Royal Deaths from Fire

compiled by Susan Flantzer

This does not purport to be a complete list. All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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Stanisław Leszczyński, former King of Poland, Duke of Lorraine

  • Born: October 20, 1677 in Lwów, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now Lviv, Ukraine
  • Parents: Rafał Leszczyński and Anna Jabłonowska
  • Married: Catherine Opalińska
  • Died: February 23, 1766, aged 88, at the Château de Lunéville in Lunéville, France
  • Buried: Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland
  • Wikipedia: Stanisław Leszczyński

The father-in-law of King Louis XV of France, Stanislaw died as a result of serious burns. His silk clothing caught fire from a spark while he was napping in a chair near a fireplace. Stanislaw was rescued by his servants but he was badly burned died after many days of agony.

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Archduchess Mathilda of Austria

  • Born: January 25, 1849 in Vienna, Austria
  • Parents: Archduke Albrecht of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Princess Hildegard of Bavaria
  • Unmarried
  • Died: June 6, 1867, aged 18, at Schloss Hetzendorf in Vienna, Austria
  • Buried: Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
  • Wikipedia: Archduchess Mathilda of Austria

Mathilda had put on a gauze dress to go to the theatre. Before leaving for the theatre, she wanted to smoke a cigarette but shortly thereafter her father, who had forbidden smoking, approached her, and she hid the cigarette behind her dress, immediately setting fire to her dress and giving her second and third-degree burns. Her death was witnessed by her entire family.

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Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria, Duchess of Alençon

  • Born: February 23, 1847, at Possenhofen Castle in Possenhofen, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
  • Parents: Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria
  • Married: Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Alençon in 1868
  • Died: May 4, 1897, aged 50, at 17 Jean-Goujon Street, Paris, France
  • Buried: Royal Chapel of Dreux in Dreux, France
  • Wikipedia: Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria, Duchess of Alençon

On May 4, 1897, Sophie Charlotte died in a fire at the Bazar de la Charité in Paris, France where she had been helping to raise funds for charity at a bazaar. A leading patron of the bazaar, she had insisted on remaining until all those working under her had been rescued. A nun who had managed to escape from the fire said she saw Sophie Charlotte get down on her knees and start praying. Her body was unrecognizable, even to her personal maid, but was identified by her dentist by her gold fillings. She became one of the first people whose remains were identified by forensic dentistry.

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