0:00:02 > 0:00:041,000 years of history
0:00:04 > 0:00:06under one roof,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08the National Archives -
0:00:08 > 0:00:10a treasure house of secrets...
0:00:11 > 0:00:15..the records of extraordinary times and people.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18These files are this nation's story,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20our shared past.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Documents housed here were highly classified,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28intended for the eyes of only the privileged few,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31protected from your sight for decades,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33but not now.
0:00:37 > 0:00:43I've been granted special access to files once kept hush-hush.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47I'll unearth amazing tales from our hidden history.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Forget what you've been told,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53these documents tell the truth.
0:01:06 > 0:01:07Coming up in this programme,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10tyrants, despots and dictators.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15The desperate search for proof that the Nazi leader was dead.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17There's an x-ray that was used.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21That x-ray shows Hitler had catastrophically bad teeth.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Of course, it's the teeth that ultimately identify Hitler.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29A self-proclaimed king snubbed by our Queen.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33How a Commonwealth leader caused a Royal diplomatic crisis.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Should Her Majesty be sending a Christmas card to Idi Amin?
0:01:36 > 0:01:40We would've certainly have said no, because things were very bad then.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43And our own home-grown tyrant.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Why this was the most ruthless of our monarchs.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Henry VIII is a bona fide clinical psychopath.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Britain has often had to wrestle with dictators.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04To ensure victory, you have to understand your opponent,
0:02:04 > 0:02:08and that can mean getting right inside his mind...
0:02:11 > 0:02:14'..and even getting inside the body.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19'British intelligence officers did just that in the 1940s.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22'They compiled an extraordinary medical dossier
0:02:22 > 0:02:25'hidden away for nearly 50 years.'
0:02:31 > 0:02:37This is the x-ray of a skull of a 55-year-old male patient
0:02:37 > 0:02:40who consulted his doctor complaining about a pain in his sinus
0:02:40 > 0:02:42and they wanted to discover just why that was,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45but the general cause was perfectly clear.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50This man had recently narrowly, miraculously survived
0:02:50 > 0:02:52an explosion at close quarters.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56This x-ray and extensive medical reports
0:02:56 > 0:02:59are part of a secret British military file
0:02:59 > 0:03:02because this man was of intense interest
0:03:02 > 0:03:04to the British government.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06His name was Adolf Hitler.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15His miraculous escape came in July 1944
0:03:15 > 0:03:18when a bomb exploded in Hitler's headquarters,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20killing four people.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25He survived the assassination attempt,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29but the blast left him with a perforated eardrum.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32The x-ray was part of a thorough medical examination...
0:03:35 > 0:03:37..both physical and psychiatric.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Psychiatric data on Hitler,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46"No phobias or obsessions."
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Oh, "emotionally very labile",
0:03:48 > 0:03:50I think that means unsteady.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54"Likes and dislikes were very pronounced."
0:03:54 > 0:04:00And then, amazingly, there is a list of the drugs
0:04:00 > 0:04:03that Hitler was taking.
0:04:03 > 0:04:0528 of them. 28 of them!
0:04:06 > 0:04:10"Orchicrin, a combination of all hormones of males,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13"potency is increased by the addition of extracts of testes
0:04:13 > 0:04:16"and prostate of young bulls.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19"This has been prescribed to combat fatigue and depression",
0:04:19 > 0:04:23from which I imagine Hitler was very much suffering at that time.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27The details in the file are fascinating,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31but the date that's stamped on it is even more so.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35It was put together in December 1945,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39that's eight months after Hitler's body was found.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44So why compile a dossier on his health following his death?
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Ah. "This information has been published
0:04:48 > 0:04:50"in order to provide medical data
0:04:50 > 0:04:54"useful for the identification of Hitler, or his remains,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56"and the knowledge needed to expose those frauds
0:04:56 > 0:05:00"who in later years may claim to be Hitler."
0:05:00 > 0:05:04HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN
0:05:04 > 0:05:09So they weren't completely sure that Hitler was dead
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and they were very worried about future imposters
0:05:13 > 0:05:15claiming to be the tyrant.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23But why the official doubt about the German Fuhrer's death?
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Hadn't Russian soldiers found his body?
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Hadn't the news reels carried accounts of his grizzly end?
