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Living. The

1:06

discovery was completely

1:08

unexpected. In 1708, a

1:10

construction crew began renovations on

1:13

an old English manner known

1:15

as Minster Lovell Hall. As

1:17

they worked, the men discovered something

1:20

strange. It was a secret panel

1:22

in one of the walls, which,

1:24

when opened, revealed a hidden vault.

1:27

And not just any vault, but

1:29

a cell. What was the giveaway, you

1:31

ask? Well, that would be the human

1:33

skeleton, sitting upright at a small table,

1:35

with the remains of a dog lying

1:37

at its feet. The grizzly scene remained

1:40

only for a moment. As soon as

1:42

the remains were exposed to fresh air,

1:44

they disintegrated into dust. Now, a

1:46

sight like that would be terrifying enough on

1:49

its own. But what made it all the more

1:51

chilling was the house's history. You see,

1:53

it had once belonged to Lord

1:55

Francis Lovell, one of the most

1:57

politically powerful men in England. At

2:00

least he had been. Until the

2:02

year 1487, when, following a defeat

2:04

on the battlefield, he vanished without

2:06

a trace. Naturally, as soon as

2:08

word of the skeleton got out,

2:11

rumors began to circulate. There were

2:13

whispers that Francis Lovell had, after

2:15

his disappearance, returned to Minster Lovell

2:17

Hall to hide in the secret

2:19

room. But when the servant feeding

2:22

him perished, the disgraced Lord was

2:24

left to die a slow and

2:26

agonizing death of starvation. Trapped within...

2:28

his own walls. And to be

2:30

fair historians aren't so sure about

2:33

that last one. Most say that

2:35

following the battle he more than

2:37

likely fled to Scotland or drowned

2:39

while trying to cross the river

2:41

Trent. The truth is we'll never

2:44

know exactly what happened to the

2:46

Lost Lord. The bones in the

2:48

vault were never identified and no

2:50

other trace of level has ever

2:52

been found. But when a man

2:54

is high on the political ladder

2:57

as Lord Francis Lovell mysteriously disappears,

2:59

it's bound to garner a few

3:01

tall tales, tales that grow and

3:03

twist, and take on lives of

3:05

their own. Lovell wasn't the first

3:08

powerful man to be rewritten by

3:10

folklore, and he wouldn't be the

3:12

last. But if a lord can

3:14

give rise to such a legend,

3:16

then what about a king? I'm

3:19

Aaron Mankey, and this is Lore.

3:21

In 2014, the late great sci-fi

3:23

writer Ursula Kayla Quinn delivered a

3:26

now famous speech at the National

3:28

Book Awards. We live in capitalism,

3:30

she said. Its power seems inescapable.

3:33

So did the divine rights of

3:35

kings. Any human power can be

3:37

resisted and changed by human beings.

3:40

It's an inspiring reminder that the

3:42

systems dictating our lives may be

3:44

more changeable than we think. On

3:47

the other hand, if you're a

3:49

ruler desperate to stay in power,

3:51

that's not so much inspiring as

3:54

it is threatening. Threatening enough in

3:56

fact that for thousands of years,

3:58

those in charge have learned a

4:01

very specific bit of mythology, that

4:03

the power wielded by kings, emperors,

4:05

and pharaohs is not a human

4:08

power at all. It began way

4:10

back at the start of human

4:12

civilization, when early hunter-gatherer societies were

4:15

led by shamans, and these shamans,

4:17

while they just so happened to

4:19

be the only qualified intermediaries between

4:22

physical and spiritual realms. In other

4:24

words, being the head honcho, meant

4:26

connection to the divine. This idea,

4:29

that political power is linked to

4:31

the gods, took off like wildfire,

4:33

and it's easy to understand why.

4:36

After all if you can convince

4:38

your subjects that your rule is

4:40

divinely ordained, then to challenge your

4:43

leadership is nothing short of insulting

4:45

the gods themselves. Pretty convenient way

4:47

to avoid political opposition, right? Now,

4:50

this belief took different forms in

4:52

different cultures. In some, they claim

4:55

that their rulers literally were gods.

