died by suicide, after suffering from remorse and guilt for twelve years.

The Aftermath

The Ramadan Revolution, from February 8 -10, 1963, established the Ba’athist government in Iraq. In 1957, a 20-year-old Iraqi joined the Ba’ath Party. He became a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, and later, the Baghdad-based Ba’ath Party. He played a key role in the 17 July Revolution of 1968 that ousted the moderate faction of the Ba’ath Party and was appointed Vice President of Iraq in 1968. On July 16, 1979, he acted to secure his grip on power and forced the ailing President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr of Iraq to resign and then he assumed the presidency. His rule was marked by numerous human rights abuses, including an estimated 250,000 deaths and disappearances. He remained President of Iraq until 2003 when the United States led an invasion of Iraq. The Ba’ath Party was banned and he went into hiding and was captured on December 13, 2003, hiding in a hole. On November 5, 2006, he was convicted (Wikipedia: Trial of Sadam Hussein) by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi’a and sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006.

Iraq continues to be a politically unstable country with civil unrest and a dysfunctional government.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Lessware, S. A.-S. and J. (2018, July 15). 60 years on, Iraqis reflect on the coup that killed king Faisal II. Arab News. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1339046/middle-east
  • Teller Report. (2021). The attempt of the leaders of the 1958 coup to simulate the Egyptian experience of banishing the king did not see the light… The mysteries and secrets of the killing of the royal family in Iraq. https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2021-07-15-the-attempt-of-the-leaders-of-the-1958-coup-to-simulate-the-egyptian-experience-of-banishing-the-king-did-not-see-the-light—-the-mysteries-and-secrets-of-the-killing-of-the-royal-family-in-iraq.B1BMdq2a6O.html
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). 14 July Revolution. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_July_Revolution
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Abd Al-Ilah. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Ilah
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Abd al-Karim Qasim.Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Karim_Qasim
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Abdul Salam Arif. Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Salam_Arif
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). عبد الستار العبوسي Abdul Sattar Al-Abousi. Wikipedia (Arabic). https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%8A
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). قصر الرحاب al-Rahib Palace. Wikipedia (Arabic). https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%A8
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). فيصل الثاني (Faisal II, King of Iraq). Wikipedia (Arabic). https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%84_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Faisal II of Iraq. Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_II_of_Iraq
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Saddam Hussein. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein

The Mysterious Death of Ananda Mahidol, King of Thailand (1946)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

On June 9, 1946, 20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand was found shot to death in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall, a residential palace located in the Grand Palace complex in Bangkok, Thailand. He died from a single gunshot wound to the forehead.

King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand

King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand in 1946; Credit – Wikipedia

King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand was born on September 20, 1925, in Heidelberg, Germany where his parents were studying at Heidelberg University. He was the second of the three children and the elder of the two sons of  Prince Mahidol Adulyadej and Princess Srinagarindra. His younger brother succeeded him as King Bhumibol Adulyadej and reigned until he died in 2016. Prince Mahidol Adulyadej was the son of King Chulalongkorn and Sri Savarindira, a consort and half-sister of King Chulalongkorn. King Chulalongkorn had 92 consorts during his lifetime and had 77 surviving children.

On September 24, 1929, King Ananda Mahidol’s father Prince Mahidol Adulyadej died of kidney failure at the age of 37. In 1935, King Prajadhipok of Thailand, one of Ananda Mahidol’s many uncles, abdicated due to political issues and health problems. He decided not to name a successor to the throne. Instead, the Cabinet, with the approval of the National Assembly, used the 1924 Palace Law of Succession and named nine-year-old Ananda Mahidol as King of Thailand. Because the new king was a child and attending school in Switzerland, three regents were appointed to take over the duties of the young king.

King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand in 1938; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1938, accompanied by his mother and his siblings, Ananda Mahidol returned to Thailand for the first time as its king. He spent two months in Thailand and returned to Switzerland to resume his studies.

In December 1941, during World War II, Japan occupied Thailand. King Ananda Mahidol was studying in Switzerland and remained there until the end of World War II. He returned to Thailand in December 1945 after receiving a law degree from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. King Ananda Mahidol had plans to return to the University of Lausanne to obtain a Ph.D. in law four days after his death. After he obtained his Ph.D, he planned to return permanently to Thailand and have his coronation.

On June 9, 1946, 20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand was found shot to death in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall, a residential palace located in the Grand Palace complex in Bangkok, Thailand. King Ananda Mahidol was cremated at Sanam Luang, an open public square in Bangkok, Thailand on March 29, 1950, four years after his death.

King Ananda Mahidol’s ashes are enshrined in the base of the Buddha; Credit – www.findagave.com

What caused the death of King Ananda Mahidol?

King Ananda Mahidol and Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma on January 19, 1946, in Bangkok, Thailand; Credit – Wikipedia

Besides knowing the pathological cause of King Ananda Mahidol’s death, why he died has never been definitively answered. It was noted at the time of his death that Ananda Mahidol did not want to be king and felt his reign would not last long. In January 1946, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the British commander in Southeast Asia, visited King Ananda Mahidol in Bangkok, Thailand. Lord Mountbatten described the young king as “a frightened, short-sighted boy, his sloping shoulders and thin chest behung with gorgeous diamond-studded decorations, altogether a pathetic and lonely figure.” After attending a public function with King Ananda Mahidol, Lord Mountbatten observed, “His nervousness increased to such an alarming extent, that I came very close to support him in case he passed out”. Lord Mountbatten’s anecdote questions King Ananda Mahidol’s state of mind.

What happened on the morning of June 9, 1946?

Boromphiman Throne Hall in the Grand Palace complex. King King Ananda Mahidol’s bedroom was on the upper floor; Credit – Wikipedia

A sequence of events for the morning of June 9, 1946, was devised by Dr. Keith Simpson, pathologist to the British Home Office and founding chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Guy’s Hospital in London, after a forensic analysis of King Ananda Mahidol’s death. Dr. Simpson included this information in Chapter 13 – The Violent Death of King Ananda of Siam, in his book Forty Years of Murder: An Autobiography.

  • 6:00: King Ananda Mahidol was awakened by his mother in his bedroom located on the second floor of the Boromphiman Throne Hall in the Grand Palace.
  • 7:30: The king’s page Butsat Patthamasarin, came on duty and began preparing a breakfast table on a balcony adjoining the king’s dressing room.
  • 8:30: Butsat Patthamasarin saw the king standing in his dressing room. He brought the king his customary glass of orange juice a few minutes later. However, by then the king had gone back to bed and refused the juice.
  • 8:45: The king’s other page Chit Singhaseni appeared, saying he had been called to measure the king’s medals and decorations on behalf of a jeweler who was making a case for them.
  • 9:00: Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej visited his brother King Ananda Mahidol. He said afterward that he had found the king dozing in his bed.
  • 9:20: A single shot rang out from the king’s bedroom. Chit Singhaseni ran in and then ran out along the corridor to the apartment of the king’s mother, crying “The king’s shot himself!” The king’s mother followed Chit Singhaseni into the king’s bedroom and found the king lying face up in bed, bloodied from a wound to the head.

Aftermath

The three men arrested, tried, found guilty, and executed for the supposed assassination of King Ananda Mahidol: left to right: Chit Singhaseni, Bustat Patmasarin, and Chaliao Pathumros; Credit – Wikipedia

An initial radio announcement on June 9, 1946, reported that King Ananda Mahidol was accidentally killed while holding his pistol. In October 1946, a Commission of Inquiry reported that King Ananda Mahidol’s death could not have been accidental but that neither suicide nor murder had been satisfactorily proven.

King Ananda Mahidol’s secretary Chaliao Pathumros and his pages Chit Singhaseni and Butsat Patmasarin were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder the king. After a very long trial, the court ruled that King Ananda Mahidol had been assassinated but that there was no proof that any of the three had killed the king. However, Chit Singhaseni was found guilty of being a party to the murder.

Chit Singhaseni appealed his conviction and the prosecution appealed the acquittal of Chaliao Pathumros and Butsat Patmasarin. After fifteen months of deliberation, the Appeals Court dismissed Chit Singhaseni’s appeal and found Butsat Patmasarin guilty. Both appealed to the Supreme Court which deliberated for ten months before upholding both convictions and also finding Chaliao Pathumro guilty. King Bhumibol Adulyadej rejected their petitions for clemency. The three men were executed by firing squad on February 17, 1955. King Ananda Mahidol’s brother and successor, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, later said he did not believe the three men were guilty.

What Could Have Happened?

Various people have suggested what could have happened.

Dr. Keith Simpson, the forensic pathologist who investigated King Ananda Mahidol’s death, found it highly unlikely that the death was due to suicide. In Chapter 13 – The Violent Death of King Ananda of Siam, in his book Forty Years of Murder: An Autobiography, Dr. Simpson noted:

  • The gun was found next to the king’s left hand, but he was right-handed.
  • The direction of the bullet fired was not inward towards the center of the head.
  • The wound over the left eye was not a contact discharge, a gunshot wound incurred while the gun was in direct contact with the body at the moment of discharge
  • The king was killed while lying flat on his back. Simpson noted that in twenty years’ experience, he had never known of any suicide shooting while lying flat on the back.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej was certain that his brother’s death had been accidental. After the court ruled that the death was proven not an accident, He noted in English: “The investigation provided the fact that he died with a bullet wound in his forehead. It was proved that it was not an accident and not a suicide. One doesn’t know. … But what happened is very mysterious, because immediately much of the evidence was just shifted. And because it was political, so everyone was political, even the police were political, [it was] not very clear. I only know [that] when I arrived he was dead. Many people wanted to advance not theories but facts to clear up the affair. They were suppressed. And they were suppressed by influential people in this country and in international politics.”

Seni Pramoj and the Democrat Party spread rumors that former Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong was behind the death. A United States State Department memo said: “Within forty-eight hours after the death of the late King, two relatives of Seni Pramoj, first his nephew and later his wife, came to the Legation and stated categorically their conviction that the King had been assassinated at the instigation of the Prime Minister.” (Pridi Phanomyong)

Sulak Sivaraksa, a more recent prominent conservative and monarchist, wrote in 2015 that former Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong was protecting “a wrongdoing royal, and prevented an arrest of a person who destroyed the evidence…in truth, the murderer of the king is not Pridi Banomyong. That person is still alive.”

Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong met with American Chargé d’affaires Charles Yost who made the following report to the US State Department: “Pridi spoke very frankly about the whole situation and ascribed the King’s death to an accident, but it was obvious that the possibility of suicide was at the back of his mind. Pridi was violently angry at the accusations of foul play leveled against himself and most bitter in the manner in which he alleged that the Royal Family and the Opposition, particularly Seni Pramoj and Phra Sudhiat, had prejudiced the King and especially the Princess Mother against him.”

Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram, after overthrowing Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong in a coup, told United States Ambassador Edwin Stanton that he “personally doubted whether Pridi was directly involved for two reasons: “firstly, … Pridi is a very clever politician and secondly, … he has a ‘kind heart’. Plaek Pibulsonggram “did not think that Pridi would cause anybody to be murdered. However, Plaek Pibulsonggram said that it was possible Pridi had covered up or destroyed some of the evidence to protect the successor King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

William Stevenson, author and journalist, gave an account of the death in his book The Revolutionary King, written with the cooperation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The account says those executed were innocent and suggests that King Ananda Mahidol was murdered by Tsuji Masanobu, a former Japanese intelligence officer who had been active in Thailand during the war and was hiding out in Thailand for fear of being prosecuted for his war crimes.

Rayne Kruger, journalist and author, who had access to members of the inner circle of the Thai royal family, says in his book The Devil’s Discus that King Ananda Mahidol died by suicide, perhaps an accidental suicide. Kruger writes about a Swiss girl Marylene Ferrari as a love interest of King Ananda Mahidol. Kruger suggests that King Ananda Mahidol might have died by suicide because he knew marrying Marylene would be impossible. He further surmised that the death of King Ananda Mahidol was exploited for a political vendetta, and King Ananda Mahidol’s secretary Chaliao Pathumros and his pages Chit Singhaseni and Butsat Patmasarin were charged, tried, and executed to maintain the façade.

Paul Handley, the author of an unauthorized biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, The King Never Smiles, wrote that either suicide or an accidental shooting by Prince Bhumibol was responsible for King Ananda Mahidol’s death. He says, “I have no idea whether Ananda shot himself or was killed by Bhumibol, the two possibilities most accepted among historians. If the latter, I clearly term it an accident that occurred in play”.

Marylene Ferrari; Credit – Desperately seeking Marylene

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Associate Professor at Kyoto University‘s Center for Southeast Asian Studies, and the author of Love and Death of King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand, published in 2021, writes about the Swiss girl Marylene Ferrari who was mentioned as a love interest of King Ananda Mahidol in Rayne Kruger’s book The Devil’s Discus. Intrigued about Marylene Ferrari, Chachavalpongpun sought to find more information.

King Ananda Mahidol and Marylene Ferrari met in 1943 at the law school at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. The two became romantically involved despite the Thai royal family discouraging the relationship. Their relationship shaped King Ananda Mahidol’s perception of marriage and his duties as king of a very traditional Thailand. Thinking back on what Lord Mountbatten said about King Ananda Mahidol – that he did not want to be king and felt his reign would not last long – his relationship with Marylene could have been a cause. As King of Thailand, Ananda Mahidol was supposedly free to make decisions about his marriage but in reality, this was not true. Marylene’s father was an influential figure in the religious circles of Lausanne, Switzerland, and he was not enthusiastic about the prospect of his daughter becoming the Queen of Thailand because of the inferior status of women in Thailand. The clash of the two diverse views of gender equality and the treatment of women in Thai society further deepened the difficulties in the relationship between Ananda and Marylene. Chachavalpongpun suggests that King Ananda Mahidol, having fallen deeply in love with Marylene, decided to die by suicide because of their star-crossed love.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Ananda Mahidol. (2021). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_Mahidol
  • Chachavalpongpun, Pavin. (2012). Desperately Seeking Marylene. New Mandala. https://www.newmandala.org/desperately-seeking-marylene/
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019). King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-ananda-mahidol-of-thailand/
  • Strangio, Sebastian. (2022). Pavin Chachavalpongpun on the Strange Death of King Ananda Mahidol. Thediplomat.com. https://thediplomat.com/2022/01/pavin-chachavalpongpun-on-the-strange-death-of-king-ananda-mahidol/

When The British Monarch Dies: The Accession Council

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

Accession Council of Queen Victoria by Sir David Wilkie, 1838; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Usually, within 24 hours of the monarch’s death, the Accession Council meets at St. James’ Palace in London to formally proclaim the accession of the deceased monarch’s successor. Upon the death of the monarch, there is an immediate transference of power. The heir to the throne becomes the new monarch immediately upon his/her predecessor’s death. The Accession Council confirms by name the identity of the heir who has succeeded.

St. James’ Palace in London where the Accession Council meets; By Brian Harrington Spier from Shanghai, China – Diamond Jubilee: 3rd June 2012, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39691524

The Accession Council consists of all Privy Counsellors, Great Officers of State, Lord Mayor of London, the Court of Aldermen, and High Commissioners of the Realms. The largest contingent of the Accession Council comes from Privy Council, a formal group of advisers to the monarch, which has hundreds of members composed mostly of politicians and civil servants, both current and retired, all of whom are appointed for life. Usually, several members of the Royal Family are members of the Privy Council. Currently, Queen Consort Camilla and Prince William, The Prince of Wales are members of the Privy Council.

(Left to right) Privy Counsellors: Current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, former Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Theresa May, and John Major ahead of the Accession Council ceremony at St James’s Palace, London, where King Charles III is formally proclaimed monarch on September 10, 2022

The Privy Council Office will send notices to all Privy Counsellors advising them of the Accession Council. Not all Privy Counsellors will be able to attend at such short notice, but that will not affect the process of the Accession Council. Traditionally, invitations are also sent to the Lord Mayor of London, the Court of Aldermen, and the High Commissioners of the Realms.

The Accession Council is presided over by the Lord President of the Council, and is divided into two parts:

  • Part l: Without the presence of the new monarch, the new monarch is proclaimed and certain orders are made relating to the Proclamation.
  • Part ll: The new monarch holds his or her first Council.

Usually, but not always, Part II directly follows Part I. When King George VI died on February 6, 1952, his successor Queen Elizabeth II was in Kenya. Part I of the Accession Council was held on February 6, 1952, at 5 PM. Upon Queen Elizabeth II’s return from Kenya, Part II was held on February 8, 1952, at 10 AM.

During Part I of the Accession Council, the Lord President of the Council announces the recent death of the monarch and then calls upon the Clerk of the Council to read aloud the Accession Proclamation. The following is the Accession Proclamation used for King Charles III on September 10, 2022. It is expected that future Accession Proclamations will follow a similar format.

Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call to His mercy our late Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second of Blessed and Glorious memory, by whose Decease the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is solely and rightfully come to the Prince Charles Philip Arthur George:

We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm, and members of the House of Commons, together with other members of Her late Majesty’s Privy Council, and representatives of the Realms and Territories, Aldermen, and citizens of London and others, do now hereby, with one Voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart, publish and proclaim, that the Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, is now, by the Death of our late Sovereign of happy Memory, become our only lawful and rightful Liege Lord Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of his other Realms and Territories, King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith: To whom we do acknowledge all Faith and Obedience, with humble affection: beseeching God, by whom Kings and Queens do reign, to bless His Majesty with long and happy years to reign over Us.

Given at St James’s Palace this tenth day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-two.

God Save the King.

Then the Accession Proclamation is signed by any members of the Royal Family present who are Privy Counsellors, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop of York, the Prime Minister, the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Earl Marshal, and the Lord President of the Council. After the signing, the Accession Council deals with orders regarding the public readings of the Accession Proclamation and the traditional firing of guns at Hyde Park and the Tower of London.

King Charles III reads his personal Declaration. The Prince of Wales and Queen Consort Camilla are on the left.

Part II of the Accession Council is attended by the new monarch along with only the Privy Counsellors. This part begins with the new monarch’s personal Declaration relating to the death of the previous monarch. On September 10, 2022, King Charles III said:

My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen

It is my most sorrowful duty to announce to you the death of my beloved mother the Queen. I know how deeply you and the entire nation and I think I may say the whole world sympathizes with me in the irreparable loss we have all suffered. It is the greatest consolation to me to know of the sympathy expressed by so many to my sister and my brothers and as such overwhelming affection and support should be extended to our whole family in our loss. To all of us as a family.

As to this kingdom and to the wider family of nations of which it is a part, my mother gave an example of lifelong love and of selfless service. My mother’s reign was unequaled in its duration, its dedication and its devotion. Even as we grieve we give thanks for this most faithful life. I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty, which have now passed to me. In taking up these responsibilities I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set in upholding constitutional government and to seek the peace, harmony and prosperity of the peoples of these islands, and of the commonwealth realms and territories across the world. In this purpose I know that I shall be upheld by the affection and loyalty of the peoples whose sovereign I have been called upon to be, and in the discharge of these duties, I will be guided by the council of their elected parliaments.

“In all this, I am profoundly encouraged by the constant support of my beloved wife. I take this opportunity to confirm my willingness and intention to continue the tradition of surrendering the hereditary revenues, including the crown estate to the government for the benefit of all in return for the sovereign grant which supports my official duties as head of state and head of nation.

In carrying out the heavy task that has been laid upon me, to which I dedicate what remains to me of my life. I pray for the guidance and help of almighty God.

Under the Acts of Union 1707 which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland, the new monarch is required to make an oath to “maintain and preserve” the Church of Scotland. This oath is normally made at the Accession Council. The new monarch reads aloud the oath:

I, [INSERT TITLE] by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of My other Realms and Territories King, Defender of the Faith, do faithfully promise and swear that I shall inviolably maintain and preserve the Settlement of the true Protestant Religion as established by the Laws made in Scotland in prosecution of the Claim of Right and particularly by an Act intituled “An Act for securing the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government” and by the Acts passed in the Parliament of both Kingdoms for Union of the two Kingdoms, together with the Government, Worship, Discipline, Rights and Privileges of the Church of Scotland. So help me God.