0:05:31 > 0:05:33'An SS man says he saw the body soaked in petrol
0:05:33 > 0:05:35'and watched them burn.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37'Is this the end of the Hitler legend,
0:05:37 > 0:05:38'or is it just another story?'
0:05:41 > 0:05:45The trouble was that the Russians had taken away the charred remains.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50And their leader, Joseph Stalin, didn't like sharing information
0:05:50 > 0:05:52with Britain or the other allies.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57He could have produced the definitive proof
0:05:57 > 0:05:59that the body was Hitler's,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01but he chose not to.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03Why?
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Stalin was a very secretive and,
0:06:06 > 0:06:08er, lying dictator
0:06:08 > 0:06:10and he played around
0:06:10 > 0:06:11with the information
0:06:11 > 0:06:13that he had at his disposal.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16So, er, this was part of his game.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And he had a number of reasons for that.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23One was to catch them off their guard.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25He loved to be the monopolist,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27to have all of the information,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30but not to let them know until it was in his interest.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35So when in the summer of 1945
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Stalin astonished the allies by claiming that Hitler was alive,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41the British had to be ready.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45If Adolf Hitler or an imposter turned up,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48our military intelligence needed a foolproof method
0:06:48 > 0:06:51of testing his identity.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54What evidence could be entirely reliable?
0:06:56 > 0:06:59The answer came in a letter of September 1945
0:06:59 > 0:07:02from a radiographer - Graham Hodgson -
0:07:02 > 0:07:06who said that an x-ray of the skull would do the trick.
0:07:06 > 0:07:12"No two people have the same-shaped sinuses or mastoid processes."
0:07:12 > 0:07:16An x-ray of the skull was as reliable as a fingerprint.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21The result of that letter,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23according to war author Roger Moorhouse,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26was the effort by British intelligence
0:07:26 > 0:07:28to obtain an x-ray of Hitler.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32The logic of that idea is absolutely perfect,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34erm, if you can find an x-ray,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and then you can compare it to any evidence that turns up.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Alternatively, it could be used to disprove
0:07:41 > 0:07:44any imposter cropping up in 1946 or '47
0:07:44 > 0:07:45and saying "I am Hitler."
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Erm, but the logic of that, using the x-rays, is absolutely impeccable,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52whether you could identify via the sinuses
0:07:52 > 0:07:55or, as would be more probable, certainly by his teeth.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Ah, yes, the teeth.
0:07:57 > 0:08:03They more than anything could identify the real Nazi leader.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Hitler had catastrophically bad teeth.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Erm, a lot of the accounts of people who met him
0:08:08 > 0:08:12testified to his quite revolting halitosis.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14By the end the war, er,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17he has a total of five natural teeth in his mouth,
0:08:17 > 0:08:22everything else is gold crowns and porcelain veneers.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26And, of course, it's the teeth that ultimately identify Hitler.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28For many years,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32the Soviets wouldn't confirm whether the body found in Berlin
0:08:32 > 0:08:35was that of Adolf Hitler.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38And so for decades after the war ended,
0:08:38 > 0:08:44Britain couldn't be certain whether the Nazi dictator was dead or alive.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47MILITARY MUSIC PLAYS
0:08:47 > 0:08:50It emerged, eventually, that in 1970,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54the head of the KGB had ordered the Fuhrer's remains
0:08:54 > 0:08:58to be incinerated and scattered into a river
0:08:58 > 0:09:01for fear that they'd be sanctified by Nazis.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06Still, in 1993, a jawbone and fragments of skull
0:09:06 > 0:09:09were unearthed in Moscow.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13They finally confirmed that the body had been Hitler's.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21My next story is about a Christmas card list.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24How contentious can that be?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26JAZZ VERSION OF JINGLE BELLS PLAYS
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Well, if it's a card from Her Majesty the Queen,
0:09:31 > 0:09:37and it's addressed to a murderous, unstable, bloodthirsty tyrant,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40then the answer is...very contentious.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44And it's fair to say that the man at the centre of this next document
0:09:44 > 0:09:46ticked all those boxes.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50He was Idi Amin.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54He had seized power in a military coup in Uganda.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57At first, he was regarded as a genial buffoon,
0:09:57 > 0:09:58but over a period of time,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01he came to be seen as a genocidal butcher.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03And that dilemma of how to see him
0:10:03 > 0:10:06is reflected in Foreign Office files of the time.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Ah, here we are, a "popular and natural leader of men,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12"but simple and practically illiterate.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14"A man of the people, an imposing presence.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18"6 foot 3 high in height, once a good heavyweight boxer.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22"London has been very appreciative of his strong pro-British sympathies
0:10:22 > 0:10:26"and has expressed appreciation in the tangible form of a loan."