4:57

In ancient Egypt, for example, the

4:59

pharaohs were believed to be gods

5:02

in human form, often associated with

5:04

the Falcon-headed god Horace. In the

5:06

ancient Iranian Zoroastrian religion, the king

5:09

was believed to be a direct

5:11

descendant of the sky god Ahuramazda.

5:13

And in the Greco-Roman period, rulers

5:16

were often high priests while alive

5:18

and became deified after death. In

5:20

other cultures, the kings weren't considered

5:23

gods themselves per se, but rather

5:25

formerly vouched for by the gods.

5:27

Think of it like a presidential

5:30

endorsement from the great beyond. Everywhere

5:32

from Malaysia to the Philippines to

5:34

South India and to ancient Jewish

5:37

Israelites had some version of this

5:39

idea. If you were a king,

5:41

it meant the gods had specifically

5:44

chosen you to be an agent

5:46

of their will. A perfect example

5:48

of this type of godly cheerleading

5:51

can be found in an ancient

5:53

Chinese concept called the mandate of

5:55

heaven. In this case, heaven itself

5:58

would bless the Emperor's authority, which

6:00

is not to say that he

6:02

could do whatever he wanted. No,

6:05

if the Emperor were to behave

6:07

poorly or fail to maintain order,

6:09

heaven would be just as fast

6:12

to yank that blessing away. Emperors

6:14

in Japan also followed a mandate

6:16

of heaven, but theirs was a

6:18

little more hardcore. The right to

6:20

rule in Japan was said to

6:23

come from Amatarasu, the Shinto son

6:25

goddess, and unlike in China, the

6:27

power she granted was absolute. That's

6:29

right, no punishment for misbehaving this

6:31

time. Anything the Emperor said or

6:33

did was considered divine law. It

6:36

sounds a little dodgy, in a dictator

6:38

kind of way, right? Well, luckily, Japanese

6:40

emperors were a bit like the

6:42

British royal family today. That is,

6:44

they were more mascots than political

6:47

powers. Regents, high-ranking ministers, and sometimes

6:49

even retired emperors, were the ones

6:51

who are really calling the shots.

6:54

And the Roman Catholics had their own

6:56

version of divine mandate, called the two

6:58

swords, in which sword number one was

7:00

the Pope, and sword number two was

7:02

royalty, the former to rule in matters

7:05

of the spirit and the latter in

7:07

matters of the earth. But all of

7:09

that changed during the Protestant

7:11

Reformation in the 16th century. Now get

7:13

ready, because a hot new way to

7:15

be king just dropped, and it's called

7:18

the divine right of kings. You may have

7:20

heard of it. In fact, I know you

7:22

have because I just mentioned it in that

7:24

Ursula K. Lagoon quote just a couple of

7:26

minutes ago. And the divine right of

7:28

kings flipped everything on its head. Suddenly,

7:31

instead of a ruler rising to power

7:33

and then the gods deciding to click

7:35

the donate now button, kings were pre-selected

7:38

before they were even born. But not

7:40

by God. No, humans selected a baby

7:42

that would be king. And then it

7:45

was God's job to sort of... plop

7:47

a divine ruler's spirits into that random

7:49

baby's body. So say that you were

7:52

King Charles I of England and your

7:54

wife Henrietta was pregnant. You knew that

7:56

child would be king and God knew it

7:58

too. So he'd come and place a king's

8:01

soul inside the infant in preparation.

8:03

Then when little Charles II is

8:05

born, he arrives already pre-approved by

8:08

God, and as such, isn't subject

8:10

to any earthly authority, not the

8:12

will of the people, the aristocracy,

8:15

the church, or any other realm.

8:17

With this handy little arrangement, anyone

8:19

who attempts to dethron the king

8:22

or restrict the monarchy's power isn't

8:24

just rising against the state. Oh

8:26

no, in the eyes of the

8:28

law, they would be rising against

8:31

God himself. From the very beginning

8:33

of time, Royals have prayed upon

8:35

superstition and faith to maintain their

8:38

control. They've invented elaborate initiation rituals,

8:40

developed intricate rules around who could

8:42

and could not inherit the throne.