The new monarch then signs two copies of the oath. The signing is witnessed by any members of the Royal Family present who are Privy Counsellors, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Scotland, the First Minister of Scotland, the Lord Advocate of Scotland, the Advocate General for Scotland, and the Lord President of the Court of Session. The Lord President of the Council then reads the remaining items on the List of Business which mainly concern the use of the Seals, such as the Great Seal of the Realm that is used to symbolize the monarch’s approval of important state documents.

The Great Seal attached to a charter; By Mo McRoberts – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29936001

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited
“Accession council.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Dec. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
“The Accession council.” Privy Council. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.

When The British Monarch Dies: Proclamation of The New Monarch

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

Reading the Proclamation of the Accession of Edward VII, St. James’ Palace by Enoch Ward; Credit – http://www.artnet.com

At the conclusion of Part I of the Accession Council, orders regarding the public readings of the Accession Proclamation and the traditional firing of guns at Hyde Park and the Tower of London are discussed. Then the Garter King of Arms, accompanied by the Earl Marshal, who is responsible for the ceremonial arrangements relating to the Proclamation, other Officers of Arms and the Sergeants at Arms, will read the Proclamation from the Proclamation Gallery above Friary Court at St. James’ Palace in London, where the Accession Council was held.

The following was the proclamation read in public for King Charles III’s accession. It is expected that a similar proclamation will be used in the future.

Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call to His Mercy our late Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second of Blessed and Glorious memory, by whose Decease the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is solely and rightfully come to The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George:

We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm and Members of the House of Commons, together with other members of Her late Majesty’s Privy Council and representatives of the Realms and Territories, Aldermen, and Citizens of London, and others, do now hereby with one voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart publish and proclaim that The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George is now, by the Death of our late Sovereign of Happy Memory, become our only lawful and rightful Liege Lord Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of his other Realms and Territories, King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, to whom we do acknowledge all Faith and Obedience with humble Affection; beseeching God by whom Kings and Queens do reign to bless His Majesty with long and happy Years to reign over us.

Given at St James’s Palace this tenth day of September in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-two.

GOD SAVE THE KING

 Proclamation Gallery above Friary Court at St. James’ Palace

 

Coinciding with the reading of the Proclamation, gun salutes occur at the Tower of London and Hyde Park. The basic salute is 21 rounds, fired at ten-second intervals. However, because Hyde Park is a Royal Park, an extra 20 rounds are fired for a total of 41 rounds. 61 rounds are fired at the Tower of London on Tower Wharf facing the River Thames: the basic salute of 21 rounds, an extra 20 rounds because the Tower of London is a Royal Palace and 20 more rounds because the Tower of London is located in the City of London.

 

Once the Proclamation has been read from the Proclamation Gallery above Friary Court at St James’ Palace, the heralds travel through London and read it at various points in London including Trafalgar Square and the original site of Temple Bar on Fleet Street until they reach the Royal Exchange where it is read aloud in the presence of the Lord Mayor of London. By tradition, the Proclamation is also read publicly in Edinburgh, Scotland; Cardiff, Wales; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and in other locations. The anniversary is observed throughout the monarch’s reign as Accession Day with royal gun salutes.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

When The British Monarch Dies: Immediately and Automatically

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

 

British news networks including the BBC and ITN practice how they will broadcast a monarch’s death.  It is likely that news of the monarch’s death will be broadcast immediately. However, if the death occurs overnight, the announcement could be delayed until early the following morning. BBC newscasters have dark clothing on standby in which to announce the death of a senior member of the Royal Family so the faux pas that occurred on the BBC when Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother‘s death was announced by a newscaster wearing a gray suit and a red tie does not happen again. The BBC will suspend all planned programming and provide detailed coverage of the news regarding the death. It is likely that in the United States cable news networks will carry extensive coverage. Through the Internet and social media, the news will quickly travel throughout the world.

The Sovereign’s Throne in the House of Lords; Credit – http://www.parliament.uk

In the United Kingdom, upon the death of the monarch, there is an immediate transference of power. The heir to the throne becomes the new monarch immediately upon his/her predecessor’s death. The line of succession is determined by several Acts of Parliament: The Bill of Rights 1689, The Act of Settlement 1701, and The Succession to The Crown Act 2013, which amended the two previous Acts. The Succession to The Crown Act 2013 formally went into effect on March 26, 2015. The Act put into place absolute primogeniture which means the eldest child born becomes the heir to his or her parent, regardless of gender. This is retroactive to those born after October 28, 2011. Another change affects those in the line of succession who marry a Roman Catholic. Under the previous rules, a person who married a Roman Catholic lost rights to succession. However, under the terms of the 2013 Act, this is no longer the case. Marriage to a Roman Catholic no longer excludes anyone. This change was retroactive and those who were removed due to their marriages were reinstated to the line of succession.

Arms of the Duchy of Cornwall; Credit – Wikipedia

Two titles are automatically bestowed in certain circumstances: Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, and their subsidiary titles. The Duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established by royal charter in 1337. An additional charter was issued in 1421 and is still intact. Those charters dictate that only the eldest living son of the monarch who is also the heir-apparent can be the Duke of Cornwall.

Coat of Arms of the Duke of Rothesay; Credit – Wikipedia

The Duke of Rothesay was traditionally the title of the heir-apparent to the Scottish throne. The title was created in 1398 and thereafter the heir-apparent to the Scottish Crown was the Duke of Rothesay. An Act of the Parliament of Scotland passed in 1469 stated that only the eldest living son of the monarch who is the heir-apparent can be the Duke of Rothesay. Since 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne as King James I after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the English/British monarchs’ eldest living sons and heirs apparent automatically became the Duke of Rothesay.

With the Succession to The Crown Act 2013 changing the type of succession to absolute primogeniture in which the eldest child born becomes the heir to his or her parent, regardless of gender, there are some issues with the Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay titles. The original stipulations, that the titles can go to the eldest living son and heir-apparent are still in effect. Therefore, as the situation is as of now, there can be a female heir-apparent, but she cannot be Duchess of Cornwall or Duchess of Rothesay. There appears to have been some sort of groundwork laid for change should there be a female heir apparent in the future. The holdings of the Duchy of Cornwall provide an income for the heir apparent. As part of the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, the way in which income from the Duchy of Cornwall is distributed was changed. Previously, the income could only be distributed to someone holding the title of Duke of Cornwall. Now, the income can be distributed to the heir-apparent, regardless of the title. The Sovereign Grant Act 2011 stipulates that if the heir is a minor, 10% of the income will be distributed to the heir and the balance will be distributed to the Crown until the heir is 18 years old.

The Prince of Wales’s Feathers; Credit – Wikipedia

The Prince of Wales is a title that traditionally has been given to the heir apparent to the English and British throne. The heir apparent is the person who is first in the line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting the throne by the birth of another person. Usually, the heir apparent has been the eldest son of the Sovereign but not always. Twice, the heir apparent was the grandson of the Sovereign. The fathers of the future Richard II and George III both predeceased their own fathers leaving their sons as the heir apparent.

The heir-apparent to the British throne can be created Prince of Wales along with its subsidiary titles. This is not an automatic title and it is not required that the heir-apparent be created Prince of Wales. King Henry VIII‘s son, who succeeded him as King Edward VI, was never created Prince of Wales. Neither does the Prince of Wales need to be the eldest son of the monarch.  When Frederick, Prince of Wales predeceased his father King George II, Frederick’s eldest son, the future King George III, became the heir-apparent and was created Prince of Wales by his grandfather.  However, he could not be Duke of Cornwall or Duke of Rothesay because he was not the eldest son of the monarch.  Queen Elizabeth II’s heir-apparent Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales in 1958, the year he became 10 years old. However, Queen Victoria created her heir-apparent, the future King Edward VII, Prince of Wales when he was one month old. There appears to be no legal impediment to creating a female heir-apparent Princess of Wales.

Any male-line grandchildren of the Sovereign would be entitled to the style and title His/Her Royal Highness Prince/Princess. In 1917, King George V issued Letters Patent stating that the children of the Sovereign, the children of the sons of the Sovereign, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales would be entitled to the style Royal Highness and the title Prince/Princess.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Royal Cases of COVID-19

compiled by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has had COVID-19 twice

During the 14th century, the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, the Pestilence, and the Plague, is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe’s population. Smallpox was a leading cause of death in the 18th century. It killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year in the 18th century. Just as epidemics of smallpox and the plague in the past knew no class boundaries, the same holds true for COVID-19. Except for two deaths of minor royals from the African Kingdom of Eswatini, we are unaware of any royal deaths from COVID-19.

Read more at Unofficial Royalty: Royal Deaths and Illnesses

This does not purport to be a complete list and will be updated as needed.

Current Monarchies

Kingdom of Belgium

  • Princess Claire, wife of Prince Laurent: May 2020
  • Prince Joachim, son of Princess Astrid: May 2020
  • An unidentified member of the Belgian royal family: September 2021
  • Princess Delphine, daughter of King Albert II: October 2021
  • Prince Laurent, son of King Albert II: November 2021

Kingdom of Denmark

Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)

  • Prince Tshekedi Dlamini, grandson of King Sobhuza II: died August 2020
  • Princess Ngabisa Dlamini, granddaughter of King Sobhuza II: died August 2020
  • King Mswati III: January 2021

State of Japan

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Principality of Monaco

Kingdom of Morocco

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Kingdom of Norway

State of Qatar

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

  • Prince Waleed bin Sadr Al Saud: September 2020
  • About 150 members of the Saudi royal family had COVID-19 during April 2020. Prince Faisal bin Bandar was in intensive care.

Kingdom of Spain

Kingdom of Sweden

Kingdom of Thailand

United Kingdom

Former Monarchies

Austria

Brazil

In March 2020, the family attended an engagement party where several people appear to have been infected.