0:10:28 > 0:10:31The good will didn't last long,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35because it soon became clear that Amin was corrupt, cruel
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and quite possibly mad.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41He jailed his opponents, persecuted minorities
0:10:41 > 0:10:44and murdered his rivals.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47But he was still the leader of a Commonwealth country
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and etiquette demanded that every Christmas,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53there should be an exchange of cards with the Queen.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00Behind closed doors, the civil servants began to fret.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Here's a memo from Mrs Drummond,
0:11:03 > 0:11:08who's in the Protocol and Conference Department.
0:11:08 > 0:11:09She says, "We spoke today about
0:11:09 > 0:11:11"the advisability of recommending to the Palace
0:11:11 > 0:11:16"that Her Majesty should not send a Christmas card to President Amin."
0:11:16 > 0:11:18There's a bit of to-and-fro about this.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Erm, here's another, er, official
0:11:21 > 0:11:24who replies in manuscripts saying,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27"I do not think that the Queen should be advised
0:11:27 > 0:11:29"to send a card to General Amin."
0:11:30 > 0:11:32As a rather funny postscript to all of this,
0:11:32 > 0:11:38here is a memo from the British High Commission in Kampala
0:11:38 > 0:11:41enclosing Christmas cards from President Amin
0:11:41 > 0:11:44to the Queen and to the Prime Minister Edward Heath,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46but I don't suppose he sent them the year after.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52The documents give a flavour of Amin, the man,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55but what was it like living under the dictator?
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Henry Brind was Britain's acting High Commissioner in Uganda
0:11:59 > 0:12:01in the early 1970s
0:12:01 > 0:12:06and journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown grew up in its capital - Kampala.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09I'd met him as a young teenager,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12erm, and I'd found him really frightening
0:12:12 > 0:12:16and very arrogant, very, erm, frightening,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19and I was still a little girl and a big man.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21You must have felt rather put down, to say the least.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24I was scared, he was a scary presence.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27I never thought he was a joke figure.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31I wanted to be very friendly to entire world community.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Thank you very much.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37The first time I met him was, er, Armistice Day in '71,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and, er, I found myself sitting next to him.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41We had quite a long, a very friendly chat.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43So what is your impression of the man
0:12:43 > 0:12:45when you were sitting next to him, having lunch?
0:12:45 > 0:12:48A dangerous man, erm...
0:12:48 > 0:12:51and, erm...quite ruthless.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53'The pressure is not only on foreign Asians,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56'but also on those who are citizens of Uganda.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00'His policy is based squarely on racial discrimination.'
0:13:00 > 0:13:04In 1972, Amin caused international outrage
0:13:04 > 0:13:08when he ordered the expulsion of Uganda's Asian community.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13Around 50,000 people were given just 90 days to leave.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18Their main interest has been to exploit
0:13:18 > 0:13:21the economy of Uganda
0:13:21 > 0:13:26and, er, Ugandan Africans.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30Yasmin's family was amongst those caught up in the crisis.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33People were paranoid, people were afraid,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38er, and, erm, it was a very difficult time.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42We were not safe. We had nowhere to go and we were not safe,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44er, and it was terrible.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47The responsibility of Asians in Uganda,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51it is a responsibility of Great Britain.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54As many of the Asian's living in Uganda
0:13:54 > 0:13:57hailed from other Commonwealth countries,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Amin said that Britain should take them in.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Over half of them did flee to the United Kingdom,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05but it wasn't an easy departure.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09There were some terrible times when we had to queue up
0:14:09 > 0:14:11for day after day after day
0:14:11 > 0:14:14to get the stamp to come here.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16And all his driving licence, tax...
