Being a monarch ‘is more dangerous than living in war zone’
By ANIFriday, January 28, 2011
LONDON - Beware Prince Charles and Prince William! Being a monarch is more dangerous than living in a war zone, says a Cambridge University researcher.
Manuel Eisner, a criminologist, looked back on the lives of more than 1,500 European kings and queens and found that more than 20 per cent died a violent death.
It is four times more likely than a soldier in a war zone and 200 times more likely than those living in Cuidad Juarez-the Mexican city with the highest murder rate in the world.
Eisner found that the biggest cause of death was rivals taking the throne, followed by battles with neighbouring monarchs and revenge.
Also, random members of the public who had a grievance with authority killed some kings and queens.
In Scotland 15 out of 17 monarchs between 889 and 1094 were brutally killed while 14 out of 15 Northumbrian monarchs were murdered in the 8th century.
“It was a very dangerous occupation but the good news is it has become a lot less dangerous in the modern world,” the Telegraph quoted Eisner as saying.
“This (murder) rate is higher than the threshold for ‘major combat’ among soldiers engaged in a contemporary war.
“It demonstrates the intense violent rivalry for domination among historical European political elites,” he added. (ANI)
