The Royal Medicine: Monarchs Longtime Love

for Homeopathy
by Dana Ullman

Queen Elizabeth II with members of the British Royal Family

The love of homeopathy by the British royal family is well known today, in part
because Queen Elizabeth II is patron of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital and
because Prince Charles has taken an active role in his support for homeopathic and
complementary medicine.
What is less well known is the love for homeopathy by so many other monarchs of
yesterday. When one considers that these members of royalty had access to the
best of available medical treatment and that there were certainly implications of
their choice of less orthodox methods, the large number of monarchs who chose
homeopathy represents a significant statement about the value they found in this
medical system.
In 1842, an astonishing number of seventy-seven homeopathic physicians were on
record to have served as personal physicians to monarchs and their families
(Everest, 1842, 200203).
British Monarchs

Royal Monogram of Queen Adelaide of Great Britain

The British royal family has had a longtime and deep appreciation for homeopathic
medicine, ever since Queen Adelaide (17921849), wife of King William IV, first
made public her special interest in this new medicine in 1835. Other British
aristocrats shared the queens interests, including the Marquess of Anglesey who
crossed the British Channel to go to Paris for treatment by the founder of
homeopathy, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann.
In 1830, the Earl of Shrewsbury (17911852) had asked Hahnemann for the name of
a homeopath who could come to England to be his doctor, and Hahnemann
suggested Dr. Francesco Romani (17851854) of Italy. Dr. Romanis cures were so
remarkable that he soon created a sensation in London and its surrounds. Queen
Adelaide heard about this new medical system from his good work. However, the
cold climate didnt suit the Italian homeopath, and he returned home just one year
after his arrival (Granier, 1859).

A homeopathic medicine kit

Queen Adelaide had been suffering from a serious malady that the court physicians
couldnt cure. The queen called for the services of one of Hahnemanns oldest and
most faithful colleagues, Dr. Johann Ernst Stapf (17881860), who cured her,
creating the first of many supporters of homeopathy from British royalty. The British
homeopath to the titled Marquess of Anglesey, Dr. Harris Dunsford (18081847),
wrote a book on homeopathy that was dedicated, with permission, to Queen
Adelaide (Dunsford, 1842). This dedication made public her interest in and her
appreciation for homeopathy. She was instrumental in helping to establish
homeopathys early popularity, especially among the upper classes in England.

Queen Mary
Various kings and queens of Great Britain since Queen Adelaide have openly sought
medical care from homeopathic physicians. Princess May, who later became Queen
Mary (18651953), wife of King George V, headed the fundraising efforts to move
and expand the London Homeopathic Hospital. King George V (18651936) was
appreciative of homeopathy because it provided him with the real practical benefit
of treating his seasickness whenever he suffered from it.
King Edward VII (18411910) carried on the homeopathic tradition and was a close
drinking and eating partner of Dr. Frederick Hervey Foster Quin (17991878), the
first British physician to become a homeopath. Edwards daughter, Maud (1869
1938), married King Haakon VII of Norway, and both sought the homeopathic care of
Sir John Weir, MD (see below).

George VI
King Edward VIII (18941972), known as Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, after his
abdication in 1936, carried his homeopathic medicines in powder doses in his
pocket.
His brother, King George VI (18951952), also had a special love for homeopathy.
He even named one of his prize racehorses Hypericum, after a homeopathic
medicine for injuries. He was known to be an expert user of homeopathic medicine
himself, and he formally granted the use of the royal title to the London

Homeopathic Hospital, now called the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. Todays
Queen Elizabeth II (1926), King George VIs daughter, who ascended the throne in
1952, is patron to this important hospital, which underwent a $35 million
refurbishing in 2005.
The most famous homeopath to royalty was Sir John Weir (18791971), who served
six monarchs: King Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor, George VI,
Elizabeth II, King Gustav V of Sweden (18581950), and King Haakon VII of Norway
(18721957).
The early growth of homeopathy in Britain in the mid-1800s became possible in
large part through royal support and British aristocracy. The first British homeopath
to British royalty, Dr. Quin, was a son of the Duchess of Devonshire (17651824),
and thus himself an aristocrat. When Quin began his full-time homeopathic practice
in London in 1832, he primarily treated members of his own noble class. During the
mid-1800s, poor people could not usually afford treatment from doctors and instead
tended to use the services of herbalists and apothecaries for their health care.
Another reason that the British royalty embraced homeopathy is that its approach
of individualized treatment for each person seemed to give them the real sense that
they would not be given medicines that would be prescribed for just anybody
(Morrell, 1999). This premise of individualization of treatment is an integral part of
homeopathy, and it makes sense to educated classes of people.
The fact that the royals have been Christians has probably also helped link them to
homeopathy in subtle ways. Homeopathy has had a solid history of support from the
clergy in both Europe and the U.S. (see Chapter 13 of my book The Homeopathic
Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy, Clergy
and Spiritual Leaders, for more details on this subject). A board of governors,
primarily composed of clerics and bankers and a few titled persons and minor
aristocrats, headed most of the homeopathic dispensaries for the poor. This was a
consistent pattern in Europe and America.

