The King's Corpse The Dogs Got To First

Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547 after years of declining health, obesity, and a leg wound that had rotted for decades and frequently leaked pus through his bandages, and by the end of his life the king who had once been athletic and admired across Europe reportedly needed mechanical devices to help move him from room to room, and after his death his body was sealed inside a lead coffin and prepared for burial at Windsor, but while the coffin rested overnight at Syon House something went wrong, and according to witnesses the corpse began leaking fluids onto the floor as the body inside started to decompose and swell, and during the night stray dogs entered the room and were discovered licking the liquid seeping from beneath the coffin, and years later many saw the horrifying scene as fulfilment of a warning supposedly given to Henry long before his death — that dogs would one day lick his blood.

Interesting Fact

Henry VIII was buried beside his third wife Jane Seymour at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. His planned grand tomb was never completed, and today his grave is marked only by a simple stone slab.

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