The Postmortem Of Henry VIII's First Son

On the 22nd February 1511, tragedy hit the English Royal family and Henry VIII and his Queen Catherine of Aragon. At this point in History, the King despite having a number of mistresses was rather happy with the first of his six wives, and he hoped that the pair would have a son and a child who would then go on to rule over England. At the time, it was standard for a King to want a male heir, and with this Henry’s quest for this would plunge him down a dark path of divorce, religious turmoil and execution. But Henry VIII did have a son born to him alive with his first wife Catherine of Aragon, but this child had a tragic demise at just a few months old. But what is the story of Henry the Duke of Cornwall, and what specifically did the young child succumb to inside of the royal nursery? Let’s try to piece this forgotten Tudor story together.

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

SIDS is so tragic

[@harrietharlow9929]

It is.

[@maryellencook9528]

In addition to SIDS as a possible cause of death, aspiration, or a blocked airway are possibilities. Either way, the death of any infant is tragic.

[@marianparoo1544]

Baby Patrick Kennedy. So sad.

[@gonefishing167]

So sad. To die so suddenly without any illness being noted sounds like SIDS. One quite often immediately thinks of that when hearing about these deaths . Around 8 weeks is a danger time ( I think) and it can be anything up to 9 months. I’m an old lady now and things may have changed. I got my info from a girl who lived in our neighbourhood . She was walking past one day and she told me. She’d taken her little boy to the dr that very morning it happened. They came home, she fed him and put him down for a nap. That was it. Poor, poor girl. (A lot of people didn’t have home phones then. We’d only had one put on when I was pregnant and had had a few problems etc. before that you walked to the phone box. ). I’d never even heard of it before. My baby was around 4 weeks old at the time and it terrifies you. So sad. And for the mothers. All it took was to wash your hands. So simple but had such wonderful consequences for mothers, 🙏🙏🙏👵🇦🇺

[@lianefehrle9921]

My uncle had a son that also died of that same thing. Because they are deaf the law had stepped in to try and punish them. But they couldn’t because my uncle had a dog that would go to my uncle or aunt to let them know that their son cried, woke up or just got them to tell them something was wrong with their son. The boy was the only one to take him he sir name on after my uncle passed. It was so sad to both my aunt and uncle and the rest of the family.

[@renatatarnawski5974]

It was so sad how Royals Lost so many children

[@richsiwes]

True.Plus the fact they need to have children just so the royal bloodline goes on..

[@kathybrem880]

Inbred cousins marrying cousins, uncles aunts-etc. they created their own problems

[@anainesgarciaarango3420]

Not only the royals but the plebs too. And since many married too young, these child brides didn't have their reproductive organs fully developed and either couldn't conceive very soon, had miscarriages or died at child birth. Royals and commoners. My mom married at 16 and was almost about to start a fertility treatment at 20 and she got pregnant. Her body needed 4 more years after her marriage to complete its full internal growth.

[@rebeccablackburn9487]

​@@anainesgarciaarango3420 Catherine of Aragon was 6 years older than Henry, about 22 at the time they got married or even older. Hardly a child bride. She had been married at 15 to his brother Arthur, 7 years before she married him- but Arthur died soon after they wed. Henry was only 10 at that time. Catherine basically waited around for another 7 years to Marry Henry. Read about it- please!!

[@TheAmandahc]

misleading title I will not watch anymore there was no post mortem

[@heathermason9311]

Thanks for saving me the time. I’m over this channel having a 15 minute video repeating the same information in every different way. Or misinformation about historical facts. The list goes on and on. I’m done

[@seansabhaois]

This is not 'CSI' Tudor.... look up the meaning of the word 'Postmortem.'

[@Bubbls246857]

I wonder if King Henry VIII had syphilis... most of his babies end up dying young if not the 1st born, & he has a lot of the symptoms in later life. I wonder if that's why Catherine of Aragon had so many stillborns? 🤔 would explain so much.

[@robynzelickson6164]

I've always believed that he did have syphilis. All that inbreeding couldn't have helped either.

[@bellamijaymes2153]

Yeah! True.

[@sarawallace6696]

More likely it was due to Catharine being a Hapsburg. The family had a ton of fertility issues because of inbreeding. The syphilis theory seems to have been debunked. Henry’s change in demeanor also coincided with a likely head injury suffered during a jousting tournament.

