The health of the royals has been a topic of fascination for some time, and it's no wonder when their sicknesses (and deaths!) can have such far-reaching implications.
In the past, the death of a monarch could set off deadly family feuds, civil wars and revolutions — a far cry from what we've experienced after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
It's unclear whether tight-lipped Buckingham Palace will ever reveal the Queen's official cause of death.
But it's fair to assume the Queen enjoyed relatively good health, given she lived to the ripe old age of 96.
These other royals weren't so lucky …
King Henry I: A surfeit of lampreys
Lived 1068/1069-1135, died aged 66/67
The myth of Henry I's death has persisted longer than many facts about his life.
It's said the king died from eating too many lampreys — a jawless, eel-like fish that apparently tastes more like beef than barramundi.
The lamprey has a long history as a delicacy among the royals. It was even baked into a pie for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.
It's unlikely this theory of the king's death was supposed to be taken as fact.
Chroniclers of the time were perhaps more interested in the moral of the story than the truth of it.
Still, it's a memorable takeaway about the importance of moderation.
Before his death from alleged food poisoning, King Henry I was credited with achieving peace in England and Normandy.
The family feud over who should succeed him culminated in an 18-year civil war known as The Anarchy … and supposedly all because of one man's uncontained appetite for an ancient fish.
King Edward II: A brutal end
Lived 1284-1327, died aged 43
The death of King Edward II is also up for debate. His poor leadership, however, is not. The official royal website declares Edward II "had few of the qualities" that make a successful king.
He angered England's powerful barons by gifting high offices to his father's (Edward I) opponents, as well as his own favourites, including his supposed lover Piers Gaveston.
Edward II was also blamed for gifting Scotland its independence from England by losing the Battle of Bannockburn (1314) to Robert the Bruce.
King Edward II's wife, Isabella of France, eventually gave up trying to wrangle any sort of influence.
In 1326, she and her exiled lover Roger Mortimer led an invasion against her husband.
Edward II was locked up in Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.
Legend has it, he was killed by having a red-hot poker thrust up his anus.
That year, Edward III ascended the throne.
Soon after, he ordered the execution of Mortimer in a show of force.
Isabella ended up joining an order of nuns until her death.
Queen Mary I: Phantom pregnancies
Lived 1516-1558, died aged 42
The first ruling Queen of England was known as Bloody Mary for her persecution of Protestants, as she sought to restore Roman Catholicism in the country.
Mary was determined to produce a Catholic heir, and came close in 1555.
Physicians were gathered and a delivery room assembled, but to the surprise of many, the birth never happened (we'll get there, don't worry).
The second and final false alarm came when she was 42. She wrote to her husband King Philip II to share the news. He responded that the pregnancy was "of the greatest importance for the cause of religion and the welfare of our realm".
Again, Queen Mary didn't give birth.
Instead, she developed a fever — potentially a sign of the circulating influenza — and died a few months later.
Before dying, Mary conceded the legitimate heir to the throne was her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth.
It's believed Mary suffered from pseudocyesis, a condition that mimics the symptoms of pregnancy.
If she hadn't died childless, the history books would have had a very different story to tell about England.
King George III: A reign of disputed illnesses
Lived 1738-1820, died aged 81
King George III ruled Great Britain for 60 years, and it was a turbulent six decades for both the monarch and the monarchy.
Nothing seemed amiss when he ascended the throne at just 22 years of age.
But five years later, King George III suffered his first bout of illness — a chronic chest infection that brought with it the first signs of mental illness.
Between this episode and his death in 1820, King George III lost both the American colonies and his mental faculties (portrayed in the 1994 British film, The Madness of King George).
He cycled through periods of acute mania and remission, before the death of his daughter sent him into a final relapse.
The cause of King George III's illness has long been up for debate.
In the 1960s it was suggested he suffered from an inherited disorder called porphyria, which can cause skin problems, abdominal pain, muscle weakness and mental health issues.
Whatever his condition, it's possible the king's diligent doctors inadvertently made it worse.
An analysis of King George III's hair found high concentrations of arsenic.
It's thought the medications he received were contaminated.
Queen Victoria: History-making mutation
Lived 1819-1901, died aged 81
Queen Victoria is known as the grandmother of Europe.
She had nine children, 42 grandchildren and 87 great-grandchildren, many of whom married into royalty.
Queen Victoria was also the unwitting carrier of the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia B.
Through her, the mutation was passed to various royal houses.
This included the last imperial dynasty of Russia – the Romanov family. In 1917, it was decided the ailing heir, Alexei Nikolaevich, was unable to take over.
His haemophilia set in motion a series of events that ended their centuries-long rule.
In Spain, King Alphonso married Princess Victoria Eugenie, despite being warned against the union.
Two of their sons were believed to have haemophilia. The British were accused of defiling the royal blood of Spain, and the marriage was discredited.
At the time there was no effective treatment for haemophilia.
The disease rarely affects female carriers, while male sufferers (even heirs to the throne!) seldom survived past young adulthood.
They often bled to death following falls or accidents that a healthy person would have survived.
Queen Victoria herself enjoyed the longest reign of her time.
She died from a stroke at the age of 81, having shaped the politics of the 19th and 20th centuries with a single, spontaneous mutation.
King George VI: A lineage of chain smokers
Lived 1895-1952, died aged 56
A proclivity for smoking was also passed down the royal line.
King George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II) was a heavy smoker, and the habit led to his untimely death at the age of 56.
King George VI was diagnosed with carcinoma before it was widely accepted that smoking even caused cancer.
His physicians kept the diagnosis from him and the public.
It's been suggested he was burning through up to 30 cigarettes a day in the weeks before undergoing major lung surgery – his daughter Princess Margaret would eventually exceed that total, reportedly smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day.
In the film The King's Speech, Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (who was helping George with a speech impediment he'd had since childhood) warned him against chain-smoking:
Lionel Logue: I believe sucking smoke into your lungs will kill you.
King George VI: My physicians said it relaxes the throat.
Lionel Logue: They're idiots.
King George VI: They've all been knighted.
Lionel Logue: Makes it official, then.
