Extravagance, gluttony and infidelity have been the weaknesses of many British rulers, with medical consequences ranging from gout to syphilis and obesity to drug addiction - at times turning the monarchy into a national joke. This film examines examples, including Henry VIII's vast overeating, Charles II's death at the hands of his own court physicians and George IV's opium-fuelled reign - and reveals how public ridicule eventually forced the royal family to conduct themselves with rather more decorum
