Tutankhamun Centenary 2022

Sloppy Historical  Record Of  Lord George Carnarvon’s Death in  Egypt in 1923

A Death Scene As Well Known As the Crucifixion of Christ

But the Earl’s Death Certificate Has Many Shocking Errors of Fact!!

What was Lord Carnarvon’s Hidden Illness? 

 How Lord Carnarvon actually died in that hotel room in Cairo in 1923 ?

Lord George Carnarvon, 5th Earl of Carnarvon of Tutankhamun fame died in a dingy tourist hotel in Cairo in 1923. The  event  has gained iconic status:  it is a death scene  as well known by the layman and the schoolboy as the crucifixion of Christ.   For almost one hundred years the story of a bite by a mosquito has been  wrongly given and accepted as the cause of the Earl's death and the history of the co-discoverer of the Tomb of the boy King Tutankhamun grossly misrepresented. This misrepresentation began with the Earl's death certificate that was rushed out without proper care or attention.

The death certificate of George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5^th Earl of Carnarvon, certified on    5 April 1923 by “Fletcher Barrett,  MB BS (London)”, a Cairo physician,  contains numerous sloppy, shocking, errors including blunders over the 5th Earl’s name, date of birth and the duration of his last illness.  In the flurry to pull down the curtain upon the chequered life of the Earl, administrative incompetence  reigned.  It was a poor show since Fletcher Barrett  had supervised Carnarvon’s illness from at least 18 March, 1923  onwards.[i]

On the death certificate Lord Carnarvon’s  name is given as Henry George Stanhope  instead of George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert. Lord Carnarvon’s date of birth is given as 22 June 1865 instead of 26 June 1866. The duration of his final illness is given as 8 days instead of  the 19 days  he lingered  at death’s door in Cairo  i.e. between 18 March and 5 April 1923.   Indeed  this period of 19 days grossly understated  the actual  length of Carnarvon’s  final  hidden illness  of  throat cancer  that    ( according to his widow, Almina, Countess of Carnarvon ) was the ultimate cause of  death.[ii]  



TO BE CONTINUED............

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[i] Lady Evelyn Herbert’s letter to Howard Carter of 18 March says “ I have got Fletcher Barrett looking after him [ Lord C] ”.

[ii] See Cross, William. Lordy! Tutankhamun’s Patron As A Young Man. Book Midden Publishing            .  ( 2012).