[EDWARD VII

Queen Victoria died at Osborne on 22nd January 1901. She was interred beside Prince Albert in the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, at Windsor Great Park. Edward's coronation had originally been scheduled for 26th June 1902. However, two days before he was diagnosed with appendicitis. The disease was generally not treated operatively. It carried a high mortality rate, but developments in anaesthesia and antisepsis in the preceding 50 years made life-saving surgery possible. Sir Frederick Treves, with the support of Lord Lister, performed a then-radical operation of draining a pint of pus from the infected abscess through a small incision. The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar. It seems likely that the new king was having a recuperative rest in Scotland before the coronation took place on 9th August 1902.