0:14:18 > 0:14:20We really didn't know how many there were.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24I mean, there were Asians with British passports.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26In the end, it was about 20,000, I think.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29We had to deal with those in the three months.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32You must ask President Mobutu,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35he's the one who will answer these questions.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39By the late 1970s, Britain's row with Amin
0:14:39 > 0:14:42had gone way beyond a Christmas card snub.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Diplomatic relations were broken off completely.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50In response, he declared himself Conqueror of the British Empire
0:14:50 > 0:14:53and even King of Scotland.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58But by 1979, he'd made too many enemies in Africa.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03The former soldier whom the British had originally helped into power
0:15:03 > 0:15:05was forced into exile.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12If you were writing a reference,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14what would you say of Idi Amin?
0:15:16 > 0:15:17Over-promoted.
0:15:19 > 0:15:20What would you say?
0:15:20 > 0:15:22That everybody misjudged him.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25The British thought they would put a buffoon in power
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and he would be their friend.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30The British really misjudged him for a long time
0:15:30 > 0:15:32until they woke up.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38The grubby realities of diplomacy
0:15:38 > 0:15:40dictate those that you must deal with
0:15:40 > 0:15:43on the international stage.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Unfortunately, that can mean being civil to monsters and to madmen...
0:15:48 > 0:15:52and yes, even to remembering them at Christmas.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Had someone asked you your opinion,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59should Her Majesty be sending a Christmas Card to Idi Amin?
0:15:59 > 0:16:01We would've certainly have said no,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03because things were very bad then.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Tyrants don't always come from abroad.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21Here in the Archives is a document that gives a fascinating hint
0:16:21 > 0:16:25about the personality of a home-grown monster.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29We are what we eat.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32How often have you told yourself that
0:16:32 > 0:16:35as you shovel in the chips or the sticky toffee pudding?
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Traditionally, vast quantities of food were used
0:16:38 > 0:16:42to offer boundless hospitality and to display wealth.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47And so it was when a young Henry VIII, in 1518,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49just nine years into his reign,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53entertained an important set of French dignitaries.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59These fascinating documents were never intended for publication.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01These are exchequer records,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and they set out in minute detail
0:17:04 > 0:17:08all the food that was provided on that occasion.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11The script is very difficult to read.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14I can make out beef and mutton
0:17:14 > 0:17:19and...hog in grease and pig.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Anyway, I have asked an expert
0:17:22 > 0:17:24if he would make some highlights here on my tablet
0:17:24 > 0:17:27of what is contained in these records.
0:17:27 > 0:17:323,000 loaves of bread, three tonnes of wine and six tonnes of ale,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35188 pounds of sugar, along with 3,000 pears...
0:17:35 > 0:17:37one gallon of rose water,
0:17:37 > 0:17:3926 pounds of prunes, 32 pounds of...
0:17:39 > 0:17:4250 dozen crayfish, 27 dozen chickens...
0:17:42 > 0:17:44ten and three quarter carcasses...
0:17:44 > 0:17:46..fields, saffron and liquorice.
0:17:46 > 0:17:4816 and a half gallons of cream, six gallons of mustard
0:17:48 > 0:17:50and seven gallons of curd!
