Royal Deaths from Bronchitis

compiled by Susan Flantzer

Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest pain. 90% of bronchitis cases are caused by a viral infection. A small number of cases are caused by a bacterial infection. Bronchitis can also be chronic, occurring for long periods of time. Most cases of chronic bronchitis are caused by smoking.

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.

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.  All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom

  • Born: November 9, 1841 at Buckingham Palace in London, England
  • Parents: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
  • Married: Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863
  • Died: May 6, 1910, aged 68 at Buckingham Palace in London, England
  • Buried: St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

King Edward VII, known as Bertie in the family, had habits that did not keep him in the best of health. He ate too much and usually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. He began to suffer from chronic bronchitis. In March 1910 while vacationing in Biarritz, France, Bertie collapsed and remained in Biarritz to recuperate. On April 27, 1910, he returned to Buckingham Palace. Queen Alexandra had also been away but started her return trip home as soon as she knew about her husband’s condition and arrived in London on May 5.

On May 6, 1910, Bertie insisted that his valet dress him in his frock coat and formal clothes before he received his private secretary Francis Knollys and his good friend Ernest Cassel. During the afternoon, the king suffered a series of heart attacks, but he refused to be put into bed, sitting instead in a chair. Alix sent for Alice Keppel, Bertie’s mistress, and arranged for her to see the king during one of his periods of consciousness. His son George, soon to be king, told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The king replied, “I am very glad,” which were his last words. After waiting 59 years to become king and reigning for nine years, King Edward VII lapsed into a coma and died peaceably just before midnight on May 6, 1910.

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Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria

  • Born: March 12, 1821 at the Würzburg Residence in Würzburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Parents: King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen
  • Married: Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria in 1844
  • Died: December 12, 1912, aged 91, in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Buried: Theatine Church in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Unofficial Royalty: Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria

Luitpold served as Regent for his two mentally incompetent nephews, King Ludwig II and King Otto. On December 10, 1912, Luitpold was well enough to go for a walk in Munich’s famed Englische Garten. The next day, he developed bronchitis with a high fever. Luitpold died at 5 AM in the morning of December 12, 1912.

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Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen of the Netherlands

  • Born: August 2, 1858 at Arolsen Castle in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany
  • Parents: Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Princess Helena of Nassau
  • Married: King Willem III of the Netherlands in 1879
  • Died: March 20, 1934, aged 75, at Lange Voorhout Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands
  • Buried: Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
  • Unofficial Royalty: Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen of the Netherlands

Two years after the death of his first wife 61-year-old King Willem III of the Netherlands married 20-year-old Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont. In the same year as Willem and Emma’s wedding, Willem’s only surviving son of the three sons from his first marriage died. A year later Emma and Willem’s only child, a daughter, the future Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was born. When Willem died in 1890 and ten-year-old Wilhelmina became Queen, Emma became Regent for her daughter until Wilhelmina’s eighteenth birthday.

Emma died on March 20, 1934, at the age of 75 from pneumonia. First, she had a cold that developed into bronchitis, and then because there were no antibiotics yet, the bronchitis developed into fatal pneumonia.

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Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk

  • Born: April 3, 1893 in East Sheen Lodge in Richmond-upon-Thames, England
  • Parents: Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and Louise, Princess Royal, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom
  • Married: Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk in 1923
  • Died: December 14, 1945, aged 52, at a nursing home in London, England
  • Buried: ?
  • Unofficial Royalty: Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk

Maud died in a London nursing home from acute bronchitis.

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