Curated playlist
Dethroned monarchs
- Mohammad Reza PahlaviOn his first day at a Swiss boarding school, Iran's crown prince got beaten up.
- Nicholas IINicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, carried a large dragon tattooed on his right forearm. The artist was Hori Chiyo, and the tattoo was a souvenir of the young heir's visit to Japan. That same journey nearly ended in disaster. At…
- Wilhelm IIWilhelm II, the last German Emperor, spent much of his adult life holding a pair of white gloves in his left hand. The gloves made that arm look longer than it was. He reigned from 1888 to 1918 over a country that had become Europe's…
- Mary, Queen of ScotsWhen Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded, her auburn hair turned out to be a wig. Underneath she had short grey hair.
- Romulus AugustulusRomulus Augustulus, often called the last western Roman emperor, was a boy whom his conqueror let live.
- Napoleon IIINapoleon III escaped a life sentence by walking out of prison dressed as a laborer.
- Lady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey was queen of England for only nine days in July 1553. Her own Privy Council then turned on her.
- Maximilian I of MexicoFacing a firing squad in 1867, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico handed each executioner a gold coin.
- Louis XVIOn the morning of his execution, Louis XVI asked, "Any news of La Pérouse?"
- Selim IIISultan Selim III was killed by swords inside his own palace in 1808. Loyalists marched to save him.
- Charles I of EnglandCharles I wore two shirts to his own execution. It was bitter cold, and he feared shivering would look like fear.
- Olof SkötkonungA Swedish lawspeaker once threatened to kill King Olof Skötkonung at a public assembly. Olof then gave in.
- Alfonso XIIIAlfonso XIII was carried on a silver tray to Spain's prime minister, already a king.
- PuyiPuyi, the last emperor of China, was born in Beijing on the 7th of February 1906 and died on the 17th of October 1967. A commentator named Wen Yuan-ning once quipped that Puyi had been "made emperor three times without knowing why and…
- Haile SelassieIn 1992, the bones of Haile Selassie I were found beneath a concrete slab on the grounds of a palace. The man buried there had been born Tafari Makonnen. He had ruled Ethiopia as emperor from 1930 to 1974. How does a ruler of such rank end…