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Henry VIII -

Henry VIII gained notoriety for having two of his wives executed for alleged adultery, although there was no evidence of this. He was a paranoid ruler who apparently could not trust anyone around him, whether it was his wives or other family members.

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Henry VIII King -

Henry went through several wives because he yearned for a male successor. In his effort to divorce, he turned away from the Catholic Church and established his personal form of Christianity. This unconventional move enabled him to divorce one wife and find another. Given these events, it is not surprising that he fabricated accusations against his cousins and relatives, which eventually led to their cruel executions. His fears were based on the perception that they had too great a claim to the throne.

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Wu Zetian -

Wu Zetian is known as the only female ruler of China. She began as a concubine to Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. After his death, Emperor Gaozong took the throne, and she continued her role as his concubine, eventually becoming his wife. Never before had a woman had a relationship with two emperors!

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Wu Zetian -

Emperor Gaozong suffered a stroke and was no longer able to rule. In his place, Wu Zetian took charge as Empress of China and showed no intention of giving up her newfound authority. She even went so far as to eliminate her own sons who were potential heirs to the throne. She ruled for 23 years until she was finally deposed in her seventies.

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Cleopatra -

After the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra became Queen of Egypt. It is worth noting that Ptolemy specified in his will that Cleopatra should marry her younger brother, who was only 11 years old. This was not uncommon, as it allowed the royal family to maintain power through familial alliances. Although this practice now appears bizarre, it was prevalent among royalty of the time.

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Cleopatra -

They refused to marry each other or share power, which led to civil war. Cleopatra was victorious with the help of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and killed her brother. However, Julius Caesar ordered her to marry her youngest brother. Reluctantly, she complied with his request, but after Caesar's assassination, she did away with her husband and her other deceitful siblings.

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Attila the Hun -

Did you know that Attila the Hun had a brother called Bleda with whom he ruled the Hunnish Empire? If not, it's probably because Bleda mysteriously disappeared 10 years into their reign and was never mentioned again.

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Attila the Hun -

Attila and Bleda inherited the throne from their childless uncle, whose last wish was that his nephews rule together. At first they did so, but eventually Bleda's name disappears from all historical records. A Roman historian who was an envoy to the Huns wrote that Bleda's widow claimed that Attila was responsible for his death.

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Catherine the Great -

Catherine the Great was born a princess of Prussia. She married her second cousin, Peter III, who was next in line to the Russian throne. However, Tsar Peter was extremely unpopular as a ruler. He was assassinated and Catherine took the title of Empress of Russia.

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Catherine the Great -

She never admitted to being involved in Peter's demise, but there is a widespread belief that Catherine schemed to overthrow him and take power. Catherine's son, Paul, claimed that she also plotted his assassination. It is known that she did not want Paul to ascend the throne and tried to find another heir, but she died before she could achieve her goal.

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King Herod -

Herod the Great was the King of Judea and is frequently mentioned in the Bible. He got his place on the throne by allying himself with the powerful Romans. This made him unpopular in Judea, so he married Mariamme, the granddaughter of a Judean high priest, to win over the people.

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King Herod -

However his strategy was unsuccessful. The Judeans remained against him, and he suspected his own family members of plotting his downfall. As such, he decided to have Mariamme and their two sons executed, as well as a third son he had with one of his other nine wives.

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Elizabeth I -

Elizabeth I is one of the most iconic monarchs in British history. Her well-documented feud with her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, ended in her triumph and Mary's execution in 1587.

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Elizabeth I -

In 1554, she also had her cousin Thomas, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, executed for being involved in several conspiracies against her, including his connection to Mary.

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Aurangzeb -

Shah Jahan, ruler of the Mughal Empire, had four sons with his wife Mumtaz Mahal. This empire extended over regions of present-day India and Afghanistan. As the Shah grew old, his sons began to argue over who should ascend the throne.

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Aurangzeb -

Aurangzeb, the second youngest brother, convinced his younger brother, Murad, that their older brothers would be disastrous rulers. Together, they devised a plan to eliminate their older siblings and place Murad on the throne. It turned out that Aurangzeb wanted the throne for himself from the beginning, for he killed Murad as soon as their plan was completed and became emperor himself.

