Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 17 minutes ago
BURIED, DISINTERRED, ABUSED and used as a dark tourism attraction for nearly 300 years, this is the disturbing story of the appalling treatment of the body of Katherine of Valois, Queen of England, wife of Henry V, mother of Henry VI and grandmother of Henry VII through her scandalous second marriage to Owen Tudor.
The death of Katherine of Valois, Princess of France and one-time Queen of England occurred on 3 January 1437 at Bermondsey Abbey and she was respectfully buried in Westminster Abbey. She is still there in fact (or at least some of her is) but today, she does not have one of the most famous graves in Westminster Abbey. Yet for centuries this body of a Queen was one of its greatest attractions and the afterlife of Katherine of Valois was like something out of a nightmare.
In 1503, during the reign of her grandson, Henry Tudor (Henry VII) she was disinterred so that he could build his famous chapel in the Abbey. The original coffin was disintegrating and so Katherine’s well-preserved body was placed in a new one which was not sealed and was laid next to the tomb of Henry V, elsewhere in the building. There the unburied Queen would remain until the 1770s. During that time her corpse was viewed as a macabre tourist attraction and repeatedly abused, broken up and mutilated by countless visitors. Many parts of the body were likely even stolen. One of the most disgusting stories comes from the diary of Samuel Pepys, who visited the Abbey on his birthday in 1669 and took great delight in kissing the desiccated remains.
In this English royal history documentary from History Calling I take you through the story of what happened to the corpse of Katherine of Valois, from the time of her death until her eventual interment during the Victorian period. A Queen who was buried three times, I’ll explain how this happened and provide detailed, contemporary accounts of how she was mishandled during the time she was on display and descriptions of the condition of her remains over the centuries, including in 1878 when she was reinterred for (presumably) the last time.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
DEATH, MURDER AND CORPSES PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0HqKJP-pwWUcP1OtH1hRvN4
DID HENRY VIII EXPLODE AFTER DEATH?
youtu.be/j611gNdyuTs
THE BURIAL AND MUTILATION OF CATHERINE PARR’S CORPSE
youtu.be/p6lPB4uzmwI
DIGGING UP ANNE BOLEYN
youtu.be/EjCxVN7V6FA
THE STRANGE DISAPPEARENCE OF KATHERINE HOWARD
youtu.be/RF1GYu2njC8
HENRY V: THE KING WHO WAS SHOT IN THE FACE
youtu.be/SzzkZ5hm5JA
WAS HENRY VI MURDERED?
youtu.be/E_tWkpAv878
SHOULD WE DISPLAY DEAD BODIES?
youtu.be/VEqvin_zMpQ
SECRETS OF QUEEN VICTORIA’S COFFIN
youtu.be/TRdicIjC3dk
OLD ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
youtu.be/wu2VdaPS444
LEARN MORE:
[FREE] A short article about Katherine’s final resting place, plus images of her current tomb and her funeral effigy.
westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/henry-v-and-catherine-de-valois
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
AUDIBLE
amzn.to/44MvlMi
AUDIBLE PLUS & AUDIBLE PREMIUM PLUS
amzn.to/42rh3PF
PRIME VIDEO
amzn.to/3LW7ykg
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Thumbnail: photos of tomb and effigy: Westminster Abbey
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
#KatherineOfValois #CatherineOfValois #KathrynOfValois
BURIED, DISINTERRED, ABUSED and used as a dark tourism attraction for nearly 300 years, this is the disturbing story of the appalling treatment of the body of Katherine of Valois, Queen of England, wife of Henry V, mother of Henry VI and grandmother of Henry VII through her scandalous second marriage to Owen Tudor.
The death of Katherine of Valois, Princess of France and one-time Queen of England occurred on 3 January 1437 at Bermondsey Abbey and she was respectfully buried in Westminster Abbey. She is still there in fact (or at least some of her is) but today, she does not have one of the most famous graves in Westminster Abbey. Yet for centuries this body of a Queen was one of its greatest attractions and the afterlife of Katherine of Valois was like something out of a nightmare.
In 1503, during the reign of her grandson, Henry Tudor (Henry VII) she was disinterred so that he could build his famous chapel in the Abbey. The original coffin was disintegrating and so Katherine’s well-preserved body was placed in a new one which was not sealed and was laid next to the tomb of Henry V, elsewhere in the building. There the unburied Queen would remain until the 1770s. During that time her corpse was viewed as a macabre tourist attraction and repeatedly abused, broken up and mutilated by countless visitors. Many parts of the body were likely even stolen. One of the most disgusting stories comes from the diary of Samuel Pepys, who visited the Abbey on his birthday in 1669 and took great delight in kissing the desiccated remains.
In this English royal history documentary from History Calling I take you through the story of what happened to the corpse of Katherine of Valois, from the time of her death until her eventual interment during the Victorian period. A Queen who was buried three times, I’ll explain how this happened and provide detailed, contemporary accounts of how she was mishandled during the time she was on display and descriptions of the condition of her remains over the centuries, including in 1878 when she was reinterred for (presumably) the last time.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
DEATH, MURDER AND CORPSES PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0HqKJP-pwWUcP1OtH1hRvN4
DID HENRY VIII EXPLODE AFTER DEATH?
youtu.be/j611gNdyuTs
THE BURIAL AND MUTILATION OF CATHERINE PARR’S CORPSE
youtu.be/p6lPB4uzmwI
DIGGING UP ANNE BOLEYN
youtu.be/EjCxVN7V6FA
THE STRANGE DISAPPEARENCE OF KATHERINE HOWARD
youtu.be/RF1GYu2njC8
HENRY V: THE KING WHO WAS SHOT IN THE FACE
youtu.be/SzzkZ5hm5JA
WAS HENRY VI MURDERED?
youtu.be/E_tWkpAv878
SHOULD WE DISPLAY DEAD BODIES?
youtu.be/VEqvin_zMpQ
SECRETS OF QUEEN VICTORIA’S COFFIN
youtu.be/TRdicIjC3dk
OLD ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
youtu.be/wu2VdaPS444
LEARN MORE:
[FREE] A short article about Katherine’s final resting place, plus images of her current tomb and her funeral effigy.
westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/henry-v-and-catherine-de-valois
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Audible or Prime video trial. They are available from the following links:
AUDIBLE
amzn.to/44MvlMi
AUDIBLE PLUS & AUDIBLE PREMIUM PLUS
amzn.to/42rh3PF
PRIME VIDEO
amzn.to/3LW7ykg
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Thumbnail: photos of tomb and effigy: Westminster Abbey
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
#KatherineOfValois #CatherineOfValois #KathrynOfValois
