13 weirdest royal collections: Mummy dust, subjects' teeth, etc

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Some collect works of art, others - stamps and coins, still others - jewelry and wine, and still others collect all sorts of trinkets. However, members of the royal families, whose tastes, to put it mildly, were very strange, were no exception.

1. King Charles II, collecting dust from mummies

English King Charles II kept several ancient Egyptian mummies not for educational or entertainment purposes, but in order to collect their "dust" (consisting of dried skin and everything else that can be found on a corpse) and rub it all over the body.

The king believed that by doing so, he could acquire some of the greatness of the ancient pharaoh for himself, which in fact was not so unusual at the time.

On top of that, Karl also paid gravediggers to bring corpses to him so that he could use their skulls to make an alcoholic concoction called Royal Drops, which he prepared in his personal laboratory. It is difficult to say what exactly they gave, but apparently, it was the very process of preparing this potion that brought the king constant pleasure.

2. Peter the Great collected teeth and more

Everyone needs a hobby, and when you are king you can do almost anything you want. Peter the Great, who ruled Russia in 1682-1725, was fond of amateur dentistry. And by "amateur" is meant the fact that he had no idea what he was doing. He was so fond of pulling out other people's teeth that in his zeal he accidentally removed healthy ones.

His collection of various molars and two-pronged teeth, plucked from the mouths of his unfortunate subjects, is still kept in his "curious chamber", which includes pickled animals, human body parts and deformed embryos.

3. George IV collected strands of women's hair

George IV of Britain was an 18th-century Lothario whose reign could best be described as "extravagant" in both stylistic choices and spending policies. His victories tended to be feminine rather than on the battlefield, as he was known for using every trick known to a man to persuade women to go to bed with him.

In memory of the times when they yielded to his courtship, he kept strands of hair from the heads of his partners as souvenirs. And to diversify his collection, he went further, filling the Snuffbox with a different type of hair (namely pubic hair) taken from one of his mistresses.

4. Frederick William I Collected Giants

The Potsdam Giants may sound like a minor league baseball team, but in reality it was a 17th century Prussian military unit composed entirely of tall men who were recruited (voluntarily or not) from various countries. The man in charge of gathering and commanding all these tall soldiers was King Frederick William I, who was himself five feet three inches tall.

He treated his troops like toys, showing them to foreign dignitaries and painting their portraits as they marched at his command, led by a living person.

5. Caligula collected seashells

There are so many examples of the Roman emperor Caligula's lecherous antics that it's easy to overlook some of his less obscene shenanigans. Once he fought a war and signaled to his people to take the enemy, and then suddenly decided that there were more important things to do than military action.

Instead of continuing to invade Britain, he ordered his troops to gather the most beautiful shellfish and whatever else they could find on the seashore. As a result, the emperor ordered to transport the shells to Rome, where he put them on display and admired them on his own as well.

6. Ludwig of Bavaria was obsessed with castles

Castles and royalty often go hand in hand, but King Ludwig of Bavaria may have built too many of them. This is not to say that Ludwig's designs were not impressive. His architectural achievements were so extravagant that they are called "fairytale castles", and one of them, in particular, inspired Walt Disney to create the Palace of Sleeping Beauty.

Unfortunately, spending national funds on a collection of quirky buildings led him to accumulate debt and generate public discontent.

7. Queen Mary collected (other people's) trinkets

It is not unusual for Queen Mary of England to collect a large assortment of expensive trinkets. It is noteworthy that she acquired many of them through petty theft. She was a convinced kleptomaniac who not only took goods from the shelves of a local antiquarian, but also ran away with things from the houses of friends and acquaintances.

The servants were well aware of her penchant for theft and did their best to keep her at a distance. However, if she still managed to steal the little thing she liked and leave unnoticed, and then receive an accusation against her, then she had no choice but to simply return the stolen goods with an innocent note that there was a small misunderstanding.

8. Farouk I collected coins and pictures for adults

His Majesty Farouk I, by the Grace of God, King of Egypt and Sudan (full title) was overthrown during the 1952 revolution and spent the rest of his days in exile in Italy. Leaving the country in haste, he left most of his most valuable possessions. When people saw what he kept outside the walls of his residence, they were a little outraged to find an excessive amount of expensive suits, rare stamps and coins, jewelry and luxury cars. Oh, and he also reportedly hid the world's largest collection of sexually explicit and obscene material, some of which was found under his pillow.

9. Peter III collected soldiers

Peter III, the husband of Catherine the Great, did not just collect toy soldiers - he constantly staged faked battles in his bedroom. He was a powerful general in his personal land of imagination, and his obsession was such that he once hanged a rat for treason after a rodent chewed off the head of one of the wooden conscripts in his wooden army.

10. Ibrahim I collected furs

Ibrahim I, the eighteenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire, collected fine furs, and his love of animal skins could probably qualify as a fetish.

He not only wore furs, but also decorated with them everything that caught his eye, including curtains and walls.

11. Queen Elizabeth II collects stamps

But Queen Elizabeth II can easily boast of her huge collection of stamps, which she inherited from her grandfather and father. But it is also worth noting the fact that she multiplied this collection at times, making it her pride. Officially referred to as the "Royal Philatelist", a man named Michael Sefi is in charge of a huge conglomerate that anyone can take a look at, because the collection of stamps is freely available.

12. Elizabeth II has fun catching bats

In addition to her stamp collection, the reigning queen of England has always surrounded herself with animals. From her beloved corgi to every unnamed swan in the kingdom, she has always had a soft spot for furry and feathered friends.

That is why, once again, she can boast of her unusual collection, this time of bats, located in Balmoral Castle, her summer residence.

According to rumors, she loves to chase them with a net in order to catch and then release them.

13. The Duke of Edinburgh collects cartoons and more

The Duke of Edinburgh is a passionate art connoisseur. More precisely, he collects political cartoons. At the moment, he has almost a hundred cartoons, many of which are directed at himself and the royal family.

And in continuation of the theme of monarchs - the story of how dynastic marriages ruined one of the most powerful families and why they talk about the Habsburgs to this day.