8:45

Countless stories, all invented to grip

8:47

tightly to one tenuous resource. Power.

8:49

And if the legends are to

8:52

be believed, sometimes they refused to

8:54

relinquish that power. even in death.

8:56

The young couple was sick of

8:59

central London's grime. Sick of the

9:01

dampness, sick of the constant smell

9:03

of smoke that clung perpetually to

9:06

their clothes and hair. And so

9:08

when they saw that a small

9:10

suburban villa was available to purchase

9:12

near Kensington Gardens, they jumped at

9:15

the opportunity. The sprawling meadows and

9:17

verdant treetops encircling Nottingham House, as

9:19

the property was called, was like

9:22

something out of a dream. And

9:24

so in the year 1689, they

9:26

bought it and began renovating it

9:29

to their needs. I can't help

9:31

but wonder if they still would

9:33

have moved in had they known

9:36

the truth, that their new home

9:38

would one day become one of

9:40

the most haunted houses in the

9:43

world and that they would be

9:45

the ones who haunt it. Okay,

9:47

I admit this isn't just any

9:50

young couple. Their names were William

9:52

III and Mary II. And earlier

9:54

that same year, they had been

9:56

crowned King and Queen of England,

9:59

ruling the nation side by side.

10:01

And so when they began to

10:03

renovate the villa, we aren't just

10:06

talking about a mere screened-in porch

10:08

renovation. Mary and William began transforming

10:10

the humble property into a sprawling

10:13

marvel they called Kensington Palace. Now,

10:15

just because William and Mary shared

10:17

the same throne, didn't mean their

10:20

marriage was perfect. Far from it.

10:22

William was famously irritable and difficult,

10:24

while Mary had spent the last

10:27

decade mourning two lost pregnancies. In

10:29

a heartbreaking letter to a friend

10:31

who had also lost a baby,

10:34

Mary wrote, If one could hinder

10:36

oneself setting one's heart too much

10:38

upon those we love, we should

10:40

be the readier to die. But

10:43

ready or not, Mary sadly wouldn't

10:45

be left with a choice, because

10:47

in 1694, at only 32 years

10:50

old, the queen perished of smallpox

10:52

right there in her bedchamber at

10:54

Kensington Palace. She never did, produce

10:57

an heir. William was left alone

10:59

and bereft. But if the stories

11:01

are true, the widower king may

11:04

have been less alone than he

11:06

thought. You see, the ghost of

11:08

Queen Mary II is said to

11:11

still haunt the Queen's apartments at

11:13

Kensington Palace where she died, weeping

11:15

through the cavernous halls for the

11:18

children she never had and for

11:20

her short, brutal life. The years

11:22

went on. New Royals moved into

11:24

the palace and lived and ruled

11:27

and eventually died. With each new

11:29

generation, the house shape shifted to

11:31

accommodate the ever-changing family. It became

11:34

more and more lavish under each

11:36

new inhabitant. The property gardens, for

11:38

example, were designed for Queen Caroline.

11:41

Queen Victoria spent her childhood there.

11:43

When Victoria left to live in

11:45

Buckingham Palace, Kensington was transformed into

11:48

a home for minor royals, including

11:50

Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise, and in

11:52

more modern times, Princess Diana,

11:55

and even the

11:57

Prince and Princess

11:59

of Wales, William,

12:02

and Kate. But

12:04

despite the constantly changing residence, it

12:06

seems that the house never

12:08

forgot a single one. Because

12:10

while Queen Mary II's ghost may have been

12:12

the first, it would be far from

12:14

the last. Royals, it seems.

