Talal of Jordan - the King who tried to kill his Queen - Biographical Documentary

Описание: King Talal of Jordan came to power in 1951, when his father Abdullah I was assassinated. At the time, Talal was being treated in a mental hospital in Switzerland for schizophrenia. For some time he had been convinced that he was going to be murdered and when his wife was in hospital in Italy, giving birth to their daughter Talal forced his way into her room, declared that he was not the father and attacked his wife with a dagger.

There was no effective treatment for schizophrenia at this time - antipsychotic medication was still a year away - so lobotomy, insulin coma therapy or electro-shock treatment were the only options to choose from.

After six weeks of treatment Talal returned to Jordan and took up his duties as King. But he was ill, and there was another incident of attacking his wife and she had to seek refuge in the British embassy.

The Prime Minister suggested that he should abdicate – but this was vehemently rejected by Talal, who declared he had no intentions of doing anything of the sort. The prime minister then summoned both houses of parliament to an "extraordinary session" and requested their approval of a motion deposing Talal on medical grounds. His deposition was unanimously approved. He left the country and lived out his life receiving treatment in Istanbul.

Although he was not in power long – King Talal's most lasting achievement was the establishment of Jordan's modern constitution, and he is still highly regarded for this.

The sad story of King Talal highlights that severe mental illness can affect anybody from any family – however illustrious their ancestry.

Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

References
Day, P (2004) The Madness of King Talal. History Today. 54(12), 2.

Hershman, D and Lieb, J (1994). A Brotherhood of Tyrants: Manic Depression and Absolute Power. Prometheus.

Hyder, S., Almutlaq, N., Naseem, M. T., Bilal, L., Al-Subaie, A., Al-Habeeb, A., and Altwaijri, Y. (2021). Psychotic Experiences and Alternate Dimensions: A Thematic Analysis Exploring Frameworks of Psychotic Symptoms Among Saudis. SAGE Open, 11(3), 21582440211030276.

Jevon, G (2017) Glubb Pasha and the Arab Legion: Britain, Jordan and the End of Empire in the Middle East. Cambridge University Press.

Salibi K (1998). The Modern History of Jordan. Bloomsbury.

Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
British Library
Other images and video samples Fair Use

Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.