The Duchess of Hamilton and Brandon

Not only did British royalty express their support for homeopathy by going to
homeopaths and openly encouraging others to do so, they also put their money
where their beliefs lay. Many British royalty were patrons to homeopathic
organizations and hospitals. HRH Princess Adelaide (the Duchess of Teck) (1880
1940), the Lord Mayor of London, Sir George Wyatt Truscott (18601940), the
Duchess of Hamilton and Brandon (18651940), Lord Cawdor (18701914), Lord
Robert Grosvenor (18011893), the Earl of Wemyss and March (18571937), and the
Earl of Donoughmore (18751944) were but some of a long list of royal patrons to
homeopathy.
Others included: the Dukes of Beaufort, Dukes of Cambridge, Earl of Essex, Lord
Gray of Gray, Viscount Malden, Lord Ernle, Earl of Kintore, Earl of Kinnaird, the Lords
Paget, Dukes of Sutherland, Earls of Dudley, Lord Leconfield, Earl of Wilton, Earl of
Albermarle, Viscount Sydney, Lady Radstock, Duke of Northumberland, Earl of
Scarborough, Earl of Dysart, Marchioness of Exeter, Countess Waldegrave, Countess
of Crawford and Balcarres, Lord Headley, Earl of Plymouth, Lord Calthorpe, Earls of
Shrewsbury, Lord Horder, Lord Gainford, Lord Moynihan, Lord Ernle, Lord Ampthill,
Lord Home, Viscount Elibank, and the Earls of Lichfield. One can also add numerous
knights, barons, military officers, and clerics to this already impressive list.
Sir Henry Tyler (18271908) was another titled and rich patron to homeopathy. He
not only personally contributed large amounts of money for the expansion of the
London Homeopathic Hospital, but his daughter, the later famed Dr. Margaret Tyler
(18571943), became an influential homeopathic doctor in London. She authored

Homoeopathic Drug Pictures, a book that is still popular among practicing

homeopaths, and she was the editor of a leading journal simply called
Homoeopathy.
It is not surprising that homeopathy in nineteenth-century England came to be
called the rich-mans therapy. ....
....Other European Monarchs
Various monarchs throughout Europe were not simply patients of homeopaths; they
were also advocates for this system of medicine. Because European royalty usually
do not have a history of expressing advocacy without obvious and strong reasons, it
is important to ask why so many European monarchs were so supportive of
homeopathic medicine. The most obvious reason was that it was extremely
effective for them, and, compared with conventional medicine of that day, it was
considerably safer than the strong drugs, debilitating bleedings, and use of leeches.

Samuel Hahnemann
It has been theorized that the British royals (House of Windsor) learned about
homeopathy from the German royals, who were all particularly strong advocates of
this medical system that was originally founded by a German physician, Samuel
Hahnemann, MD. The German kings sought homeopathic care from Dr. Hahnemann
and his disciples. Thus, when Queen Victoria (18191906) married a German, Prince
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (18191861), the German royals interest in

homeopathy began to develop even more popularity among British royalty, though
Queen Victoria herself was not a vocal supporter of homeopathy.

King Leopold I
It should also be noted that the Belgian royalty were also advocates of homeopathy.
Prince Leopold, who later became King Leopold I, sought the homeopathic care of
Dr. Quin. Royalty from other countries soon also began to seek out homeopathic
physicians and even became advocates of this new, safer system of medicine.
Even before Quin became a homeopath, he was a highly respected physician to
various royalty. Dr. Quin was even called to become personal physician to Napoleon
Bonaparte, though the day before Quin was to attend him, Napoleon died.
(For information on the use of homeopathy by other European royals, please
see HERE or Mr. Ullman's book listed below.)
Royal Homeopathy Today