12:17

Just don't know how to step down. Take

12:20

the haunting of George II. He

12:22

took the throne in June of

12:24

1727 upon the death of his

12:26

father, King George I. A father

12:28

whose funeral he flat out refused

12:30

to attend, mind you. Both Georges

12:32

were born in Hanover, Germany, you

12:34

see. And in an attempt to

12:36

win over England's trust as a

12:38

true Englishman, George II abstained from

12:40

attending his predecessor's German funeral. And

12:43

apparently it worked. Coupled with his ability

12:45

to speak English, something that his

12:47

father had never fully learned, George II

12:49

immediately won the loyalty and respect

12:51

of the English people. But you know

12:53

what they say, you can take

12:56

the king out of Hanover, but you can't

12:58

take Hanover out of the king. In

13:00

1760, George II was sitting by

13:02

the window at Kensington Palace,

13:04

awaiting news from his native Hanover.

13:06

As he gazed forlornly out

13:09

at the grounds, he asked why

13:11

news had not come. But

13:13

before receiving an answer, the king

13:15

suffered an acute aortic dissection

13:17

and died on the spot. To

13:19

this day, King George II's phantom -like

13:21

face has been seen hovering at

13:23

that very same window. Some witnesses

13:26

even report hearing the voice of

13:28

King George II, asking in his

13:30

German accent, why don't they come?

13:33

For Ghost No. 3, we have

13:35

Princess Sophia, born in 1777, the

13:37

12th out of 15 children,

13:39

born from King George III and

13:41

Queen Charlotte. And if you're

13:43

a Bridgerton fan, yes, that George

13:45

and Charlotte. Now, you'd

13:48

think that being one of 15

13:50

kids would have left Sophia sorely lacking

13:52

for a long time. But in

13:54

reality, the princess lived an incredibly sheltered

13:56

life. The king and queen were

13:58

overly protective of their daughters, you see.

14:00

and so refused to let Sophia and

14:02

her sisters marry or even see

14:04

suitors when they came of age.

14:06

The princess lived out her life

14:08

sequestered with her family, her only

14:11

moment of escaping being a secret

14:13

affair with a general that resulted

14:15

in an illegitimate child taken from

14:17

her at birth. As Sophia got older, she

14:19

began to lose her eyesight, first in her

14:21

right eye and then in her left. By

14:24

1838, she was only able to see

14:26

light when she was outdoors. And it

14:28

may sound like a sad life, but

14:30

by all accounts Sophia was still a

14:32

cheerful woman. She loved to spend many

14:35

happy hours behind her spinning wheel, although

14:37

even that she had to give up

14:39

when she went fully blind. At least

14:41

for a while. After her death in

14:43

1848, people at Kensington Palace began

14:45

to hear a strange sound. It

14:47

hummed through the dark, the unmistakable

14:49

music of a bobbin worrying, a

14:52

treadle peddling up and down, a

14:54

spoke wheel turning on its creaking

14:56

axle. Yes, there was no mistaking

14:58

it. These were the sounds of

15:00

a spinning wheel at work. Except

15:02

for one small problem. There was no

15:05

longer a spinning wheel. Anywhere at

15:07

the palace. Whether spinning yarn, gazing

15:09

out a window, or softly

15:11

weeping in their bedchambers, the

15:13

ghosts of Kensington Palace seemed

15:15

gentle enough. Maybe it's the serene

15:17

nature of the country house that keeps

15:19

them so docile. That very trait that

15:22

had drawn Mary and William to it

15:24

in the first place, all those generations

15:26

ago. But not

15:29

all royal

15:32

ghosts

15:35

are quite

15:38

so friendly.

15:42

In fact,

15:45

some of

15:47

them are

15:49

downright murderous. They

15:52

was Denmark in

15:54

the year 987

15:57

and Sven Haraldsen.

15:59

More commonly known as Sven

16:01

Forkbeard due to his distinctive long

16:03

cleft beard, would have made any

16:05

fairy tale villain seem about as

16:08

threatening as a rubber ducky. This

16:10

guy was a violent warlord, with

16:12

no pity for the lives he

16:14

crushed beneath his feet. To start,

16:16

Forkbeard made his grand debut by

16:18

overthrowing his own father to steal

16:20

the Danish throne. But Denmark wouldn't

16:22

be enough for him. Soon he

16:25

teamed up with Norway to invade

16:27

England too, only backing off when

16:29

the English King Ethel Red the

16:31

second bribed him with 16,000 pounds.

