Kings often live amazing and powerful lives. They have lots of money, control, and freedom to do whatever they want. But just like their lives, many kings have had strange and shocking deaths.
The kings in this list died in unusual, sometimes painful ways. Some were killed by others, while some simply had terrible luck. From being forced to swallow hot, melted gold to dying from serious infections like gangrene, these royal deaths are some of the most bizarre you’ll ever hear about.
1. Charles II Was Soaked In Wine To Treat His Illness – Then Accidentally Set On Fire
Sometimes when we look back at history, we can’t help but wonder, “What were they thinking?” This is one of those stories.
In the late 1300s, people didn’t know much about medicine. So when King Charles II of Navarre (in what is now northern Spain) got sick, his doctors thought they had a clever cure. They soaked his bed sheets in distilled wine, believing it would help pull the illness out of his body.
But that wasn’t all; they had a maid sew the king into the sheets, thinking it would make the treatment work better.
Unfortunately, that decision led to a disaster.
Somehow, maybe from the maid burning the thread or from nearby hot coals used to keep the king warm, an ember touched the wine-soaked sheets. Because the sheets were soaked in alcohol, they caught fire quickly. Trapped inside, the king had no way to escape.
King Charles II died in a horrible way: burned alive inside the sheets that were supposed to heal him.
2. William The Conqueror Was Conquered By His Belly (And Later Exploded)
William the Conqueror is remembered for his big win in 1066, when he became the first Norman king of England after defeating the Anglo-Saxons. He spent much of his life on the battlefield, but in the end, it was an accident, not a war, that led to his death.
As a young man, William was strong and athletic. But as he got older, he became quite overweight. One day, while riding his horse, his large stomach slammed hard into the front of the saddle—the part called the pommel, which was made of hardwood or even metal. The impact was so strong that it seriously injured him inside.
The injury caused his internal organs to rupture, and he died soon after.
But his troubles didn’t end there.
After he died, people looted his body, stealing his belongings and leaving him n*ked on the ground. Then, fires broke out in the nearby village, which delayed his funeral.
When they finally tried to bury him, his body had swollen so much that it didn’t fit into the stone coffin. As monks tried to push him in, his stomach burst, releasing a terrible smell that shocked everyone at the funeral.
It was a very undignified end for such a powerful king.
3. King Alexander I Was Killed By A Monkey (Bite)
King Alexander I of Greece died just over 100 years ago, at the young age of 27—and his death was one of the strangest and saddest royal stories in modern history.
In 1917, Greece was divided over whether to join World War I. Because of the pressure, Alexander’s father, King Constantine I, was forced to give up the throne. That’s how Alexander became king at just 24 years old.
He didn’t have a big role in the war, but he was starting to work on plans to grow Greece’s territory. Sadly, that plan was cut short—by a walk in the park.
One day, Alexander took his dog for a walk in a private royal park outside Athens. Some monkeys, kept by palace staff, were also loose in the park. One of the monkeys, a Barbary macaque, attacked his German Shepherd. When Alexander tried to break up the fight, another monkey bit him several times.
Servants rushed in and cleaned his wounds, and Alexander insisted he was okay.
But he wasn’t.
Later that night, the bites became badly infected. His condition got worse quickly. Doctors thought about cutting off his leg to save him, but no one wanted to be the one to risk such a serious operation. So, they did nothing.
After 23 painful days, the young king died not from war or politics, but from monkey bites that could have been treated.
4. Emperor Valerian May Have Been Forced To Swallow Molten Gold
If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, you might remember the shocking scene in Season 1 where someone dies from having molten gold poured over their head. As wild as that sounds, this kind of death isn’t just fantasy—history says it may have happened to real people, including kings and emperors.
One possible victim was Valerian, a Roman emperor who ruled parts of western Europe between 253 and 260 CE. But instead of gold being poured on his head like in the show, some stories say his enemies forced him to drink the boiling gold. If that’s true, it wasn’t the metal itself that killed him, but the super-hot steam that would have burned him from the inside in just seconds.
Other reports say he suffered a different horrible death—being skinned alive, and then his body was stuffed with straw.
Whichever version is true, Valerian’s end was brutal and far from the glory you’d expect for a Roman emperor.
5. Herod The Great Died From Maggot-Infested Gangrene Of The Genitals
It’s believed that King Herod the Great, who ruled ancient Judaea, died in a very painful and disturbing way. For a long time, people thought he died from a kidney problem, but after studying old writings that described his symptoms, experts now think he actually had gangrene—a condition where parts of the body die because blood isn’t reaching them.
What made Herod’s case worse was that the gangrene affected his private parts.
There are a few possible causes. He might have had a stomach infection that spread, or he could’ve caught a disease like gonorrhea that led to a serious infection. Whatever the cause, it made for an extremely painful and miserable end to his life.
6. Qin Shi Huangdi Died Seeking Immortality (And Eating Mercury Like Candy)
If you haven’t heard of Qin Shi Huangdi, you’ve probably heard of the famous Terracotta Army—his “undead army.”
The Terracotta Army is made up of more than 8,000 life-sized clay soldiers, all carefully built during his rule. They were meant to protect China’s first emperor in the afterlife, acting as his personal guard even after death.
Building such a massive army out of clay was a huge project—but Qin Shi Huangdi was known for doing big things. In his lifetime, he united all of China and created shared systems for money, writing, and measurements. He was one of the most powerful rulers in history, so it makes sense that he wanted to keep that power even after he died.