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Edward IV -

Edward IV and his younger brother George worked together to depose King Henry VI during the War of the Roses. They were successful, and Edward ascended the throne. George, however, didn't share Edward's joy.

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Edward IV -

George joined forces with his uncle Richard Neville, who wanted to overthrow Edward and ascend the throne himself. Neville's plan failed and George decided to support his brother again. That didn't last long, however. When Edward IV found out that his brother was plotting against him again, he had him thrown into the Tower of London and executed (by drowning him in a barrel of his favorite wine, or so the story goes).

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John the Fearless -

John the Fearless, also referred to as the Duke of Burgundy, engaged in a lethal power struggle against his cousin, the Duke of Orleans. Seizing the opportunity during King Charles VI's deteriorating mental state, both dukes tried to take advantage of the situation.

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John the Fearless -

They engaged in a power struggle over dominance in France. Neither was concerned with making it a fair fight, resorting to lies, kidnapping, and even going after each other's wives. Eventually, the Duke of Burgundy hired a gang to beat the Duke of Orleans (pictured) to death in the streets of Paris. He later claimed that he did this because the Duke of Orleans had attempted regicide by sorcery.

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Richard III -

Richard III is a well-known British monarch due to his role as the eponymous hero in one of Shakespeare's plays. King Richard was just as ruthless and manipulative as Shakespeare described him.

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Richard III -

Richard III ascended the throne after his young nephew, King Edward V, was deposed on charges of bigamy. Concerned for his own safety, Richard decided to imprison Edward in the Tower of London, where his other nephew was also held. Regrettably, both boys disappeared without a trace. It is assumed that Richard had them quietly "taken care of."

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Julia Agrippina -

Julia Agrippina was a woman born into Roman royalty. She seemed to have bad luck in marriage, as her husbands kept dropping dead after being poisoned... With her first husband, she had a son named Nero. Her third husband was Emperor Claudius, who was also her uncle.

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Julia Agrippina -

Agrippina persuaded Claudius to adopt Nero so that he could be named heir to the empire. Soon after, Claudius was mysteriously poisoned and the teenage Nero ascended the throne. It is suspected that Agrippina had something to do with Claudius’ death, although this has never been proven.

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Julia Agrippina -

Agrippina's efforts to manipulate her son were in vain. He had her exiled, and she began to plot against him. Nero did not tolerate her attempts to depose him and finally had his mother executed.

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Suleiman the Magnificent -

In the Ottoman Empire, it was traditional for the next in line to the throne to eliminate his siblings in order to ensure his own succession. This became even more challenging for the Sultans due to the large number of sons they fathered! Sultan Suleiman, for instance, had offspring with his partner Mahidevran, as well as with several of the concubines in his harem.

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Suleiman the Magnificent -

Suleiman had a special bond with a particular concubine and broke with tradition by marrying her. His newlywed wife, Roxelana, wanted her son to ascend the throne instead of the sultan's heir. She convinced Suleiman that the rightful son was plotting against him, and he ordered the death of his own son. In the end, Roxelana's son inherited the throne (after killing the rest of his brothers, of course).

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Dipendra of Nepal -

In 2001, a similar incident unfolded in Nepal where Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah clashed with his father, the King of Nepal. This disagreement arose when the Crown Prince's wish to marry a local aristocrat was declined.

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Dipendra of Nepal -

The troubled prince came to dinner one night drunk and started a fight with his family. His brothers put him to bed, but he reappeared later that evening with an assault rifle. He opened fire on his family, killing his parents and younger siblings. As soon as his father was dead, he immediately became King of Nepal. That didn't last long, however, because he turned the gun on himself. Technically, he remained the ruler of Nepal for three days while he was in a coma. His surviving uncle ascended the throne after the prince was declared brain dead.

Sources: (Live Science) (Grunge) (ABC)

See also: Royals who shockingly died before their time

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