16:33

At first, the bribe worked, but

16:35

then Forkbeard attacked England again, and

16:37

once more King Ethel Red paid

16:39

the Vikings to leave, this time

16:42

increasing the bribe to 24,000 pounds.

16:44

Now if you've ever trained a

16:46

dog or a cat, you'll know

16:48

the quickest way to solidify a

16:50

habit is to pair it with

16:52

a tasty little treat. And if

16:54

you want that pet to stop

16:56

a bad behavior, well you probably

16:59

don't want to give them a

17:01

heaping pound of cash every time

17:03

they do it. Suffice to say,

17:05

the Vikings only doubled down. As

17:07

a result, King Ethel Red believed

17:09

the only way to get rid

17:11

of them would be to casually

17:13

massacre every single Danish person in

17:15

England, women and children alike. The

17:18

incident, which took place on November

17:20

13th of 1002, became known as

17:22

the St. Bryce's Day Massacre. And

17:24

one of the victims unfortunately happened

17:26

to be Sven Forkbeard's sister, Gunhilda.

17:28

Up until this point, the Viking

17:30

campaigns against the English had mostly

17:32

been raids, but now Forkbeard was

17:35

thirsty for revenge. It was time

17:37

to make England pay for his

17:39

sister's death. His attacks quickly developed

17:41

into a full-scale military operation with

17:43

the objective of seizing power from

17:45

King Ethel Red the second once

17:47

and for all. The Vikings pillaged

17:49

and plundered without mercy on a

17:52

scale that history had never seen

17:54

before. Oh, and by the way,

17:56

King Ethel Red had botched things

17:58

so badly that he would officially

18:00

go down in history as And

18:02

I quote, Ethel read the Unready.

18:04

Seriously, William the Conqueror, Peter the

18:06

Great, Ivan the Terrible, and then

18:09

you have Ethel read the Unready?

18:11

It's pretty embarrassing, right? Anyway, on

18:13

Christmas Day of 1013, Ethel Red

18:15

fled into exile, and the English

18:17

Earls declared Sven Forkbeard, the first

18:19

Danish king of England. Little did

18:21

he know, only 40 days later,

18:23

on February 3, of 1014. He

18:26

would be dead. Not in battle,

18:28

in battle, mind you. nor at

18:30

the hands of a political rival.

18:32

No, the great king Forkbeard would

18:34

die in his sleep. The official

18:36

explanation was that the king had

18:38

perished from injuries he'd received after

18:40

a recent fall from his horse.

18:42

Alternatively, some historians believe that he

18:45

may have died of a stroke

18:47

or apoplexy. But there is another

18:49

explanation for his death. Some insist

18:51

that the king was murdered by

18:53

a ghost. And as it turns

18:55

out, this ghost had a pretty

18:57

solid motive. You see, in his

18:59

bloody campaign for power, Forkbeard made

19:02

one vital mistake. He threatened to

19:04

burn the township of Bodericksworth, known

19:06

today as Barry St. Edmunds, if

19:08

they didn't pay their taxes to

19:10

their new Danish king. Not only

19:12

would he set fire to the

19:14

buildings, but Forkbeard swore to kill

19:16

all of the town's priests as

19:19

well. According to legend, one individual

19:21

had a teensy problem with that

19:23

plan, and that person was none

19:25

other than St. Edmund himself, a

19:27

former English king who also just

19:29

so happened to be dead. 145

19:31

years prior to Forkbeard's death, St.