  • Prince Antonio of Orleans-Braganza, son of the late Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, disputed Head of the Imperial House of Brazil: March 2020
  • Prince Francisco of Orleans-Braganza, son of the late Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, disputed Head of the Imperial House of Brazil: March 2020
  • Prince Alberto of Orleans-Braganza, son of the late Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, disputed Head of the Imperial House of Brazil: March 2020
  • Prince Pedro of Orléans-Braganza, son of the late Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, disputed Head of the Imperial House of Brazil: April 2020
  • Maria de Fátima Lacerda Rocha, wife of Prince Pedro de Orléans-Braganza: April 2020
  • Maritza Ribas Bockel, wife of Prince Alberto of Orleans-Braganza – April 2020

France

  • Béatrice, Princess d’Orléans, Countess of Evreux, wife of Prince Michel d’Orléans, Count of Évreux, son of Prince Henri d’Orléans, Count of Paris, the Orleanist pretender to the French throne: June 2020

Greece

Nepal

Russia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Unusual Royal Deaths

compiled by Susan Flantzer

This does not purport to be a complete list. All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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King Louis III of France

  • Born: 863/865
  • Parents: King Louis II of France and Ansgarde of Burgundy
  • Died: August 5, 882, aged circa 18, in St. Denis, near Paris, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: King Louis III of France

While mounting his horse to pursue a girl who was running to seek refuge in her father’s house, Louis hit his head on the lintel of a low door and fell, fracturing his skull.

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Prince Philippe of France

Philippe’s death

  • Born: August 29, 1116
  • Parents: King Louis VI of France and Adélaide of Maurienne
  • Died: October 13, 1131, aged 15, in Paris, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: Philippe of France

Philippe was riding through Paris when his horse tripped over a black pig running out of a dung heap. He was catapulted over the horse’s head. Philippe died the next day without regaining consciousness.

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King Henry I of England

  • Born: probably September 1068 in Selby, Yorkshire, England
  • Parents: William the Conqueror (King William I) and Matilda of Flanders
  • Married: (1) Matilda of Scotland in 1100, died 1118 (2) Adeliza of Louvain in 1121
  • Died: December 1, 1135, aged 66–67, in Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Duchy of Normandy, now in France
  • Buried: Reading Abbey in Reading, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Henry I of England

Henry fell ill after eating a number of lampreys against his doctor’s advice and died. It is possible that the cause of death was ptomaine poisoning.

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John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia

  • Born: August 10, 1296 in Luxembourg
  • Parents: Heinrich VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret of Brabant
  • Married: (1) Elizabeth of Bohemia (2) Beatrice of Bourbon in 1334
  • Died: August 26, 1346, aged 50, at Crécy-en-Ponthieu, France
  • Buried: Kloster Altmünster in Luxembourg; in 1543 to Kloster Neumünster in Luxembourg; in 1945 moved to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
  • Wikipedia: John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia

John of Bohemia, after being blind for ten years, died in the Battle of Crecy when his companions tied their horses’ reins to his reins and charged.

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King Charles II of Navarre

  • Born: October 10, 1332 in Évreux, Duchy of Normandy, now in France
  • Parents: King Philip III of Navarre and Queen Joan II of Navarre
  • Married: Jeanne of France
  • Died: January 1, 1387, aged 54, in Pamplona, Kingdom of Navarre, now in Spain
  • Buried: Pamplona Cathedral in Pamplona, Kingdom of Navarre, now in Spain
  • Wikipedia: King Charles II of Navarre

Charles was suffering from illness and could not use his arms and legs. He consulted his physician who ordered the king to be tightly sewn into a linen sheet soaked in brandy. The highly flammable sheet accidentally caught fire and Charles later died of his injuries.

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King Martin of Aragon and Sicily

  • Born: July 29, 1356 in Girona, Spain
  • Parents: King Pedro IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily
  • Married: (1) Maria de Luna (2) Margaret of Prades in 1409
  • Died: May 31, 1410, aged 53 at the Monastery of Valldonzella near Barcelona, Spain
  • Buried: Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poble in Catalonia, now in Spain
  • Wikipedia: King Martin of Aragon and Sicily

Martin of Aragon died from a combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughing. According to tradition, Martin was suffering from indigestion on account of eating an entire goose when his favorite jester, Borra, entered the king’s bedroom. When Martin asked Borra where he had been, the jester replied, “Out of the next vineyard, where I saw a young deer hanging by his tail from a tree, as if someone had so punished him for stealing figs.” This joke caused the king to die from laughter.

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George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence

  • Born: October 21, 1449 at Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland
  • Parents: Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Lady Cecily Neville
  • Married: Lady Isabel Neville in 1469
  • Died: February 18, 1478, aged 28, at the Tower of London in London, England
  • Buried: Tewkesbury Abbey in Tewkesbury, England
  • Wikipedia: George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence

George was the brother of King Edward IV of England and King Richard III of England. He was allegedly executed by drowning in a barrel of Malmsey wine, apparently his own choice.

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King Adolf Frederik of Sweden

  • Born: May 14, 1710 at Gottorp Castle in Gottorp, Duchy of Schleswig now the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
  • Parents: Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin and Albertina Friederike of Baden-Durlach
  • Married: Princess Louisa Ulrika of Prussia in 1744
  • Died: February 12, 1771, aged 60, at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
  • Buried: Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Adolf Frederik of Sweden

Adolf Frederik died after eating a meal consisting of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, kippers, and champagne, which was followed by fourteen servings of his favorite dessert semla, served in bowls of hot milk. In Sweden, he is remembered as “the king who ate himself to death.”

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Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria

  • Born: August 14, 1772 in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
  • Parents: Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain
  • Died: July 12, 1795, aged 22, at Laxenburg Palace in Laxenburg, Austria
  • Buried: Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
  • Wikipedia: Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria

Alexander Leopold was very interested in chemistry, especially pyrotechnics. He decided to create a fireworks display to surprise his sister-in-law Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, the wife of his brother Holy Roman Emperor Franz II (later Franz I, Emperor of Austria).  Alexander Leopold made all the fireworks and lit them himself, attended by a few of his servants. Right after the first rocket was lit, a draft of air threw the rocket back on the gunpowder. The gunpowder exploded and Alexander Leopold was burned all over his body.  He died immediately as did his servants.

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Royal Deaths from Typhus

compiled by Susan Flantzer

Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of bacterial infectious diseases spread by body lice, chiggers, or fleas. Symptoms include fever, headache and other flu-like symptoms, and a rash. Meningoencephalitis begins with the rash and continues into the second or third weeks. Symptoms of meningoencephalitis include sensitivity to light, delirium, and coma. Untreated cases are often fatal.

Of course, without modern medical diagnostic tools, it was impossible to accurately diagnose illnesses and so this does not purport to be a complete list. Until the development of antibiotics and other drugs, it was impossible to successfully treat many infectious diseases. Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist, physician, microbiologist, and pharmacologist, developed Penicillin, the world’s first antibiotic in 1928. Antibiotics are only effective against diseases caused by bacteria. They are not effective against diseases caused by viruses.

All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia

  • Born: December 23, 1777 in St. Petersburg, Russia
  • Parents: Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (Empress Maria Feodorovna)
  • Married: Princess Louise of Baden in 1793 (Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna)
  • Died: December 1, 1825, aged 47, in Taganrog, Russia
  • Buried: Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
  • Unofficial Royalty: Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia

By 1825, Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna’s health was suffering due to lung problems and the doctors recommended getting away from the harsh climate of St. Petersburg. Alexander and Elizabeth Alexeievna relocated to the city of Taganrog, Russia by the Sea of Azov where they stayed in a modest house. In November 1825, Alexander returned to Taganrog after visiting Crimea. He had a cold and then came down with typhus. On December 1, 1825, Alexander died in Elizabeth Alexeievna’s arms in their home in Taganrog.

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Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este, Prince of Modena

  • Born: July 20, 1821 in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy
  • Parents: Franz IV, Duke of Modena, Archduke of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice of Savoy
  • Married: Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria in 1846
  • Died: 15 December 15, 1849, aged 28, in Brno, Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic
  • Buried: Church of San Vincenzo in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy
  • Wikipedia: Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este, Prince of Modena

Ferdinand Karl Viktor had a military career and held the rank of Field Marshal Lieutenant. After there were increased deaths from typhus in the hospitals in Brno, where Ferdinand was stationed, he inspected the hospitals and contracted typhus. He was nursed by his sister Maria Theresia but died within five days of contracting typhus.

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Prince Willem of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange

  • Born: September 4, 1840 at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands
  • Parents: King Willem III of the Netherlands and Sophie of Württemberg
  • Died: June 11, 1879, aged 38, in Paris, France
  • Buried: Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
  • Wikipedia: Willem, Prince of Orange

Willem was the eldest of the three sons of King Willem III of the Netherlands and his first wife Sophie of Württemberg. All three sons were unmarried and predeceased their father. Despite the fact that he was the heir to the throne, Willem was disillusioned with his situation in the Netherlands and went into self-exile in Paris, where he threw himself into a life of sex, drinking, and gambling. He died from a combination of typhus, liver issues from excessive drinking, and total exhaustion.

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Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange

  • Born: August 25, 1851 at Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, the Netherlands
  • Parents: King Willem III of the Netherlands and Sophie of Württemberg
  • Died: June 21, 1884, aged 32, at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands
  • Buried: Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
  • Wikipedia: Alexander, Prince of Orange

Alexander was the youngest of the three sons of King Willem III of the Netherlands and his first wife Sophie of Württemberg. The second son Prince Maurits died from meningitis at the age of seven. The eldest son Willem (see above) died from typhus in 1879. Upon the death of Willem, Alexander became the heir apparent to the Dutch throne. Like his brother Willem, Alexander also died from typhus. After his death, his half-sister, the future Queen Wilhelmina, the only child of King Willem III and his second wife Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, became heir presumptive to the Dutch throne.