[@Bubbls246857]

Then why did his 2nd wife also only have stillborns after their 1st kid? Why so many fertility issues w all the other wives? Seems like he's the center of all the problems & we know he liked his ladies...😂

[@sarawallace6696]

@@Bubbls246857 Great observation… it is speculated that Anne Boleyn may have been RH- which would explain why she had a successful pregnancy with Elizabeth I, but no subsequent full term births. Jane Seymour passed away due to what they called “Child bed fever” which is likely sepsis due to complications of childbirth of Edward VI. Anne of Cleves likely just didn’t conceive… long story there. Katherine Howard was presumably young and healthy… but by this time Henry VIII wasn’t. The same answer would also apply to Catharine Parr… who subsequently died secondary to complications of childbirth with her only child Mary Seymour. Of note however, is that Catharine was previously married with no children of those marriage(s).

[@kathryneconomou791]

The child could have been murdered or the wet nurse dropped him. Anything is possible.

[@harrietharlow9929]

Doesn't mean it did.

[@jeanfish7]

There are some who think he was RH negative

[@j.j.9123]

There’s the theory that Henry VIII HAD A RATE BLOOD TYE (Kells) that would explain the many miscarriages and still borne births).

[@marianparoo1544]

@@j.j.9123Read about it.

[@ramseo100]

Perhaps but that wouldn’t fit the pattern with Catherine as the only living baby was Mary born after a stillbirth while generally RH factor issues get worse with each successive pregnancy meaning one or two live births are possible then carrying a baby becomes harder and babies are lost earlier. This pattern does fit Henry’s reproductive history with Anne Boleyn who had a healthy child, a possible stillbirth and then a miscarriage just past the end of the first trimester

[@jumaris28]

I love to hear your Tutor stories as a loyal subscriber of your Channel I would like to have a positive critique in favor of you , but the microphone settings must be to low , making sounding a muffle voice ( like you are congested 😷) may be try to adjusted it so we can keep enjoying your lovely voice much clearer and the great Royalty stories. Sending smiles and looking forward for many more. Judy from California ❤💫 ✨❤️✨❤️✨❤️✨🌼

[@seansabhaois]

Another cracking video🙂👍 These are 'big' subjects and not for the faint hearted.... Something the 'chattering' arm chair historians fail to realise. A previous comment about the word 'Postmortem' made me smile.... Looking up the true meaning of 'Postmortem,' might give the commentator a clue. I always enjoy listening to an English accent, which is easy to listen to, measured and lends a lot of charm to these subjects.

[@anainesgarciaarango3420]

I'm sorry. Perhaps this story is very interesting. However, due to my hearing problem I must rely on transcriptions. In this case, the text stops shortly before telling the story and the sounds is quite deficient. I'm not going to listen any further.

[@pauldavies5611]

I thought this video was well done. I wasn’t aware that Henry VIII had actually had a son who lived for a few weeks. Thanks for sharing!

[@samanthafitzgerel4460]

He died because Elizabeth Woodville (his great grandmother) and her mother put a curse on the male line (issue) of the person who killed the two princes in the tower. Ok….thats pure fiction, but it’s as good a reason as any other?! 😅

[@daniellemurray4356]

There’s no post mortem and plus he did have a son before Jane Seymour as he had an affair with Mary Boleyn and had a son to her and he had a son Henry Fitzroy from another mistress

[@rebeccablackburn9487]

He was Prince of wales, not just Duke of Cornwall.

[@Jasmina_sanchezxo]

Please stop adding 'of' to all your tales if Royalty. E.g. inside 'of' royal palaces, driving me nuts. Otherwise, it is interesting to listen to. Thanks Hilary

[@atfundramccoy8999]

Boring and Misleading 💤💤

[@brandijade7063]

SIDS isn't a thing.

[@robynzelickson6164]

Oh really? Tell that to all the mothers who have lost babies. What is your scientific theory about why these infants die, Doctor?

[@user-tv6mw8vx3w]

Our healthy, normal baby son was having a nap and suddenly turned blue and stopped breathing, luckily it was during the day, or at night he might not have been found in time and resuscitated. He had an apnea monitor after this and his notes say ‘ probable near miss cot death, SIDs ‘. We lived in terror of it happening again, even though I knew when he’d long passed the prevalent age for SIDs I couldn’t resist standing at his door to listen to his breathing before I went to bed. Don’t trivialise what our family went through by your ill informed statements.

[@andrewgibson]

What a waste of time watching ,lied to again.