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Well, lavish entertaining indeed.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59In European politics, Henry VIII was on his way to becoming Mr Big.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Henry's love of feasting and entertaining
0:18:09 > 0:18:12may on the surface suggest a benevolent nature.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16But in reality, he used these grand occasions
0:18:16 > 0:18:19to cement his commanding position.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25I want to find out more about Henry's taste for food
0:18:25 > 0:18:27and appetite for power.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35So I've become to what became the King's favourite party venue -
0:18:35 > 0:18:36Hampton Court.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Henry occupied this magnificent palace on the Thames
0:18:44 > 0:18:47in the later part of his reign.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49From here, he ruled supreme.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Here, he held fabulous feasts,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55And here, he developed his reputation
0:18:55 > 0:18:58as the most terrifying of tyrants.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Dr Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator of Hampton Court,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08is taking me on a tour.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11First stop, the Great Hall.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Tracy, I am awestruck, starstruck,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16this is absolutely amazing.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18Tell me what went on in here.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Well, this was Henry's centre piece really at Hampton Court.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25It's where he showed off his wealth, his magnificence,
0:19:25 > 0:19:26as you might imagine.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29TRIUMPHANT CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:19:29 > 0:19:33There would be special occasions here when ambassadors were visiting,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and there would be great parties, revelries, entertainment
0:19:36 > 0:19:38on the feast days of the year.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43But actually, most of the time,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46it was pretty much like the staff canteen.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Er, it was filled with about 600 courtiers
0:19:48 > 0:19:52who were entitled to, er, take their meals here twice a day.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54And so it was quite routine,
0:19:54 > 0:19:56just the business of feeding the court.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58And in the most formal occasions,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01I take it the King would've been sitting there at the top.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04That's right, on the raised table there, right at the end,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07in full display to his courtiers,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09but only on special occasions.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12He actually was quite a private man when it came to dining.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14It's not the image we have of him, you know,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16throwing the chicken leg over his shoulder.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20He was very fastidious, he liked to dine in private.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:20:30 > 0:20:33An invitation to dine at the Great Hall
0:20:33 > 0:20:37would've signalled that you were part of the King's inner circle.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41And below stairs, innumerable servants toiled
0:20:41 > 0:20:44to meet every demand for culinary excess.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Tracy, these are the most wonderfully...
0:20:48 > 0:20:50conserved kitchens, aren't they?
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- Abso...I mean, you really get the feel of history in here.- You do.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55What kind of size are we dealing with here?
0:20:55 > 0:21:00Well, this is the largest surviving Tudor kitchen in the world.
0:21:00 > 0:21:01It's extraordinary.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Erm, food was very important,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05it was the way in which Henry could display
0:21:05 > 0:21:08his wealth, his sophistication.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11You know, they were cooking some quite complex dishes
0:21:11 > 0:21:13here in the Tudor kitchens
0:21:13 > 0:21:16with rich spices and different ingredients
0:21:16 > 0:21:18from all over the world.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20They would've been incredibly expensive,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22and Henry wanted to show off in that way.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24HORSE NEIGHS
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Feasting helped to maintain Henry's political power,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33but eventually weighed more heavily on him than his crown.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41It's generally believed that a specific incident
0:21:41 > 0:21:44changed his body and his mind,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49possibly propelling him towards fully fledged tyranny.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51The pivotal moment is, in 1536,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Henry has a dreadful accident whilst jousting.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59HORSE NEIGHS AND COLLAPSES
0:22:00 > 0:22:03Before that time, it didn't matter that he'd eaten a lot
0:22:03 > 0:22:05because he exercised a lot,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08he was a very sporting king.
0:22:08 > 0:22:09But after that accident,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12he could do very little by way of exercise,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14and he couldn't joust any more,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17and so he grew enormously fat.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20He was constantly in pain with an ulcerous leg,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22and this did affect his character.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25He was incredibly bad-tempered
0:22:25 > 0:22:28and almost despotic, I think, by the end of his reign.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Ah, and so, actually, there is a connection here
0:22:31 > 0:22:34- between the food and what the man becomes.- Absolutely.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36There's a direct connection.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37You can over complicate it
0:22:37 > 0:22:39and look at all sorts of psychological analysis,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43but I think it came down to the fact that Henry couldn't exercise
0:22:43 > 0:22:45and he ate too much and he was in pain.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50In the years after the jousting accident,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Henry's physical appearance changed dramatically.
0:22:54 > 0:23:01His once athletic figure ballooned to 28 stone.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04His behaviour as king altered too,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07becoming more erratic and despotic.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11It must have been exhilarating
0:23:11 > 0:23:13to be a member of King Henry VIII's court.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17To enjoy his glorious wines, his sumptuous food,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19the music, the dancing,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23the glow of the fire, the glow of His Majesty.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28But as you dined, your heart would have been in your mouth,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31because one day, he might take your hand,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34and the next day, he might take your head.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41So did Henry VIII really turn from being a benevolent leader
0:23:41 > 0:23:44into an unhinged tyrant?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Professor Kevin Dutton from Oxford University
0:23:47 > 0:23:50is author of The Wisdom of Psychopaths.
0:23:52 > 0:23:53What is a psychopath?