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Royal Deaths from Typhoid Fever

compiled by Susan Flantzer

Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection caused by a specific type of salmonella. Symptoms are usually a gradual onset of high fever accompanied by weakness, abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, and mild vomiting. Some people develop a skin rash with rose-colored spots. In severe cases, people may experience confusion. Without treatment, symptoms may last weeks or months. Typhoid fever is spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person. Risk factors include poor sanitation and poor hygiene. The death rate without treatment is about 20%. With treatment, it is between 1 and 4%. Often confused, typhoid fever and typhus are different diseases.

This does not purport to be a complete list. All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

  • Born: February 19, 1594 at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland
  • Parents: James VI, King of Scots, later also King James I of England, and Anne of Denmark
  • Died: November 6, 1612, aged 18, at St. James’s Palace in London, England
  • Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

Henry Frederick was the eldest son of his parents and the heir to the throne of Scotland and England. By the time Henry was 18 years old, he was physically mature, well-educated, an independent thinker, and ready to assume some government responsibility. He was on his way to making an excellent and popular king.

Except for frequent nosebleeds when he was young, Henry’s health was excellent. However, on October 12, 1612, Henry began to have fevers but continued his physical activities. Over the next two weeks, Henry did not sleep well and continued to have fevers and developed gastrointestinal symptoms. On October 25, 1612, he played tennis and then felt much worse. He dined with his father that night, but his physicians noted that he had a fast pulse, a fever, a red face, a swollen stomach, gastrointestinal symptoms, and was very thirsty.

By October 29, 1612, Henry had a continuous fever and two days later he was delirious. On November 2, 1612, he alternated between sleeping and being confused and shouting. His servants had difficulty keeping him in bed. His condition worsened on November 4. He sang in his sleep and had violent convulsive movements. On November 6, 1612, the last day of his life, Henry was delirious, clammy, cold, and sweaty. His pulse weakened and he died. It was suspected that Henry had been poisoned, but an autopsy found no evidence of poisoning. The cause of his death was said to be “a fever.” With modern medical knowledge, it is now suspected that Henry died from typhoid fever.

After Henry Frederick’s death, his younger brother, the future King Charles I who was beheaded, became the heir to the throne.

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Duke Georg of Oldenburg

  • Born: May 9, 1784 in Oldenburg, Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
  • Parents: Peter I, Duke of Oldenburg and Frederica of Württemberg
  • Married: Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia in 1809
  • Died: December 27, 1812, aged 28, in Tver, Russia
  • Buried: first at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg, Russia; in 1826 transferred to the family mausoleum at the Gertrude Cemetery in Oldenburg, then in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg now in Lower Saxony, Germany
  • Wikipedia: Duke Georg of Oldenburg

While serving as Governor-General in Tver in central Russia, Georg became infected with typhoid fever during a visit to the hospital and died in December 1812.

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Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Uppland

  • Born: June 18, 1827 at Haga Palace in Solna, Sweden
  • Parents: King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway and Josephine of Leuchtenberg
  • Died: September 24, 1852, aged 25, at Christiana Palace in Oslo, Norway
  • Buried: Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
  • Wikipedia: Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Uppland

Upon arriving via ship in Norway with his parents and his sister Princess Eugénie on September 16, 1852, Gustaf already had a fever. Soon it was obvious that he was suffering from typhoid fever and getting weaker. On September 24, he died. Other royal family members, including King Oscar I, were also affected by typhoid fever but only Prince Gustaf died.

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Princess Margaretha of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria

  • Born: May 24, 1840 in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany
  • Parents: King Johann of Saxony and Amalie Auguste of Bavaria
  • Married: Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria in 1856
  • Died: September 15, 1858, aged 18, in Monza, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, now in Italy
  • Buried: Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna, Austria
  • Wikipedia: Margaretha of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria

On a trip to northern Italy with her husband, Margaretha became ill with typhoid fever and died. Later in life, her husband also died from typhoid fever.

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Princess Anna of Saxony, Grand Princess of Tuscany

  • Born: January 4, 1836 in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany
  • Parents: King Johann of Saxony and Amalie Auguste of Bavaria
  • Married: Ferdinand, Grand Prince of Tuscany, the future Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1856
  • Died: February 10, 1859, aged 23, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
  • Buried: Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
  • Wikipedia: Anna of Saxony, Grand Princess of Tuscany

Anna was the elder sister of Margaretha (above), who also died from typhoid fever four months earlier. While on a trip to Naples, during her second pregnancy, Anna had a miscarriage due to the effects of typhoid fever and died four days later.

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Infante Fernando of Portugal

  • Born: July 23, 1846 in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Parents: Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, King Consort of Portugal and Queen Maria II of Portugal
  • Died: November 6, 1861, aged 15 in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Buried: Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Wikipedia: Infante Fernando of Portugal

Fernando’s father was a first cousin of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Along with his brothers King Pedro V and Infante João, Duke of Beja, he died from typhoid fever November-December 1861.

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King Pedro V of Portugal

  • Born: September 15, 1837 at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Parents: Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, King Consort of Portugal and Queen Maria II of Portugal
  • Married: Princess Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1858, died 1860
  • Died: November 11, 1861, aged 24, at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Buried: Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Pedro V of Portugal

Pedro’s father was a first cousin of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Along with his brothers Infante Fernando and Infante João, Duke of Beja, he died from typhoid fever November-December 1861. As Pedro had no children from his brief marriage, he was succeeded by his brother Luís.

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Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, The Prince Consort

  • Born: August 26, 1819 at Schloss Rosenau near Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Parents: Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his first wife Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
  • Married: his first cousin Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in 1840
  • Died: December 14, 1861 at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
  • Buried: first St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England; moved 1862 to the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort

Sir William Jenner, one of Prince Albert’s doctors, diagnosed his final illness as typhoid fever but Albert’s modern biographers have argued that the diagnosis is incorrect. Albert had been complaining of stomach pains for two years and this may indicate that he died of some chronic disease, perhaps Crohn’s disease, kidney failure, or cancer.

In the fall, Victoria and Albert learned that their 20-year-old eldest son Bertie (the future King Edward VII) was having an affair with an Irish actress. Devastated by this news, Albert traveled to Cambridge to discuss the matter with his son. On November 25, 1861, the two walked together in the pouring rain while Albert explained how horrified he and the Queen felt about the situation. Victoria later blamed her son for Albert’s final illness – “That boy…I never can, or ever shall look at him without a shudder.”

When Albert returned to Windsor Castle, he complained of shoulder, leg, back, and stomach pain and could not eat or sleep. He was examined by doctors who assured Victoria that Albert would be better in two or three days. Even while Albert was feeling ill, he was still working. When the Trent Affair, the forcible removal of Confederate diplomats from a British ship by Union forces during the American Civil War, threatened war between the United States and the United Kingdom, Albert intervened on November 30, 1861, to soften the British diplomatic response. His action probably prevented war between the United States and the United Kingdom.

However, Albert’s condition continued to worsen. Victoria continued to hope for a recovery, but finally, on December 11, the doctors told her the dismal prognosis. At 10:50 PM on December 14, 1861, Albert died in the presence of his wife and five of their nine children.

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Infante João of Portugal, Duke of Beja

  • Born: March 16, 1842 at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Parents: Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, King Consort of Portugal and Queen Maria II of Portugal
  • Died: December 27, 1861, aged 19, at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Buried: Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Wikipedia: Infante João of Portugal, Duke of Beja

João’s father was a first cousin of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Along with his brothers Infante Fernando and King Pedro V, he died from typhoid fever November-December 1861.

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Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

  • Born: July 13, 1847 at Paço de São Cristóvão in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Parents: Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies
  • Married: Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1864
  • Died: February 7, 1871, aged 23, at Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria
  • Buried: St. Augustine’s Church in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Wikipedia: Leopoldina of Brazil, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

At the beginning of 1871, Leopoldina displayed the first symptoms of typhoid fever. She developed gastrointestinal problems, fever, and the classic skin rash with rose-colored spots. Her condition worsened and she suffered from delusions and convulsions. After a month of agony, she died.

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Maria de las Mercedes of Orléans, Queen of Spain

  • Born: June 24, 1860 at the Royal Palace of Madrid in Madrid, Spain
  • Parents: Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier (son of Louis-Philippe I, King of the French) and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain (daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain)
  • Married: King Alfonso XII of Spain in 1878
  • Died: June 26, 1878, aged 18, at the Royal Palace of Madrid in Madrid, Spain
  • Buried: first in the Pantheon of Infantes at the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain; in 2000 moved to the Cathedral of Santa María la Real de La Almudena in Madrid, Spain
  • Unofficial Royalty: Maria de las Mercedes of Orléans, Queen of Spain

In June 1878, it was announced that Mercedes was pregnant and the country rejoiced. However, the joy was short-lived as Mercedes suffered a miscarriage. Shortly after the miscarriage, Mercedes became suddenly ill. Within hours, she was at death’s door with typhoid fever. Mercedes died two days after her 18th birthday.

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Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria

  • Born: July 30, 1833 at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
  • Parents: Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria
  • Married: (1) Margaretha of Saxony in 1856, who also died from typhoid in 1858 (2) Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in 1862, died from tuberculosis in 1871 (3) Maria Theresa of Portugal in 1873
  • Died: May 19, 1896, aged 62, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
  • Buried: Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
  • Wikipedia: Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria

Karl Ludwig was the brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and the father of Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I. Karl Ludwig died from typhoid fever he contracted on a trip to Egypt and Palestine where he apparently drank contaminated from the River Jordan for religious reasons.

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Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein

  • Born: April 14, 1867 at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
  • Parents: Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria
  • Died: October 29, 1900, aged 33, in Pretoria, South Africa
  • Buried: Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria, South Africa
  • Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein 

While serving with the British Army during the Boer War, Christian first became ill with malaria and then also became ill with typhoid fever which killed him. His death shocked his family and in particular his grandmother, Queen Victoria, with whom he had been very close. Although preparations were made to return his body to the United Kingdom, he was buried in a soldier’s grave in Pretoria, at the wishes of Queen Victoria.