19:33

Edmund had been bound to a

19:36

tree, shot full of arrows and

19:38

beheaded, all for refusing to renounce

19:40

his faith. And who was behind

19:42

this horrific deed? Why, the Vikings,

19:44

of course. Between his grisly end,

19:46

his country being overtaken by the

19:48

very people who tortured and killed

19:50

him, and Forkbeard's latest threats, it's

19:53

no wonder that St. Edmund wasn't

19:55

exactly resting in peace. Which brings

19:57

us back to the night of

19:59

February the 3rd. As the story

20:01

goes, St. Edmund's spirit visited a

20:03

monk named Aylwin and delivered a

20:05

very clear message. If Forkbeard didn't

20:07

withdraw his threats, he would be

20:09

met with divine vengeance. Aylwin hastened

20:12

to the court to deliver the

20:14

news, only to be ignored and

20:16

tossed out. It was time to

20:18

celebrate Candlemas after all. This was

20:20

a time for partying, not for

20:22

politics. Like any good Viking King,

20:24

Forkbeard spent the evening reveling and

20:26

drinking, until finally he stumbled back

20:29

to his bed chambers to retire.

20:31

But as he arrived at his

20:33

bed, his face suddenly filled with

20:35

terror, and he cried out, Help

20:37

me, my soldiers, help me. Behold,

20:39

St. Edmund, comes to kill me.

20:41

No matter how the Vikings tried,

20:43

they couldn't see the ghost. The

20:46

king continued crying for help, but

20:48

it was no use. St. Edmund

20:50

ran the horrified man through with

20:52

a phantom spear, leaving Forkbeard writhing

20:54

in pain until Twilight arrived. And

20:56

with it. The king's death. Forkbeard's

20:59

life makes quite a tale. A

21:01

bloody rise to power. War and

21:03

rivalry and of course a hubristic

21:05

downfall right when our tragic protagonist

21:07

reaches the top. Tossa vengeful spirit

21:10

into the mix. and you've got

21:12

yourself a pretty incredible story for

21:14

your next cocktail party. And that

21:16

may be all that it is,

21:18

a story. Not Forkbeard's life, mind

21:20

you. All of that is true.

21:23

But the idea that he was

21:25

murdered by a ghost? Yeah, I

21:27

think it's safe to say that

21:29

that's a fanciful bit of fiction.

21:31

But the burning question is why?

21:34

Why pretend that the king was

21:36

killed by a spectral assassin? And

21:38

why St. Edmund specifically? Well, some

21:40

historians believe that the ghost story

21:42

had very little to do with

21:44

fork beard at all, and more

21:47

to do with St. Edmund. You

21:49

see, by creating a tale in

21:51

which the martyred king defeats a

21:53

terrible villain like Forkbeard, it instantly

21:55

venerates him as a hero worthy

21:58

of sainthood, a classic myth of

22:00

good, vanquishing over evil. But there's

22:02

another more sinister explanation as well.

22:04

Because you know what else a

22:06

ghost murderer can be? The perfect

22:09

alibi. That's right. Other historians have

22:11

suggested that the story of Alewin

22:13

the monks warning provided the perfect

22:15

cover for a very real murder

22:17

to take place. Most point the

22:19

finger at Forkbeard's daughter-in-law, who he

22:22

had recently accused of treason, but

22:24

honestly I'm sure this charmer had

22:26

no shortage of enemies. Whoever the

22:28

culprit was, Aylwin's vision provided the

22:30

perfect opportunity. Now, whatever happened to

22:33

the king could be blamed on

22:35

the ghost of St. Edmund. Whether

22:37

as a tool to venerate a

22:39

saint or acquit a sinner, it

22:41

just goes to show that a

22:43

story is a powerful thing. Almost

22:46

as a ghost with a spear.

22:48

But hey, maybe that's why they

22:50

call them, spirits. Even death itself,

22:52

even death itself, it seems, can't

22:54

give orders to a king. Even

22:57

death itself, it seems, can't give

22:59

orders to a king. From royal

23:01

reverence to Princess Poltergeist, there is

23:03

certainly no shortage of undead English

23:05

monarchs. And with so many generations

23:07

inhabiting the same castles, it's no

23:10

wonder these places fill up with

23:12

ghosts like a cursed family reunion.

23:14

Lucky for you, we've saved the

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the outside in. Name

27:39

a castle, any castle. Now sure,

27:41

you may have thought of Edinburgh

27:43

Castle, or the Winter Palace, but

27:45

I'm willing to bet that most

27:48

of you found a single name

27:50

leaped to mind before all the

27:52

rest, a little place called Windsor

27:54

Castle, the most famous, and arguably

27:56

the most haunted of them all.

