The Greedy End of a Gluttonous King
Whilst
researching my book, Life in the Georgian Court, I came across no
shortage of dramatic stories and tragic deaths. From smallpox to strangulation,
guillotine to gangrene, our 18th century royals didn’t always die the most peaceful deaths.
Spare
a thought then for Adolf Frederick, the King of Sweden who met his end on 12th
February 1771 not by bullet or beneath the battlefield bayonets, but as a
victim of pudding.
When
the Swedish monarch settled down to enjoy a meal that, as the saying goes,
really was fit for a king, he wasn’t in the mood for a simple snack. This
well-liked king enjoyed nothing more than indulgence and on this day, he was
going to indulge himself like no man had before.
As
the hours drew on, he tucked into lobster, caviar, sauerkraut and kippers in
abundance, the seemingly endless procession of food barely slowing as the
evening passed. The ravenous monarch devoured everything that was set before
him, swilling it down with glass after glass of the finest champagne. Yet for
every plate that he cleared, Adolf Frederick still had room for more.
One
of the king’s favourite desserts was a dessert known as semla, a sweet roll popular
in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Most diners would content themselves with
one or, with a very sweet tooth, maybe two of these super-indulgent treats but
at Adolf ’s
last meal, the king just kept on going. This was the last meal before Lent so
the king was determined to feed himself up, and nothing was going to stop him.
To
finish his meal, Adolf wanted semlas… lots of semlas; fourteen portions
served in hot milk, to be exact. Once the greedy king was finally sated, he
retired to his chambers where his stomach began to grumble and soon, so did he.
Adolf died that same day; whether his last meal contributed to his demise we
cannot be certain, but posterity has recorded Adolf as the king who ate himself
to death, the victim of one semla too many.
About
the Author
Catherine
Curzon is a royal historian and blogs on all matters 18th century at A Covent Garden
Gilflurt's Guide to Life.
Her
work has featured by publications including BBC History Extra, All About History, History of Royals, Explore
History and Jane Austen’s
Regency World.
She has also provided additional material for the sell-out theatrical show, An
Evening with Jane Austen, which she will introduce at the Royal
Pavilion, Brighton, in September (tickets are available here).
Catherine
holds a Master’s
degree in Film and when not dodging the furies of the guillotine, she lives in
Yorkshire atop a ludicrously steep hill.
Her
book, Life
in the Georgian Court, is available now from Amazon
UK,
Amazon
US,
Book
Depository and all good bookshops!
About
Life in the Georgian Court
As
the glittering Hanoverian court gives birth to the British Georgian era, a
golden age of royalty dawns in Europe. Houses rise and fall, births, marriages
and scandals change the course of history and in France, Revolution stalks the
land.
Peep
behind the shutters of the opulent court of the doomed Bourbons, the absolutist
powerhouse of Romanov Russia and the epoch-defining family whose kings gave
their name to the era, the House of Hanover.
Behind
the pomp and ceremony were men and women born into worlds of immense privilege,
yet beneath the powdered wigs and robes of state were real people living lives
of romance, tragedy, intrigue and eccentricity. Take a journey into the private
lives of very public figures and learn of arranged marriages that turned to
love or hate and scandals that rocked polite society.
Here
the former wife of a king spends three decades in lonely captivity, Prinny
makes scandalous eyes at the toast of the London stage and Marie Antoinette
begins her last, terrible journey through Paris as her son sits alone in a
forgotten prison cell.
Life
in the Georgian Court is
a privileged peek into the glamorous, tragic and iconic courts of the Georgian
world, where even a king could take nothing for granted.