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Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine

  • Born: March 11, 1895 in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
  • Parents: Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, both grandchildren of Queen Victoria, in 1894, divorced 1901
  • Died: November 16, 1903, aged 8, at the Russian Imperial hunting lodge in Skierniewice, Congress Poland, Russian Empire, now in Poland
  • Buried: Rosenhöhe Park in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
  • Wikipedia: Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine

Following a large family gathering in Darmstadt in October 1903 for the wedding of his niece Princess Alice of Battenberg, Ernst Ludwig and his daughter Elisabeth went to visit Ernst Ludwig’s sister (Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia) and her family at their hunting lodge in Poland. While there, Elisabeth fell ill. At first, it was just believed to be exhaustion from so much playing with her Romanov cousins but her condition quickly worsened. A telegram was sent to her mother, imploring her to come quickly, as it seemed the child would not survive. Unfortunately, the telegram would arrive too late. Princess Elisabeth died on November 16, 1903. Rumors at the time were that she had been poisoned by eating or drinking something which was intended for her uncle Nicholas II. However, it was discovered that she had died from typhoid fever. Ernst Ludwig, of course, was distraught. His daughter had been, in his own words, “the sunshine of my life.”

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Prince Mircea of Romania
Mircea with his sister Ileana
  • Born: January 3, 1913 in Bucharest, Romania
  • Parents: King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria
  • Died: November 2, 1916, aged 3, at Buftea Palace in Buftea, Romania
  • Buried: first on the grounds of Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, Romania; moved 1941 to the chapel at Bran Castle in Bran, Romania; moved 2019 to the New Episcopal and Royal Cathedral in Curtea de Argeș, Romania
  • Wikipedia: Prince Mircea of Romania

Mircea and his sister Ileana are believed to have been fathered by Queen Marie’s lover Barbu Stirbey but were formally acknowledged by King Ferdinand as his own. Mircea died of typhoid fever during World War I when enemy troops were approaching Bucharest and many battles were taking place close to the city. The royal family had to quickly bury him on the grounds of Cotroceni Palace before they left Bucharest.

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Royal Deaths from Tuberculosis

compiled by Susan Flantzer

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by a bacteria. It usually affects the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. Tuberculosis is spread through the air when people who have active tuberculosis cough, spit, speak, or sneeze. The classic symptoms are a chronic cough with bloody mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically called consumption due to the weight loss. If left untreated, tuberculosis kills about half of those affected. In Europe, rates of tuberculosis began to rise in the early 1600s to a peak level in the 1800s, when it caused nearly 25% of all deaths.

This does not purport to be a complete list. All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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Jacqueline of Bavaria, Countess of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut

  • Born: July 15, 1401 in Le Quesnoy, County of Hainaut, now in France
  • Parents: Wilhelm II, Duke of Bavaria and Margaret of Burgundy
  • Married: (1) Jean, Dauphin of France in 1415 (2) John IV, Duke of Brabant in 1418, annulled 1422 (3) Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1423, annulled 1428 (4) Frank van Borssele in 1434
  • Died: October 8, 1436, aged 35, at Teylingen Castle in Voorhout, County of Holland, now in the Netherlands
  • Buried: palace church at the Binnenhof in The Hague, County of Holland, now in the Netherlands
  • Wikipedia: Jacqueline of Bavaria, Countess of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut

Also known as Jacqueline of Hainaut, she was Countess of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut in her own right. In 1436, she became ill with tuberculosis and died after a few months.

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Isabella of Bourbon, Countess of Charolai

  • Born: 1437
  • Parents: Charles I, Duke of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy
  • Married: Charles the Bold, Count of Charolais and the future Duke of Burgundy, in 1454
  • Died: September 25, 1465, aged 31, at St. Michael’s Abbey in Antwerp, Flanders now in Belgium
  • Buried: Cathedral of Our Lady of Antwerp in Antwerp, Flanders now in Belgium
  • Wikipedia: Isabella of Bourbon, Countess of Charolai

Isabella was the mother of the great heiress Mary of Burgundy who was the Duchess of Burgundy in her own right after her father’s death. After several months of illness, Isabella died of tuberculosis.

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Filberto I, Duke of Savoy

Born: August 17, 1465 in Chambéry, Duchy of Savoy, now in France
Parents: Amadeo IX, Duke of Savoy and Yolande of Valois
Married: Bianca Maria Sforza in 1476
Died: September 22, 1482, aged 17, in Lyon, Duchy of Burgundy, now in France
Buried: Hautcombe Abbey in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, Duchy of Savoy, now in France
Wikipedia: Filberto I, Duke of Savoy

Filberto died of tuberculosis. His burial place, Hautecombe Abbey, has been the burial place of the House of Savoy for centuries.

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Lady Anne Neville, Queen of England

Born: June 11, 1456, at Warwick Castle in Warwickshire, England
Parents: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and Lady Anne Beauchamp
Married: (1) Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (son of King Henry VI of England) in 1470 (2) King Richard III of England in 1472
Died: March 16, 1485, aged 28, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England
Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
Unofficial Royalty: Lady Anne Neville, Queen of England

Anne and Richard’s son Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, died at the age of ten. Anne survived her son by less than a year, dying of tuberculosis. Her husband Richard survived her by only five months, losing his crown and his life on August 22, 1485, in the Battle of Bosworth Field, defeated by Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII of England.

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King Henry VII of England

  • Born: January 28, 1457 at Pembroke Castle in Wales
  • Parents: Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond and Lady Margaret Beaufort
  • Married: Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV of England in 1486
  • Died: April 21, 1509, aged 52, at Richmond Palace in Surrey, England
  • Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Henry VII of England

Henry’s health began to fail in 1507, and he suffered from attacks of gout and asthma. He died two years later from tuberculosis.

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Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset

  • Born: June 15, 1519 at the Augustinian Priory of St. Lawrence in Blackmore, Essex, England
  • Parents: Henry VIII of England and his mistress Elizabeth Blount
  • Married: Lady Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, in 1533
  • Died: July 23, 1536, aged 17, in Thetford, Norfolk, England
  • Buried: St. Michael’s Church in Framlingham, Suffolk, England, the burial place of the Howard family
  • Unofficial Royalty: Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset

Henry was his father’s only acknowledged illegitimate child. He became sickly sometime before he died and was reported ill with consumption, a term used for tuberculosis.

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Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scots

  • Born: August 10, 1520 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
  • Parents: King François I of France and Claude of France, Duchess of Brittany
  • Married: James V, King of Scots (first wife)
  • Died: July 7, 1537, aged 16, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Buried: Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Unofficial Royalty: Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scots

Scotland had signed a treaty with France to strengthen their alliance. One of the provisions was for James V, King of Scots to marry a French princess. When James V reached a marriageable age, talks began regarding marriage with Madeleine.  However, Madeleine apparently had tuberculosis and her ill health was an issue and another French bride, Mary of Bourbon, was offered as a substitute.  When James V came to France to meet Mary of Bourbon, he met Madeleine and decided to marry her.  Because of his daughter’s health issues, King François I of France was reluctant to agree to the marriage, but eventually, he did so.  Madeleine and James V were married on January 1, 1537, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

The couple arrived in Scotland on May 19, 1537, after months of celebrations in France, with Madeleine’s health having further deteriorated.  Madeleine wrote a letter to her father on June 8, 1537, saying that she was feeling better and that her symptoms had subsided.  Despite this, on July 7, 1537, Madeleine died from tuberculosis in her husband’s arms, a month short of her seventeenth birthday.

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King Edward VI of England

  • Born: October 12, 1537 at Hampton Court Palace in Middlesex, England
  • Parents: King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
  • Died: July 6, 1553, aged 15, at Greenwich Palace in Greenwich, England
  • Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Edward VI of England

In January 1553, Edward became ill with a fever and cough that gradually worsened. It is probable that he had tuberculosis. By May 1553, the royal doctors had no hope that the king would recover. After great suffering, Edward died on July 6, 1553.

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João Manuel, Prince of Portugal

  • Born: January 2, 1554, aged 16, at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Parents: King João III of Portugal and Catherine of Austria
  • Married: Joanna of Austria in 1552
  • Died: January 2, 1554, aged 16, at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Buried: Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Wikipedia: João Manuel, Prince of Portugal

João Manuel was the heir to the throne of Portugal. His seven elder brothers all predeceased him. Eighteen days after his death from tuberculosis, his wife gave birth to a son, the future King Sebastian I of Portugal.

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 Barbara of Austria, Duchess of Ferrara

  • Born: April 30, 1539 in Vienna, Austria
  • Parents: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
  • Married: Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara in 1565
  • Died: September 19, 1572, aged 33, in Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara, now in Italy
  • Buried: Church of San Michele del Gesù in Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara, now in Italy
  • Wikipedia: Barbara of Austria, Duchess of Ferrara

Barbara had suffered from tuberculosis for six years before her death.

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Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

  • Born: May 12, 1590 at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
  • Parents: Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Christina of Lorraine
  • Married: Maria Maddalena of Austria in 1608
  • Died: February 28, 1621, aged 30, at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
  • Buried: Chapel of the Princes at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
  • Wikipedia: Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Cosimo is known for having been the patron of the astronomer Galileo Galilei, his former tutor.

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Anne Stuart

  • Born: March 17, 1637 at St. James’s Palace in London, England
  • Parents: King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France
  • Died: November 5, 1640, aged 3, at Richmond Palace, in Surrey, England
  • Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
  • Wikipedia: Anne Stuart

From her birth, Anne had never been in good health. She had fevers and near-constant coughs before developing tuberculosis.

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Marie-Thérèse of France, Madame Royale

  • Born: January 2, 1667 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
  • Parents: King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain
  • Died: March 1, 1672, aged 5, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: Marie-Thérèse of France, Madame Royale

Marie-Thérèse was the eldest surviving daughter of her parents and was given the honorific Madame Royale. Only one of her parents’ six children, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, survived childhood and Louis predeceased his father.

