- Title: Royal Deaths And Diseases: Living By The Sword
- Date: 12th March 2003
- Summary: Five stories of destinies and dynasties that reveal the most intimate records of Britain's kings and queens. The films explore dealings with doctors, attempted assasinations, failed successions and the often catastrophic consequences of an untimely royal death.
- Description:Series investigating how royal doctors and medicine have changed the course of British history - from madness to war wounds,decadence to the struggles to conceive an heir. The series recounts the fates of Richard the Lionheart and Henry V on the battlefield; examines Britain's most famously mad king,George III,and investigates the stories of Queen Victoria's clinical depression and Henry VI's acute schizophrenia. The film also examines how Royal misbehaviour changed the image of the monarchy - from Henry VIII's overeating and lack of exercise to Charles II's death at the hands of his own doctors and George IV's opium-fuelled reign.
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:Lion Television Ltd.
- Programme Episode:Episode 1
- Transmission Date:12/03/2003
- Rights:Worldwide
- Decade: 2000s