Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths

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In this bonus episode, Charlie Higson welcomes Dr Suzie Edge, author of 'Mortal Monarchs - 1,000 Years of Royal Deaths' and 'Vital Organs - The History of the Worlds Most Famous Body Parts' to talk about her work studying the ways Monarchs died. Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths by Suzie Edge is a chronological exploration of the deaths of the Kings and Queens of Scotland and England. I first heard about it on one of my favourite podcasts, Betwixt the Sheets by the brilliant Kate Lister and was drawn in by the promise of guts and gore. Happily, it really delivered. Assisting him on this tumultuous voyage is the husband and wife historical tag-team of Julia Fox & John Guy, authors of Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage that Shook Europe. Suzie Edge trained as a molecular cell biologist before moving to clinical medicine, to spend more time talking to people, rather than just bugs in test tubes. She went on to work as a junior doctor in a variety of medical specialties including infectious diseases, haematology, and trauma and orthopaedic surgery. She recently completed an MLitt in Modern History to feed her fascination for the history of the human body and the history of medicine. And interestingly, I took from this the point that the reported death of each is what the chroniclers WANTED us to think about both the deaths and the lives of the people who ruled us. Those who weren't liked were, coincidentally, historically remembered for grisly or morally 'just' deaths:

‎Mortal Monarchs on Apple Books

Henry VIII's only legitimate son is crowned King at 9 years old and as Charlie Higson discovers, his should have been the perfect reign, but it will come as no surprise to find out that things didn't go according to plan. If that's all you know about the most famous of all our Kings, then listen on as Charlie Higson uncovers Henry's life in the first part of a story that is so epic, it requires.....well......two parts! From the “bloody” fascinating story behind Oliver Cromwell’s demise and the subsequent treatment of his corpse and whether the arrow William II caught in the chest was an accident or murder, to Henry IV’s remarkable skin condition and the red-hot poker up Edward II’s rear end, Mortal Monarchs captivates, grosses-out and informs. Absolutely fabulous read. With a witty and educational approach, Dr. Suzie Edge walks the reader through the life and death of each British monarch from William the Conqueror to King George VI (this was published just before Elizabeth's passing). So it's very educational. And I loved the fact we get the context, of the reign in question in each case. I actually wanted MORE detail of their ruling years in many cases, but this information is available elsewhere of course. The point of the book is to look at how each died.Willy Willy Harry Stee..........actually, we'll stop there for this episode. The lady in question was Queen, but only for 9 days and apart from a small apologetic addendum at the end of some versions of the rhyme, Lady Jane Grey doesn't get a mention.

Mortal Monarchs on Apple Books ‎Mortal Monarchs on Apple Books

How the monarchs of England and Scotland met their deaths has been a wonderful mixture of violence, infections, overindulgence and occasional regicide. In Mortal Monarchs, medical historian Dr Suzie Edge examines 1,000 years of royal deaths to uncover the plots, accusations, rivalries, and ever-present threat of poison that the kings and queens of old faced.In each new weekly episode, Charlie and his friendly experts....(ie REAL historians)...learn all about one of our Kings or Queens and ask searching questions like: From the bloody fascinating story behind Oliver Cromwell's demise and the subsequent treatment of his corpse and whether the arrow William II caught in the chest was an accident or murder, to Henry IV's remarkable skin condition and the red-hot poker up Edward II's rear end, Mortal Monarchs captivates, grosses-out and informs.