But here’s the twist: he didn’t actually want to die at all. Qin Shi Huangdi believed he could live forever—and he thought mercury was the secret to eternal life.
At the time, mercury was seen as a magical substance that could grant immortality. Today, we know it’s extremely poisonous. After drinking wine and eating food mixed with mercury for a while, the emperor’s quest for eternal life ended in his death, ironically caused by the very thing he believed would save him.
Even now, the place where his tomb and the Terracotta Army were found is believed to be dangerously toxic. The tomb itself has never been fully opened, partly because it’s said to be surrounded by flowing rivers of mercury.
7. The Fearsome Attila The Hun Died Of A Nosebleed
Getting a nosebleed on your wedding night is unlucky but dying from it? That’s next-level bad luck. But that’s exactly how one of history’s most feared warriors, Attila the Hun, is believed to have died.
In the year 453, Attila got married again and spent his wedding night drinking heavily. The next morning, his soldiers couldn’t find him. When they entered his tent, they saw his new bride crying beside his lifeless body. Attila had suffered a heavy nosebleed while sleeping and apparently choked on his own blood.
Some people think there might have been foul play—maybe poison or assassins—but the most accepted explanation is that it was a strange and tragic accident.
We’ll likely never know for sure. That’s because no one has ever found his grave. According to legend, his soldiers diverted a river, buried him in the dry riverbed, and then let the water flow back to cover the site, hiding his final resting place forever.
8. Bela I Died From His Wooden Throne Collapsing
Is there anything more ironic than a king dying by falling off his own throne?
Well, that’s exactly what happened to King Béla I of Hungary. He was doing well as a ruler in the 11th century he had even won a war against the powerful Holy Roman Empire to keep Hungary independent. Just as he was preparing for another big battle to secure his position as king, something unexpected happened.
During a celebration, Béla went to sit on his throne. But the chair, made by the royal carpenter (or whoever built thrones back then), wasn’t strong enough. It collapsed under him, and the fall caused serious injuries. Sadly, King Béla I died from those injuries—all because of a faulty throne.
9. King Edward II Allegedly Met His End By Red Hot Poker, But The Truth Remains Unknown
The death of King Edward II of England has puzzled historians for years—mainly because there are two completely different versions of how he died.
First, a quick look at his life: Edward II wasn’t considered a strong ruler. He lost land his father had gained, upset the nobles by giving power to people they didn’t trust (including a man who may have been his lover), and made his wife so angry that she joined forces with her own lover to overthrow him. In the end, Edward was removed from the throne and replaced by his own son.
Now, here’s where things get mysterious.
One version—the more widely accepted one—says Edward was locked up in a castle and secretly killed in 1327. But there’s also a much more gruesome and infamous rumor: that his enemies murdered him by inserting a red-hot poker into his backside. There’s no solid proof for this, but the story stuck around for centuries because of how shocking it was.
The second, lesser-known theory claims that Edward didn’t die in that castle at all. Some say he escaped and was still alive in 1330. What happened after that, if true, remains a mystery.
10. George V Was Secretly Euthanized By His Doctor
If you’re looking for a royal scandal, the story of King George V’s death in 1936 is definitely one of the biggest.
The shocking part? It wasn’t until 1986—50 years later—that people learned his own doctor had actually ended his life and kept it a secret all that time.
Here’s what happened: King George V was very sick in his final days. His doctor, Lord Bertrand Dawson, stayed close by his side. The exact reason Dawson chose to end the king’s life is still debated. Some say the Queen and the king’s son may have quietly asked that he not be made to suffer if he was near the end.
But there’s another twist. Part of Dawson’s decision came down to something strange—he wanted the announcement of the king’s death to appear in the morning newspaper, not the evening editions, which he considered less respectful.
So, to control the timing, Dawson gave King George V a deadly injection of morphine and cocaine. The king died soon after.
11. Adolf Frederick Allegedly Ate Too Many Sweet Treats
King Adolf Frederick of Sweden didn’t have much real power, even though he was king. His aunt, Empress Elizabeth of Russia, helped him get the throne after winning a war—but he mostly served as a figurehead.
Since he didn’t rule much, Adolf spent his time enjoying life, especially by throwing fancy parties. One of those parties happened in 1771, during Fat Tuesday (called “fettisdag” in Sweden), where people traditionally eat rich foods before fasting for Lent.
Adolf really overdid it. He ate a huge meal that included lobster, caviar, fish, and sauerkraut. But the real trouble came when he finished it all off with 14 servings of semla—cream-filled pastry buns.
After this massive feast, his stomach couldn’t handle it. The overload caused serious digestive problems, and not long after, the king died. His death is now remembered as one of the most bizarre caused by overeating.
12. King William II Was Fatally Shot By An Arrow On A Deer Hunt
Back in the old days, even something as relaxing as a hunting trip could turn deadly. That’s exactly what happened to King William II of England, the son of William the Conqueror.
One day, William went deer hunting with a group of men. He shot an arrow and hit a deer, but the animal didn’t die right away. Around the same time, another man in the group, Walter Tirel, also fired an arrow. Because of the sunlight, Tirel may not have seen clearly—his arrow ended up hitting William in the chest.
Tirel quickly ran away and no one chased after him. People have argued for years about whether it was just a terrible accident or if Tirel was sent to kill the king. Some think William’s younger brother, Henry, may have been behind it—especially since he became king right after William’s death.