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Bizarre British Monarchy Facts That Sound Fake

Khalid Elhassan September 13, 2023 32 min

Monarch - England's royal swans — England's royal swans. The New York Times

The Monarch Who Died on His Bathroom “Throne”

King George II was not well-loved in Britain: he had been born in Hanover, and English was not his first language. He had a thick German accent, a short temper, and was widely criticized for his boorishness. Nonetheless, his years on the throne saw tremendous growth in British prosperity and prestige. In his time as monarch, the British Empire grew to become a globe-straddling entity. His death, though, was less regal than his reign, and gave fodder for amusement at the time and ever since.

George II’s undignified death came on October 25^th, 1760. That morning began like all others, as His Majesty followed his usual routine: he woke up at 6AM, had a cup of hot chocolate, then went to the toilet. However, as he answered nature’s call, he overstrained himself and suffered a fatal aortic aneurism. When his valet heard a loud crash in the restroom, he rushed in to discover that the monarch had fallen from his… throne. He died soon thereafter.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.