The first royal appendix abscess drainage.

On January 22nd 1901, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, Queen Victoria, nearing her 82nd birthday and having ruled for 64 years, drew her last breath. Edward Prince of Wales, 59 years of age, was now King Edward VII. A year of mourning was proclaimed and his coronation scheduled for June 26th. It was unexpectedly delayed by an attack of royal appendicitis. On Saturday June 14th 1902, less than two weeks before the coronation, Edward travelled to Aldershot to attend a military review. It was a cold, rainy day and the King did not feel well. That night, his abdominal discomfort was getting worse and by five next morning the King's personal physician, Sir Francis Laking, was called to see him. Laking asked Sir Thomas Barlow, Physician-Extraordinary to the King, for a second opinion. By now there was fever, rigor and distinct tenderness in the right iliac fossa of the very obese abdomen. Under heavy sedation, the King was transferred to Windsor Castle, leaving his Queen, Alexandra, to review the parade of 30,000 soldiers gathered at Aldershot.