Here’s the really dark joke. Henry died on January 28, 1547. But for a few days before, did he stop eating? Nope.
Legend says—and history backs this up—he munched down a huge capon on his deathbed. It’s the ultimate “Eat, Pray, Die” moment. He was panting for air between bites.
His doctors were probably screaming, “Your Majesty, stop eating!” And Henry, being Henry, probably growled at them to shut up. That level of stubbornness kills you.
The Official Cause? A Messy Sentence
If you want a doctor’s diagnosis from 500 years ago, they wrote: “The King’s body was corrupted by peccant humours.” Translation: “His blood got spicy and his fat stopped working.”
Opening The Coffin Of King Henry VIII
Modern medical theories suggest scurvy (he barely ate veggies), type 2 diabetes (his diet was 90% sugar), and septicemia (the leg infection poisoning his blood).
Basically, his body was a list of “How to Die in a Bad Way.” Stroke? Maybe. Heart failure? Probably. Blood poisoning? Definitely.