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Mortal Monarchs

1,000 Years of Royal Deaths

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Mortal Monarchs

By: Suzie Edge
Narrated by: Suzie Edge
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About this listen

A humorous deep-dive into the varied—and oft-gruesome—deaths of the king and queens of England and Scotland.

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.

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.

In school, many of us learned the dates they died and who followed them, but sadly never heard the varied—and oft-gruesome—way our monarchs met their maker. Featuring original medical research, this history forms a rich record not just of how these people died, but how we thought about and treated the human body, in life and in death.

©2022 Suzie Edge (P)2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Death & Dying Historical History Royalty King Witty England

What listeners say about Mortal Monarchs

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Easy Listening

Loved this book and Suzie’s narration. Easy to listen to and a little bit of learning history as well. Highly recommend.

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A must read

Thoroughly enjoyed the medical take on history. Very informative and easy listening. Hope there will be more along these lines. Thankyou to the author

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Fantastic!

A great listen, Suzie not only writes entertaining recounts of historical events, but she narrates fabulously too

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I really enjoyed this

Really interesting. Suzie Edge is a wonderful story teller and I hope she writes another book soon.

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Wonderful

Loved every minute!! Please narrate more titles!
So informative and soothing to listen to. Highly recommend

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Loved it!

This book was so gripping. Each chapter tells the death of a past monarch. It gives the story of their death, accounts of what symptoms they had from the history books and then the actual medical breakdown of what would have happened, plus the aftermath. I’m not good at doing it justice but it was an enthralling listen, that any lover of the morbid will enjoy.

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Highly recommend

The book is exceptionally well written and Suzie is both entertaining and informative. It was released by prior to the death of Elizabeth II so obviously ends with George VI.

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Just delightful.

For someone who is not very good with blood and guts, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Exceptional well written with the right amount of humour to keep the listener engaged, It is also very well narrated by the author.

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Interesting and told by the author

If you follow Dr Suzie Edge on tiktok, you'll know she is an expert on the British monarchy as well as a medical doctor. What better person to listen to learn about the demise of each monarch? Highly recommended.

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Inaccuracies

The author as narrator says that Simon de Montfort’s wife is Maude. This is incorrect. It was Eleanor, the sister of Henry III. There are other niggling errors elsewhere which is absolutely disappointing. Also, some of the royals she mentions don’t even get a guess at what may have killed them. This book is patchy, plagued with inaccuracies and sadly, irrelevant.

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