This podcast details true crime cases.

It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence.

It is not intended for children.

Listener discretion is advised. join me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime.

In history, there have been several monarchs known as Mad Kings,

rulers who are plagued by erratic and even violent behavior

often attributed to mental illness.

Henry the 6th of England suffered a mental breakdown

that left him in a catatonic stupor for more than a year.

Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of Russia,

was given his nickname after torturing and sadistically

murdering members of the nobility. He even murdered his own son in a fit of rage.

And England's King George III, whose reign was portrayed so dramatically

in the 1994 film, The Madness of King George, experienced hallucinations, paranoia,

and general mental breakdown while he ruled.

We could speculate that the madness attributed to so many monarchs could be as a result

of genetic predisposition to mental illness, seeing as royal rule is inherited.

Or it's possible that the demands of the job creates a level of stress that may send some

who are emotionally fragile to begin with over the edge.

And especially in past history, royal rulers had to constantly be on alert for enemies who may

seek to overthrow them and take the throne. Whatever the reason, the stories of these mad kings, queens, and other rulers have always fascinated me.

The stories are quite dramatic.

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