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth I

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II (1926) is an active supporter of homeopathy. She is
patron of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, which was originally founded by
Dr. Frederick Quin, the first royal physician. Her personal homeopath is Dr. Peter
Fisher, who is also the medical director of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital
as well as editor of the leading academic journal in the field, Homeopathy (originally
called the British Homoeopathic Journal).
Until her death in 2002, at the ripe old age of 101, Her Majesty the Queen Mother,
was the principal royal patron of the British Homeopathic Association. The Duke of
Gloucester, formerly Prince Richard, remains royal patron of the association.
Princess Alice, the late Duchess of Gloucester, was the patron of the Blackie
Foundation Trust established in honor of Dr. Margery Blackie, the former royal
homeopathic physician who served from 1969 until 1980. At present, Princess
Alexandra, Lady Ogilvy, is patron to the Blackie Foundation Trust, and Mary,
Duchess of Roxburghe, serves as one of the vice-presidents of this organization.

Prince Charles by Dan Marsh

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales (1948), has been the most outspoken modernday royal family member to advocate for what he has popularized as
complementary medicine. In 1982, he became president of the British Medical
Association, and made it his mission to get the medical community to understand
the problems and limitations of orthodox medicine and to appreciate the
contributions of various complementary therapies, including homeopathy.
In 1996, the prince established what is now called The Princes Foundation for
Integrated Health (FIH) and made a substantial contribution toward a 2 million
endowment for the charity. In February 1996, he convened and chaired a seminar
involving various health care professionals to discuss practical steps to improve
communication and cooperation among all those concerned with the provision of
health care. As a result, working groups were created to examine requirements for
research and development, education and training, regulation, and the delivery of
integrated care....
Prince Charles may be the most vocal royal proponent of homeopathic medicine,
but he and the queen certainly are not alone. Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince
Andrew, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, sought homeopathic care from Jack
Temple, an unconventional homeopath who died in 2004 at age 86 (Daily Telegraph,
2004; Rayner and Paveley, 2001). Princess Diana was also a regular at the Hale
Clinic, an alternative and complementary medicine clinic in London, which was
opened by Prince Charles. Simone Simmons, an alternative healer and close
confidante of Diana, confirmed what many others have known, that Prince Charles

only uses homeopathic and complementary medicines as Diana and the children
did. (Daily Mail, 2005).
In 1997, Sarah, Duchess of York, made an unannounced trip to Dr. Isaac Mathais
holistic health center in Bangalore, India. A reporter asked her: Now that you had
holistic treatment, what is your perception about alternative healing methods?
Sarah replied, We were on the homeopathic system at home for a long time. My
grandmother, who died in December (1996), was a homeopathic practitioner. As
children, we were given Arnica for colds and other ailments. (The Week, 1997)
Excerpted from:
The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose
Homeopathy
(North Atlantic Books/Random House, 2007)
by Dana Ullman, MPH Copyright 2007 www.homeopathic.com
dana@homeopathic.com
Publication date: October, 2007
From EHFA Blog owner, Debra Brown
Homeopathy is not synonymous with naturopathy or herbology. Homeopathic
remedies trigger a healing or preventative reaction in the body much like
vaccinations trigger an immune response.
Mr. Ullman's book discusses many other persons who have been pleased with the
results of homeopathic medicine, including literary persons of years past. There will
be a future post about some of those.
The study of homeopathy is fascinating. I have long purchased my homeopathic
books and medicines from Mr. Ullman's website and even from his catalog before we
were in the internet age. I encourage you to visit his site.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DANA ULLMAN, MPH, CCH, is one of America's leading advocates for homeopathy.
He has authored 10 books, including The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous
People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy, Homeopathy A-Z, Homeopathic
Medicines for Children and Infants, Discovering Homeopathy, and (the bestselling)Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines (with Stephen Cummings,
MD). Dana also authored an ebook that is a continually growing resource to 200+
clinical studies published in peer-review medical journals testing homeopathic
medicines. This ebook combines the descriptions of these studies with practical
clinical information on how to use homeopathic medicines for 100+ common
ailments. This ebook is entitled Evidence Based Homeopathic Family Medicine, and
it is an invaluable resource. Dana has been certified in classical homeopathy by the
leading organization in the U.S. for professional homeopaths.
He is the founder of Homeopathic Educational Services, America's leading resource
center for homeopathic books, tapes, medicines, software, and correspondence
courses. Homeopathic Educational Services has co-published over 35 books on

homeopathy with North Atlantic Books.