It wasn’t long ago that people with mental health conditions were confined to asylums. But if that person was a royal, their behavior was often tolerated. Noble birth increased the odds of mental illness due to inbreeding. Here are ten royals whose actions earned them a spot on the list of history’s craziest.
10. King George III of England
King George III is mainly remembered for losing the American War of Independence. However, he also left behind tales of madness. He was eventually deemed unfit to rule, and his son George IV ruled as Prince Regent.
George reportedly alternated between manic periods, where he spoke too fast and foamed at the mouth, and depressive periods, where he cried for hours. He suffered from paranoia and hallucinations, even trying to shake hands with an oak tree. His urine was described as blue, red, or purple, leading experts to believe he had acute porphyria.
9. Charles VI of France
Charles VI is famous for the Battle of Agincourt. Like George III, Charles developed a reputation for being “off.”
His mental illness manifested in two ways: the ‘glass delusion,’ where he believed his body was made of glass and refused to be touched, and violent outbursts, where he attacked those around him, even killing his knights.
8. Nero
Nero’s legacy is complicated. Some saw him as a cruel tyrant, while others viewed him as a folk hero. Accounts suggest he was a bit crazy.
When Nero’s second wife, Poppaea, died, he had a young man who looked like her castrated and dressed as Poppaea. Nero then married the young man, referring to him as Poppaea.
7. Elagabalus aka Antoninus
Elagabalus’s reign was short, but he was wildly depraved, leading to his assassination at age 18.
He had little interest in governing, preferring sex with anyone and everyone. He appointed his lovers to high-ranking positions and reportedly prostituted himself. He replaced traditional Roman religion with fringe cult worship, angering the nobles.
6. Mustafa I
Mustafa I, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was known as ‘Mustafa the Mad.’ His upbringing explains why.
It was customary for a new sultan to execute his brothers, but Mustafa’s brother, Ahmed I, locked him away in a windowless room for 14 years. He then took the throne for a year, was sent back to his room for four years, and then ruled for another year. This imprisonment took its toll. He lacked social skills and would yank beards or throw wealth to animals.
5. Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg
Maria Eleonora, consort to the King of Sweden, faced pressure to produce a male heir, which she couldn’t do. She had miscarriages and daughters, one of whom died young. She called her daughter Christina a monster and tried to harm her.
After her husband died, Maria lost it. She placed his heart in a golden casket above her bed and forced Christina to sleep with her under the heart.
4. Princess Alexandra of Bavaria
Princess Alexandra was intelligent and devoted herself to her studies, becoming a novelist and translator, but she struggled with her mental health.
She was a germaphobe who only wore white clothing. She believed she had swallowed a glass piano as a child, causing her to avoid touching people and walk sideways through doors.
3. Vlad the Impaler
Vlad the Impaler’s cruelty was inhuman, marked by torture and genocide. His mythos conflated with vampire lore.
His insanity was driven by bloodlust. He would invite envoys for peace talks and then impale them on stakes. He also nailed turbans to the heads of Ottomans who removed them.
2. Nebuchadnezzar II
King Nebuchadnezzar II went mad for seven years, according to the Book of Daniel. He lived in the forest as a cow, even eating grass, which is known as boanthropy.
Some believe these events might have occurred but should be attributed to King Nabonidus.
1. Gaius Caligula
Caligula embodies hedonism, decadence, perversion, masochism, and sadism. He took Nero’s cruelty and Elagabalus’s perversion to extremes.
He slept with his sisters, prostituted them, appointed his horse as a priest, converted his palace into a brothel, and had his guards throw innocent audience members into arenas during intermissions.
From tyrannical emperors to delusional princesses, history is filled with tales of crazy royals. Their stories offer a glimpse into the intersection of power, mental health, and the bizarre realities of royal life.
What do you think about this list? Leave your comment below!