0:23:53 > 0:23:55When most people hear the word psychopath,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57they instantly think of Hannibal Lecter
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and a whole raft of Hollywood bad guys.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03But when psychologists like myself talk about psychopaths,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07we're actually referring to a distinct subset of individuals
0:24:07 > 0:24:10with a distinct cluster of personality traits,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12a specific, erm, syndrome.
0:24:12 > 0:24:13Let's get to it.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15In the case of Henry VIII, what did we find?
0:24:15 > 0:24:18In the case of Henry VIII, it's very interesting,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20because in the early stages,
0:24:20 > 0:24:25he seems to be, er, a rather pious, politically inclusive individual.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28The later part of his reign seems to be completely different.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31He then seems to have transformed into
0:24:31 > 0:24:34a rather paranoid, cruel and impulsive individual
0:24:34 > 0:24:40who presided over a period of, er, dramatic and often whimsical change.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43So does the professor also think
0:24:43 > 0:24:46that this might be linked to the jousting accident?
0:24:46 > 0:24:51There are clues and it does appear that that accident
0:24:51 > 0:24:54put him in a coma for two hours.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57The Royal physicians thought he was going to die,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59and when this news was conveyed to Anne Boleyn,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01she went into such a state of shock
0:25:01 > 0:25:05that she actually lost a child that she was bearing,
0:25:05 > 0:25:06that was a male child.
0:25:06 > 0:25:07Oh, no.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10And it seems plausible to me, as a psychologist,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14that that accident might have triggered damage
0:25:14 > 0:25:16to his frontal lobe in his brain,
0:25:16 > 0:25:17which might then have precipitated
0:25:17 > 0:25:20a profound transformation in personality.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26But was it enough to turn him into a psychopath?
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Kevin has developed a personality test
0:25:29 > 0:25:31which he's used to profile
0:25:31 > 0:25:34some of history's most infamous characters.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39I handed out a specially devised psychometric, er, test
0:25:39 > 0:25:43to the official biographers of some of the biggest names in world history
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and got them to fill it out, not on their own behalf, of course,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47but on behalf of their subjects.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48OK.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51So, you've got to be honest. OK, so...
0:25:51 > 0:25:53'So might I be a psychopath?
0:25:54 > 0:25:56'The professor's test will tell.'
0:25:56 > 0:25:59I'm a spur of the moment kind of person.
0:25:59 > 0:26:00Zero.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02It doesn't matter to me
0:26:02 > 0:26:05if I have to step on other people to get what I want.
0:26:05 > 0:26:06One.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Driving fast cars, riding roller-coasters and skydiving
0:26:11 > 0:26:13appeal to me.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Two.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17'Well, I'll keep the extent of
0:26:17 > 0:26:20'my psychopathic tendencies to myself.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22'And anyway, this isn't about me,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25'it's about our corpulent king.
0:26:25 > 0:26:26'How did he score?'
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Henry VIII is one of the highest scorers,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33he is top of the psychopath stakes.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Erm, a person who, at the moment,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37I would feel quite confident in saying
0:26:37 > 0:26:39was a bona fide clinical psychopath.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49Henry loomed large at the head of a banqueting table
0:26:49 > 0:26:54and larger still as head of both Church and State.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Anyone who didn't accept his authority was for the chop.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06There was no violent end for this tyrant
0:27:06 > 0:27:08when he died aged 55.
0:27:09 > 0:27:16The waist of this mountainous king had expanded to 54 inches.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18maybe his gluttony had done for him.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27Today's journey has brought me face-to-face with three tyrants.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30All are now safely dead.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34But as I read these secret documents,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38their horrors seem to rise again from the grave.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Walking the corridors of power here at Hampton Court,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47it struck me that few things are more likely
0:27:47 > 0:27:49to shorten your life
0:27:49 > 0:27:52than being a friend of King Henry VIII.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Accept, of course, being one of his wives.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57I felt almost queasy
0:27:57 > 0:28:01holding that x-ray of the skull of Adolf Hitler,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04looking through a transparency
0:28:04 > 0:28:08of the genocidal mind of a modern tyrant.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Britain badly underestimated the evil of President Idi Amin,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16and leaving him off the Queen's Christmas card list
0:28:16 > 0:28:21was insufficient to deflect him from his murderous villainy.