“Thanks be to God! For I shall now die in peace, since I know that the most valiant and accomplished knight of my kingdom will perform that for me which I am unable to do for myself.”
Robert the First King of the Scots, referring to the removal of his heart after he was dead and taking it to Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre, the reputed burial site of Jesus. He died at the Manor of Cardross, near Dumbarton Scotland.
“Youth, I forgive you. Loose his chains and give him 100 shillings.”
Fatally wounded by an archer, King Richard I of England gave orders for the killer to be released. His soldiers ignored this last request and had the archer executed after the King’s death in Châlus France.
“All my possessions for a moment of time.”
The last words of Elizabeth the First, Queen of England. She died at Richmond Palace during a severe bout of melancholy.
“My God, what’s happened?”
The final words of the Princess of Wales, reported by paparazzi at the scene of her fatal car accident in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, Paris. She was aged 36 at the time of her death.
“You know not what you do.”
The last Tsar of Russia quoting Jesus after being told that he and his family were to be executed by firing squad in the basement of Ipatiev House.
“O Lord, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Queen of Scotland, quoting the words of Jesus before being executed by beheading at Fotheringhay Castle.
“Pardon me sir, I did not do it on purpose.”
Queen of France during the revolution, spoken after stepping on the executioner’s foot as she approached the guillotine to be beheaded at the Place de la Concorde.
“I’m so bored with it all.”
British statesman and war leader, these were the final words to his son-in-law. After having a stroke and then slipping into a coma, Winston Churchill died nine days later at his home in London. aged 90.
“I’m finished. I don’t even trust myself.”
The last words of the former ruler of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin, who died at his home from cerebral haemorrhage, which his daughter Svetlana described as ‘a difficult and terrible death.’
“I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.. I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than two days after I am dead. Do you understand me? ‘Tis well.”
The final words of the first President of the US, spoken to his private secretary – he wanted to be certain of not being entombed alive. George Washington died at his home from a ‘violent inflammation of the throat’ at the age of 84.
