Royal Deaths from Malaria

compiled by Susan Flantzer

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that causes symptoms that include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, and death.

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. 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.

All images are from Wikipedia unless otherwise indicated.

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Heinrich VI, Holy Roman Emperor

  • Born: November 1165 in Nimwegen, Kingdom of the Franks, now in the Netherlands
  • Parents: Friedrich Barbarossa I, Holy Roman Emperor and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy
  • Married: Constance I, Queen of Sicily
  • Died: September 28, 1197, aged 31, in Messina, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Sicily, Italy
  • Buried: Palermo Cathedral in Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Sicily, Italy
  • Wikipedia: Heinrich VI, Holy Roman Emperor

In the midst of making plans to quell a revolt in his wife’s Kingdom of Sicily, Heinrich fell ill with fever and chills and died of malaria although it was widely believed at the time that he was poisoned.

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Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor also Charles I, King of Spain, Charles I, Archduke of Austria, Charles II, Duke of Burgundy

  • Born: February 24, 1500 at the Prinsenhof of Ghent in Ghent, Habsburg Netherlands, Holy Roman Empire, now in Ghent, Belgium
  • Parents: Philip (the Handsome) of Habsburg and Joanna, Queen of Castile and Aragon
  • Married: Isabella of Portugal in 1526
  • Died: September 21, 1558, aged 58, at the Monastery of Yuste, Crown of Castile, Spain
  • Buried: Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain
  • Wikipedia: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles’ vast territories included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with direct rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and the Burgundian Low Countries, and a unified Spain with its southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia and the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Physically exhausted after 40 years of ruling and suffering from severe gout, Charles abdicated in 1555 and retired to the peace of a monastery. Upon Charles’s abdications, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand (Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor) and the Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by his son Philip (King Philip II of Spain). In August 1558, Charles became seriously ill with malaria. After a month of agony, he died holding in his hand the cross that his wife Isabella had been holding when she died.

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King Mongkut of Siam (Thailand)

  • Born: October 18, 1804 at Thonburi Palace in Bangkok, Siam, now in Thailand
  • Parents: Buddha Loetla Nabhalai, King of Siam and Sri Suriyendra
  • Married: Queen Somanass Waddhanawathy, Queen Debsirindra, Princess Pannarai (had a total of 32 wives and concubines and 82 children)
  • Died: October 1, 1868, aged 63, at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Siam, now in Thailand
  • Buried: His ashes are enshrined in the base of the Buddha statue at Wat Ratchapradit in Bangkok, Thailand
  • Wikipedia: King Mongkut of Siam (Thailand)

Mongkut is best known as the fictionalized king in the musical play and film The King and I, the film Anna and the King of Siam and the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Langdon about Anna Leonowens’ years (1862 to 1867) as the teacher to the children of Mongkut.

Mongkut was interested in astronomy and mathematics and developing his skills in astronomical measurement. He invited high-ranking European and Siamese officials to accompany him to Wakor village in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province of Siam where the solar eclipse that was to occur on August 18, 1868 could be best viewed as a total eclipse. During the trip, King Mongkut and his son Prince Chulalongkorn were infected with malaria. Mongkut died six weeks later and was succeeded by his son, who survived malaria.

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Prince Henry of Battenberg

  • Born: October 5, 1858 in Milan, Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, now in Italy
  • Parents: Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Countess Julia Hauke
  • Married: Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom in 1885
  • Died: January 20, 1896, aged 37, aboard the HMS Blonde, near Sierra Leone in Africa
  • Buried: St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England
  • Unofficial Royalty: Prince Henry of Battenberg

When Beatrice and Henry married, they promised to live with Beatrice’s mother Queen Victoria so that Beatrice could remain her full-time confidante and secretary. Henry was often bored by the lack of activity and in an effort to give him more to do, Queen Victoria appointed him Governor of Carisbrooke Castle and Captain-General and Governor of the Isle of Wight in 1889, Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army in 1887, Colonel in 1893, and a member of the Privy Council in 1894. In November 1895, Henry persuaded Queen Victoria to allow him to go to West Africa to fight in the Anglo-Ashanti Wars. Henry arrived in Africa on Christmas Day 1895. By January 10, 1896, Henry was sick with malaria and it was decided to send him back to England. Henry died aboard the ship HMS Blonde off the coast of Sierra Leone on January 20, 1896.

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Prince Amedeo of Italy, 3rd Duke of Aosta

  • Born: October 21, 1898 in Turin, Kingdom of Italy, now in Italy
  • Parents: Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Italy, Duke of Aosta and Princess Hélène of Orléans
  • Married: Princess Anne of Orléans in 1927
  • Died: March 3, 1942, aged 43, in Nairobi, Kenya Colony, now in Kenya
  • Buried: Nyeri Italian Military Cemetery in Nyeri, Kenya
  • Wikipedia: Prince Amedeo of Italy, 3rd Duke of Aosta

Amedeo was the commander of the Italian forces in the East African Campaign during World War II. On May 18, 1941, after being surrounded and besieged by British, Commonwealth, and Ethiopian forces, Amedeo surrendered. He was held in a prisoner-of-war camp in Nairobi, Kenya where he died as a result of complications from both tuberculosis and malaria.

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