Sloppy Record Of Lord Carnarvon’s
Death in 1923
Death Certificate Has Many Errors
The death certificate of George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th
Earl of Carnarvon, certified on 5 April 1923 by Fletcher Barrett, MB BS (London),
a Cairo physician, contains numerous errors including blunders over the 5th Earl’s
name, date of birth and the duration of his last illness. 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 the final illness is given as 8 days instead of the 19
days i.e between 18 March and 5 April 1923. Moreover the evidence suggests the
mishap with the mosquito must have been on before 14 March 1923, since Carnarvon
left Luxor ( for Cairo ) that day. The cause of death is given as “Pneumonia”. Legend records of course that this was the consequence of blood-poisoning caused by the bite of an insect, probably a mosquito, at Luxor during the excavations.
The testimony of Almina, the
wife of George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, revealed for the first time in the book Lordy! Tutankhamun’s
Patron As A Young Man, by William Cross, FSA Scot now discredits the fable of 1923.
Moreover, the tall tales perpetrated at the same time of a dog dying mysteriously,
the overlap of power cuts in Cairo and apparitions appearing rank as examples of the relentless out pouring
of scurrilousness and deception and hokum, fuelled by the allure by journalists for a frivolous story and which helped the Carnarvon family dodge the sadly harrowing
truth.
Some notable physicians were summoned to Cairo’s Continental Hotel to relieve
the Earl of Carnarvon's final suffering. These men included Dr William Fletcher- Barrett and
Dr Frank Cole Madden as well as Carnarvon’s own attendant, Dr Marcus Johnston.
They
did all that medical science knew to provide palliative care. The Earl’s respiration was artificially maintained
as long as possible and his heart was stimulated.
But medical science could not cure him.
Carnarvon's wife, Almina was not present at first during the Earl’s last
trip to open the tomb. But the Countess travelled at speed to Egypt to be at her husband’s side. “ I am a
nurse, my place is beside my husband” she exclaimed. Almina could do nothing,
she knew the terrible truth about Carnarvon’s final savage illness.
Lady Evelyn Herbert was terrified that an account of Lord Carnarvon’s health
situation would appear in the newspapers. There had to be a smokescreen to divert attention away from the real facts
being reported, the Curse of Tutankhamun was born, but the Curse of the Carnarvons had only just begun.
Almina ignored the accounts of bites and curses; no historian
or commentator ever noted her input on the Egyptian years until long after her death....but she was none the less fascinated
by the published material on her husband and Carter. She was blase about some, but overtly hostile to others remarking..that
the narratives were often inaccurate. She declared "it was nothing like that....no, nothing like that at all"...... Now, at long last the truth can be revealed in this book. “ Lordy!”