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Maria Anna Josepha of Austria, Electoral Princess of the Palatinate

  • Born: December 30, 1654 in Regensburg, Duchy of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Parents: Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleonora Gonzaga, Princess of Mantua
  • Married: the future Johann Wilhelm II, Elector Palatine in 1678
  • Died: April 14, 1689, aged 34, in Vienna, Austria
  • Buried: Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
  • Wikipedia: Maria Anna Josepha of Austria, Electoral Princess of the Palatinate

Maria Anna died from tuberculosis during a visit to the Imperial Court in Vienna.

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Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen of Spain

  • Born: September 17, 1688 at the Royal Palace of Turin in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy
  • Parents: Vittorio Amadeo II, Duke of Savoy and Anne Marie d’Orléans
  • Married: King Felipe V of Spain in 1701
  • Died: February 14, 1714, aged 25, at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid in Madrid, Spain
  • Buried: Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain
  • Wikipedia: Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen of Spain

Five months after giving birth to her last child, Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis.

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Maria Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain

  • Born: November 24, 1724 at Dresden Castle in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany
  • Parents: Augustus III, King of Poland, Elector of Saxony and Maria Josepha of Austria
  • Married: King Carlos III of Spain in 1738
  • Died: September 27, 1760, aged 35, at Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid, Spain
  • Buried: Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain
  • Wikipedia: Maria Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain

Just thirteen months after her husband became King of Spain, Maria Amalia died from tuberculosis.

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Louis Joseph Xavier of France, Duke of Burgundy

  • Born: September 13, 1751 at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
  • Parents: Louis, Dauphin of France (son of King Louis XV of France) and Maria Josepha of Saxony
  • Died: March 22, 1761, aged 9, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: Louis Joseph Xavier of France, Duke of Burgundy

Louis Joseph Xavier was the eldest son of his parents. Three of his younger brothers became Kings of France: the ill-fated Louis XVI and Louis XVIII and Charles X, who were kings during the Bourbon Restoration. After a fall, Louis Joseph Xavier’s health began to deteriorate. In 1760, he had surgery on his leg to remove a “tumor.” Afterward, he was bound to his bed, unable to move his legs, and diagnosed with extrapulmonary tuberculosis of the bone. After months of agony, Louis Joseph Xavier died. His father died from tuberculosis four years later. (See below.)

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Louis, Dauphin of France

  • Born: September 4, 1729 at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
  • Parents: King Louis XV of France and Marie Leszczyńska of Poland
  • Married: (1) Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain in 1744, died 1746 (2) Maria Josepha of Saxony in 1747
  • Died: December 20, 1765, aged 36, at the Château de Fontainebleau in Fontainebleau, France
  • Buried: Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Sens, France (at his request)
  • Unofficial Royalty: Louis, Dauphin of France

Unfortunately, like several other Dauphins that preceded him, Louis died prematurely and never became King of France. Until the summer of 1765, Louis was healthy. He then started to constantly cough, spit blood, and breathe with increasing difficulty. Tuberculosis was diagnosed. On November 13, 1765, Louis asked to receive the last rites. He managed to survive another month.

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Sophie of France, Madame Sophie

  • Born: July 9, 1786 at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
  • Parents: King Louis XVI of France and Maria Antonia of Austria (Marie Antoinette)
  • Died: June 19, 1787, aged 11 months, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: Sophie of France

Sophie had fragile health since her birth and died from tuberculosis.

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Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

  • Born: October 22, 1781 at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
  • Parents: King Louis XVI of France and Maria Antonia of Austria (Marie Antoinette)
  • Died: June 4, 1789, aged 7, at the Château de Meudon in Meudon, France
  • Buried: Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
  • Wikipedia: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

Louis Joseph was his parents’ eldest son and the heir to the French throne. He began to be in ill health from the time he was three years old. In 1786, doctors realized that he was suffering from tuberculosis. His illness progressed and became quite serious in 1788. Louis Joseph died the next year. His younger brother Louis Charles (titular King Louis XVII of France), who died during the French Revolution, at the Temple prison became Dauphin of France.

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Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France – Titular King Louis XVII of France

During the French Revolution, Louis-Charles was imprisoned at the Temple Prison with his sister Marie-Thérèse, his mother Marie Antoinette and Élisabeth, Louis XVI’s youngest sister. His mother and aunt were both executed and his sister survived the French Revolution. In 1793, three months before his mother’s execution, Louis-Charles was taken away from his family and placed in a solitary prison cell where he died two years later from tuberculosis.

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Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess of Zweibrücken

  • Born: April 14, 1765 in Darmstadt, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt now in Hesse, Germany
  • Parents: Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt and Countess Maria Luise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg
  • Married: Maximilian, Duke of Zweibrücken in 1785
  • Died: March 30, 1796, aged 30, at Schloss Rohrbach near Heidelberg, then in the Palatinate, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • Buried: Stadtkirche Darmstadt in Darmstadt, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, now in Hesse, Germany.
  • Unofficial Royalty: Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess of Zweibrücken

Augusta Wilhelmine was the first wife of the future Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria. She died before her husband became King of Bavaria but she did give birth to his heir, King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Maximilian Joseph served in the French Army until the French Revolution when he joined the Austrian Army. Because of the unrest at the time, his family had to flee their homes twice. Augusta Wilhelmine, weakened from five pregnancies and the travails of war, died from pulmonary tuberculosis.

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Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias

  • Born: December 14, 1784 at Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserta, Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, now in Italy
  • Parents: King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria
  • Married: Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias (the future King Ferdinand VII) in 1802
  • Died: May 21, 1806, ages, 21, at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Aranjuez, Spain
  • Buried: Monastery of San Lorenzo de Escorial in El Escorial, Spain
  • Unofficial Royalty: Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias

After her second miscarriage, Maria Antonia’s health deteriorated severely due to tuberculosis. She suffered severe pain until her death, nearly a year later.

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Antoine Philippe of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier

  • Born: July 3, 1775 at the Palais-Royal in Paris, France
  • Parents: Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon
  • Died: May 18, 1807, aged 31, in Salthill, Berkshire, England
  • Buried: Westminster Abbey in London, England
  • Wikipedia: Antoine Philippe of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier

During the French Revolution, Antoine Philippe was arrested at the same time as the other Bourbons who had remained in France. During his imprisonment, Antoine Philippe contracted tuberculosis which eventually killed him. He survived the French Revolution and with other members of the Orléans, settled in England. In 1807, Antoine Philippe’s tuberculosis worsened. His brother Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans (the future Louis-Philippe, King of the French) decided to take him to Devonshire so that he could enjoy the fresh air there. However, Antoine Philippe died on the way to Devonshire. Through the help of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (son of King George III and father of Queen Victoria), permission was obtained to bury Antoine Philippe at Westminster Abbey.

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Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom

  • Born: August 7, 1783 at Lower Lodge (now called Royal Lodge) at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
  • Parents: King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
  • Died: November 2, 1810, aged 27, Augusta Lodge at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
  • Buried: St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom

Amelia was the youngest of the fifteen children of her parents. In 1798, 15-year-old Amelia developed severe pain in her knee. This was the beginning of the poor health that would plague Amelia for the rest of her short life. Amelia’s symptoms indicated tuberculosis, which usually affects the lungs but can also affect the joints. By 1810, Amelia was fatally ill with tuberculosis. In addition to tuberculosis, Amelia was suffering from erysipelas, an acute skin infection. Before the advent of antibiotics, erysipelas frequently resulted in death. Amelia’s case of erysipelas was particularly severe with the rash literally from her head to her toes. The combination of the illnesses caused her death.

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Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, Empress of Austria

  • Born: December 14, 1787 at the Royal Villa of Monza in Lombardy, Austrian Empire, now in Italy
  • Parents: Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d’Este
  • Married: Franz I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia in 1808
  • Died: April 7, 1816, aged 28, at the Palazzo Canossa in Verona, Austrian Empire, now in Italy
  • Buried: Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
  • Unofficial Royalty: Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, Empress of Austria

Maria Ludovika was the third of her husband’s four wives. During the years of the Napoleonic conflicts, Maria Ludovika became ill with tuberculosis. After the wars were over, she visited her former home in Modena, now liberated, and other Italian cities with her husband. Maria Ludovika was now very ill and weak and told her mother that she wanted to die. In March 1816, she was in Verona, too ill to continue her travels. Her physician who was traveling with her, called in numerous famous doctors, but to no avail. Maria Ludovika died at the Palazzo Canossa in Verona with her husband at her bedside.

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Napoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon II

  • Born: March 20, 1811 at the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France
  • Parents: Napoléon I, Emperor of the French and his second wife Marie Louise of Austria
  • Died: July 22, 1832, aged 21, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
  • Buried: first at the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria; in 1940 moved to Les Invalides in Paris, France
  • Unofficial Royalty: Napoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon II

Emperor of the French for only sixteen days in 1815, Napoléon II was the only child of
Napoléon I, Emperor of the French. After the exile of Napoléon I, Marie Louise returned to her homeland, Austria, with her son. Napoléon II had been dealing with lung problems from a very early age and eventually developed tuberculosis. He died on July 22, 1832, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna at the age of twenty-one. He was buried in the Habsburg tradition of his mother’s family at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. In 1940, on the orders of Adolf Hitler, Napoléon II’s sarcophagus was removed from the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and transferred by train to Paris. This transfer was done in memory of the transfer of Napoléon I’s remains from the island of St. Helena to Paris in 1840 by Louis Philippe I, King of the French. Originally, Napoléon II’s sarcophagus was placed beside his father’s tomb in Les Invalides in Paris, France. In 1969, Napoléon II’s sarcophagus was interred in the lower church at Les Invalides.

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Emperor Pedro I of Brazil

  • Born: October 12, 1798, at the Royal Palace of Queluz in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Parents: King João VI of Portugal and Infanta Carlota Joaquina of Spain
  • Married: (1) Maria Leopoldina of Austria in 1817, died 1826 (2) Amélie of Leuchtenberg in 1829
  • Died: September 24, 1834, aged 35, at Queluz Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
  • Buried: first at the Pantheon of the House of Braganza at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal; in 1972 transferred to the Brazilian Imperial Crypt and Chapel under the Monument of the Ipiranga (Monument to the Independence of Brazil) in São Paulo, Brazil
  • Unofficial Royalty: Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil/Pedro IV, King of Portugal

Pedro was the first Emperor of Brazil and was also King of Portugal from 1825-1826. While Pedro was the legitimate heir to the throne of Portugal, the Brazilian people did not want the two thrones to be reunited so Pedro abdicated the Portuguese throne in favor of his daughter Queen Maria II. In 1831, after a political crisis, Pedro abdicated the throne of Brazil in favor of his son who reigned as Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Pedro and his second wife returned to Portugal. Except for occasional epileptic seizures, Pedro had been in good health but in 1834, it became evident that he was suffering from tuberculosis.