27:58

Windsor Castle boasts the distinction of

28:00

being the largest... and oldest continuously

28:03

inhabited castle in the entire world.

28:05

Located in Windsor, England, just south

28:07

of the River Thames, Royals have

28:09

been calling those stone walls home

28:11

since the not so recent year

28:13

of 1070. Over nearly a thousand

28:16

years, Windsor Castle has housed 39

28:18

kings and queens of England, not

28:20

to mention their sprawling courts, families,

28:22

staff, and advisors. But Windsor isn't

28:24

only a house. It's also a

28:26

tomb. 11 British monarchs are buried

28:28

right in the castle's own chapel,

28:31

and some of them, it seems,

28:33

refuse to stay put. We all

28:35

remember King Henry VIII, of six

28:37

wives' fame, right? You know, divorced

28:39

beheaded, died, divorced beheaded, survived. Yeah,

28:41

that charmer. What you might not

28:44

know is that according to some

28:46

historians, Henry's transformation into a tyrannical

28:48

temperamental monarch may have been caused

28:50

by a jousting accident. An accident

28:52

that, if the legends are true,

28:54

continued to torment him, even after

28:56

death. The dangerous sport, in which

28:59

two mounted horsemen run full speed

29:01

at each other with lances, was

29:03

not for the faint of heart.

29:05

But none of that would stop

29:07

Henry, who absolutely loved to joust.

29:09

On January 24th of 1536, Henry

29:11

was competing against Sir Norris, a

29:14

close friend of Anne Boleyns, when

29:16

the unthinkable occurred. Henry charged Norris,

29:18

but missed his target, hitting Norris'

29:20

saddle instead. The force of the

29:22

impact flung Henry from his mount,

29:24

and then his horse toppled, crushing

29:27

the king beneath its full incredible

29:29

weight. It's thought that Henry suffered

29:31

a traumatic brain injury that day,

29:33

explaining his erratic behavior to come.

29:35

Not only that, but the accident

29:37

re-injured an old leg wound from

29:39

a previous jousting accident. The wound

29:42

then became infected, causing ulcers which

29:44

oozed pus and blood, along with

29:46

a foul smell that repulsed everyone

29:48

around him. It left him writhing

29:50

in pain for the final decade

29:52

of his life. And maybe, if

29:55

the stories are true, Even longer.

29:57

Henry VIII died in 1547 at

29:59

the age of 55, but many

30:01

witnesses have reported seeing his ghost,

30:03

wafting through the stone corridors of

30:05

Windsor Castle. He seems despondent and

30:07

agitated, pacing furiously and shouting. But

30:10

the most chilling operation of all

30:12

may not be a sight but

30:14

a sound, the shuddering noise of

30:16

Henry's ghost wheezing in pain as

30:18

he drags his hoard, festering leg

30:20

behind him. And it seems that

30:22

hauntings must run in the family,

30:25

because King Henry VIII and Anne

30:27

Boleyn's daughter has a habit of

30:29

appearing specterally throughout the castle. Born

30:31

in 1533, Elizabeth ascended to the

30:33

throne in 1558 at the age

30:35

of 25 and ruled until her

30:38

death in 1603. Elizabeth was much

30:40

more than a politician. She was

30:42

highly educated and intelligent, plus a

30:44

multi-linguist, a master calligrapher, and a

30:46

talented musician. She even patronized artists

30:48

such as William Shakespeare himself. Given

30:50

Elizabeth's love of the arts, it's

30:53

no surprise that her ghost has

30:55

frequently been spotted in the Royal

30:57

Library, where she spent so much

30:59

time as queen. Palace guards have

31:01

reported seeing Elizabeth's ghost, perusing the

31:03

bookshelves or reclining in the chairs,

31:06

reading, of course. Others have heard

31:08

the echo of her high heels,

31:10

clicking on the library floors. In

31:12

one story that took place in

31:14

1897, a lieutenant of the Gredendear

31:16

guards spotted a woman dressed in

31:18

black past him and turned a

31:21

corner in the library. Now he'd

31:23

seen plenty of royal portraits and

31:25

couldn't help but notice how much

31:27

this mysterious lady resembled the late

31:29

Elizabeth I. Naturally he followed her,

31:31

but she was nowhere to be

31:33

found. Stranger still, the corner she

31:36

had turned down didn't lead to

31:38

any door that the woman would

31:40

have used to leave the library.

