An Age of Magic

The Brits did not do it

For centuries the British and the French have long enjoyed a ‘love-hate’ relationship that even extends into contemporary times. We invaded them, they invaded us; their royal princesses married into English royalty and vice versa -and we won’t even go into who did more for whom during the world wars of the 20th century. Thats been done to death. But hopefully we are all at a place where we can live opposite each other on the Channel.

One thing that the Brits were blamed for was poisening their emperor Napoleon Bonaparte way back then. Well, it has finally been proven that the Brits did not do it. Italian scientists say the 51-year-old military campaigner did not die from poisoning - a finding which adds weight to a second theory that he was killed by gastric cancer. Analysis of hair samples showed that he did have high levels of arsenic in his body, but these had been present since his childhood.

But they concluded there was no poisoning - because Napoleon’s hair contained the same amount of arsenic as his contemporaries. Tests also showed that Napoleon was already heavily contaminated when he was a boy.

His physical decline in his last years was probably caused by infection and poor diet while he was on his relentless campaigns through Europe. One study concluded that he was the victim of a massive gastric haemorrhage when the tumour reached an advanced stage. However, detractors insist that Napoleon showed none of the emaciation that normally afflicts cancer sufferers.

Well, that puts the Brits in the clear I suppose!

Popularity: 22% [?]