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Marie of Orléans, Duchess of Württemberg

  • Born: April 12, 1813 in Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy
  • Parents: Louis-Philipe I, King of the French and Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies
  • Married: Duke Alexander of Württemberg in 1837
  • Died: January 6, 1839, aged 25, in Pisa, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
  • Buried: Royal Chapel of Dreux in Dreux, France
  • Wikipedia: Marie of Orléans, Duchess of Württemberg

Already ill with tuberculosis, Marie gave birth to her only child, a son, in 1838, and then left for Pisa in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy, hoping that the warmer climate would cure her. However, she died in Pisa.

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Eugénie de Beauharnais of Leuchtenberg, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen

  • Born: December 22, 1808 in Milan, Austrian Empire, now in Italy
  • Parents: Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg and Princess Augusta of Bavaria
  • Married: Constantin, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen in 1826
  • Died: September 1, 1847, aged 38, at the Hotel Post in Freudenstadt, King of Württemberg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • Buried: Catholic Collegiate Church of St. Jakob in Hechingen, Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • Wikipedia: Eugénie de Beauharnais of Leuchtenberg, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen

Eugénie’s father was Eugénie de Beauharnais, the son of Empress Josephine, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, by her first marriage to Alexandre de Beauharnais. Her mother was the daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. Eugénie became ill with tuberculosis and from 1842 onward, became increasingly worse. Because of the risk of infection, she was only allowed to see her husband rarely and at a distance. In the summer of 1847, she went to Badenweiler, King of Württemberg, for a cure. However, she died at a hotel on the way home.

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Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil

  • Born: December 1, 1831 in Paris, France
  • Parents: Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and his second wife Amélie of Leuchtenberg
  • Died: February 4, 1853, aged 21, in Funchal, Portugal
  • Buried: first in the Braganza Pantheon, Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal’ in 1982, Maria Amélie’s remains were transferred to Brazil and buried in the Convento de Santo Antônio in Rio de Janeiro, where other Brazilian royals are also interred.
  • Wikipedia: Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil

Maria Amélia was her parents’ only child. Her mother made arrangements to betroth her twenty-year-old daughter to Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. However, the official betrothal never took place. Maria Amélie was ill with tuberculosis, the same disease that had killed her father. (See above.) In August 1852, Amélie and her daughter moved to the island of Madeira in Portugal because of the mild climate. Maria Amélie died the next year.

Amélie visited her daughter’s tomb on every anniversary of her death until her own death. She financed the construction of a hospital to treat patients with lung diseases in Funchal on the island of Madeira called the Hospício da Princesa Dona Maria Amélie which is still in existence. When Amélie died, the Hospício da Princesa Dona Maria Amélia was handed over to her sister Queen Joséphine of Sweden, and according to the terms of Amélie’s will, it is owned and administered by the Swedish Royal Family. King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden have visited the hospital.

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Auguste Ferdinande of Austria, Princess of Bavaria

  • Born: April 1, 1825 in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
  • Parents: Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Saxony
  • Married: Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria in 1844
  • Died: April 26, 1864, aged 39, in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Buried: Theatine Church in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Unofficial Royalty: Auguste Ferdinande of Austria, Princess of Bavaria

Luitpold’s father, King Ludwig I of Bavaria, initially opposed his son’s marriage, as Auguste was already showing signs of pulmonary tuberculosis which would later take her life. However, he soon relented and allowed the couple to marry. Because of her health, Auguste found it difficult to adjust to the Bavarian climate. Twenty years after her marriage, Auguste died from the effects of tuberculosis she had suffered with for many years.

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Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Archduchess of Austria

  • Born: March 24, 1843 at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserata, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy
  • Parents: King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria
  • Married: Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria in 1862
  • Died: May 22, 1871, aged 28, in Vienna, Austria
  • Buried: Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
  • Wikipedia: Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Archduchess of Austria

Soon after her wedding, it became clear that Maria Annunciata was ill with tuberculosis. Despite her ill health, Maria Annunciata gave birth to four children including Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I.

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Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, 6th Princess of La Cisterna, Queen of Spain, Duchess of Aosta

Maria Vittoria was the elder of the two daughters of Carlo Emmanuele dal Pozzo, 5th Prince of Cisterna and upon his death, she inherited his noble titles. After Queen Isabella II of Spain was deposed, Maria Vittoria’s husband was elected King of Spain but he was forced to abdicate after three years. Maria had suffered a great deal because of her poor health and gave birth to her third of her three children only two weeks before the abdication. The recent childbirth, the stress of the abdication, and the exile from Spain exacerbated her physical condition. She became increasingly worse, dying from tuberculosis three years later.

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Princess María Cristina of Orléans, Infanta of Spain

  • Born: October 29, 1852 at the Palace of San Telmoin Seville, Spain
  • Parents: Prince Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain
  • Died: April 28, 1879, aged 26, at the Palace of San Telmo in Seville, Spain
  • Buried: Infantes Pantheon, Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
  • Wikipedia: María Cristina of Orléans, Infanta of Spain

Maria Cristina’s father was the son of Louis-Philippe I, King of the French and her mother was the daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain. Her sister Maria de las Mercedes married King Alfonso XII of Spain but sadly died from typhoid fever. For a few months, Alfonso courted Maria Cristina, who was willing to replace her late sister, but it soon became clear that she was suffering from tuberculosis. She died a year after her sister’s death.

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King Alfonso XII of Spain

  • Born: November 28, 1857 at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain
  • Parents: Queen Isabella II of Spain, and Francisco, Duke of Cadiz and King Consort
  • Married: (1) Maria de las Mercedes of Orléans in 1878, died 1878 (2) Maria Christina of Austria in 1879
  • Died: November 25, 1885, aged 27, at the Royal Palace of El Pardo in Madrid, Spain
  • Buried: Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Alfonso XII of Spain

Three days before his 28th birthday, King Alfonso XII died from tuberculosis at the Royal Palace of El Pardo in Madrid, leaving two daughters and his queen pregnant with her third child. It was decided that Alfonso’s widow Maria Christina would rule as regent until the child was born. If the child were a male, he would become king and if the child were a female, Alfonso and Maria Christina’s elder daughter María Mercedes would become queen. On May 17, 1886, a son was born who immediately became King Alfonso XIII.

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Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia

  • Born: December 28, 1875 in Tiflis, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire, now in Georgia
  • Parents: Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia) and Princess Cecilie of Baden
  • Died: March 2, 1895, aged 19, in San Remo, Italy
  • Buried: Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
  • Wikipedia: Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia

Alexei had a desire to serve in the Russian Navy. He has almost completed his training when he became ill with tuberculosis. He was sent to San Remo, Italy for its warmer climate but died there.

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Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia

  • Born: May 9, 1871, at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo outside of St. Petersburg, Russia
  • Parents: Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Dagmar of Denmark
  • Died: July 10, 1899, aged 28, in Abastumani, Georgia, Russian Empire
  • Buried: Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
  • Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia

George was the brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. Until Nicholas has a son, George was the heir to the Russian throne. At birth, George was weak and suffered from respiratory issues and for a while, his survival was questionable. In childhood, George’s health was problematic and was a great worry to his mother. In 1890, George and Nicholas went on a nine-month-long trip to India and Japan. However, when they reached Bombay, India, George became ill with acute bronchitis and an issue with one of his legs and was sent back home. The doctors knew that George had tuberculosis but kept referring to a “weak chest” and suggested a change in the climate. George and his mother left for Cannes in the south of France but his condition did not improve.

The doctors then suggested that George should be sent to live in the dry mountain climate of Abbas Touman, a spa town, now Abastumani in the country of Georgia, then in Russia. George’s health never improved and he lived permanently in Abbas Touman. On June 28, 1899, George Alexandrovich suddenly died. He had gone out alone to ride his motorcycle and when he did not return, his staff sent out a search party. George had been found lying on the side of the road, struggling to breathe, with blood oozing from his mouth, by a peasant woman who supported him in her arms until he died.

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Mathilde of Bavaria, Princess Ludwig of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

  • Born: August 17, 1877 at the Villa Amsee in Lindau, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Parents: King Ludwig III of Bavaria and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este
  • Married: Prince Ludwig of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1900
  • Died: August 6, 1906, aged 28, in Davos, Switzerland
  • Buried: St. Peter and Paul Church in Starnberg, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Wikipedia: Mathilde of Bavaria, Princess Ludwig of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Mathilde died from tuberculosis.

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Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria

Born: December 27, 1868 in Vienna, Austria
Parents: Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Married: Bertha Czuber in 1909, an unequal marriage
Died: March 10, 1915 in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
Buried: Untermaiser Maria-Trost-Church in Merano, Austria, now in Italy
Wikipedia: Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria

Ferdinand Karl’s mother also died from tuberculosis. (See above.) He was a brother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I. In 1911 he renounced his rights and titles as a dynast of the House of Habsburg and assumed the name of Ferdinand Burg. By that time, he was already ill with tuberculosis and died four years later,

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Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu of Japan

  • Born: June 25, 1902 at Aoyama Detached Palace in Tokyo, Japan
  • Parents: Emperor Taishō of Japan and Empress Teimei, born Lady Sadako Kujō
  • Married: Setsuko Matsudaira in 1928
  • Died: January 4, 1953, aged 50, at Kugenuma Villa in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
  • Wikipedia: Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu

Chichibu was a younger brother of Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa of Japan. In 1940, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He was forced to curtail his activities during and after World War II because of his illness. His condition greatly deteriorated in 1953 and he died.

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