Professor Alice Roberts explores the circumstances surrounding the death of the so-called Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII, in March 1603, aged 69. Upon examination of an exact replica of her body, Home Office Pathologist Dr. Brett Lockyer observes signs of possible scrofula infections in her mouth, as well as rotting teeth and dilapidated internal organs.
The Queen had striven desperately for life but was let down by her mind and body. Was the wound where her coronation ring had to be cut from her hand the possible source of her final infection, hastened by the severe melancholia and mania which overwhelmed her during her final days?