31:42

And when he asked a nearby

31:44

attendant, the lieutenant was told that

31:46

he'd been the only one to

31:49

enter the library all that afternoon.

31:51

Honestly, as a book nerd, this

31:53

kind of sounds like an ideal

31:55

afterlife. If death... endless library time,

31:57

please count me in. Now it

31:59

hasn't just been soldiers and palace

32:01

visitors to see Elizabeth's ghost. Bonified

32:04

members of the royal family themselves

32:06

have spotted her too. At the

32:08

start of World War II, King

32:10

George VI reportedly glimpsed her multiple

32:12

nights in a row. Both King

32:14

George III and King Edward VII

32:17

saw a woman they believed to

32:19

be Elizabeth dressed in, you guessed

32:21

it, a black gown. In fact,

32:23

King George III supposedly even spoke

32:25

to her, a rather noble conversation

32:27

in which she declared herself to

32:29

be, and I quote, married to

32:32

England. To be fair, though, George

32:34

III may not have been the

32:36

most reliable witness. Now, Bridgerton fans

32:38

will know this, but for the

32:40

rest of you, King George famously

32:42

suffered from debilitating mental illness throughout

32:45

his entire life, earning him the

32:47

cruel nickname, the Mad King. And

32:49

by the way, yes, this is

32:51

the same King George notorious for

32:53

losing the colonies during the American

32:55

Revolution. And of course, for singing

32:57

an epic banger of a comedic

33:00

number in Act One of Hamilton.

33:02

A busy guy, I know. George

33:04

III became King of England in

33:06

1760, and his life was rife

33:08

with physical and mental suffering a

33:10

life. Most notorious were the king's

33:12

bouts of mania, in which he

33:15

would babble uncontrollably for hours until

33:17

horse or foaming at the mouth.

33:19

His illness also caused him to

33:21

behave wildly and inappropriately, sometimes to

33:23

the point of violence. Despite seeking

33:25

medical care, George's illness was never

33:28

cured or fully diagnosed, and so

33:30

he spent the final 10 years

33:32

of his life isolated in his

33:34

room at Windsor Castle. And yes,

33:36

I'm sure you can guess where

33:38

this is going. He has haunted

33:40

that room. ever since. According to

33:43

one tale, the hauntings began soon

33:45

after the king died. While his

33:47

body lay in state, the palace

33:49

guards were passing the king's chamber

33:51

window, when the commanding officers spotted

33:53

the king himself, standing as he

33:56

always did, awaiting his afternoon salute.

33:58

Operating on instinct, this had been

34:00

a daily routine, after all, the

34:02

officer gave the order, eyes right,

34:04

his soldiers obeyed, turning to look,

34:06

and all watched in awe as

34:08

the phantom figure accepted, and then

34:11

returned their salute. To this day

34:13

King George's ghost is still seen

34:15

haunting the apartment in which he

34:17

was restrained, where, when alive, he

34:19

passed countless hours alone, playing the

34:21

harp, and hoping for reprieve from

34:23

the prison of his own mind.

34:26

Perhaps the ill King George the

34:28

brilliant Queen Elizabeth and the injured

34:30

Henry VIII have all found some

34:32

solidarity and friendship in one another's

34:34

company. At least, I hope so.

34:36

After all, forever is an awfully

34:39

long time to be stuck, with

34:41

the same set of roommates. This

34:57

episode of Lore was produced by me,

34:59

Aaron Manke, with writing by Genero's Nethercott,

35:01

research by Jamie Vargas, and music by

35:04

Chad Lawson. Don't like hearing the ads.

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