Editing Charles II of England (section)

=== Death ===
Charles suffered a sudden [[apoplectic fit]] on the morning of 2 February 1685, and died four days later at the [[Palace of Whitehall]], at 11:45&nbsp;am, aged 54.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|p=450}}; {{harvnb|Hutton|1989|p=443}}.</ref> The suddenness of his illness and death led to suspicion of poison in the minds of many, including one of the royal doctors, but a more modern medical analysis has held that the symptoms of his final illness are similar to those of [[uraemia]], a clinical syndrome due to kidney dysfunction.{{sfn|BMJ|1938}} Charles had a laboratory among his many interests where, prior to his illness, he had been experimenting with [[mercury (element)|mercury]]. Mercuric poisoning can produce irreversible kidney damage, but the case for that being a cause of his death is unproven.{{sfn|Fraser|1979|pp=586–587}} In the days between his collapse and his death, Charles endured a variety of torturous treatments, including [[bloodletting]], [[laxative|purging]] and [[cupping therapy|cupping]], in the hope of effecting a recovery,{{sfn|Roberts|2015}} which may have exacerbated his uraemia through dehydration, rather than helping to alleviate it.<ref>{{citation |last1=Aronson |first1=J. K. |last2= Heneghan |first2=C. |title=The death of King Charles II |date=17 October 2018 |publisher=Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) |location=Oxford|url=https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/news/views/the-death-of-king-charles-ii |access-date=4 May 2021}}</ref>

On his deathbed, Charles asked his brother, James, to look after his mistresses: "be well to [[Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth|Portsmouth]], and let not poor [[Nell Gwyn|Nelly]] starve".{{sfn|Fraser|1979|p=456}}<!--This is a paraphrase used by Fraser--> He told his courtiers, "I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such a time a-dying",{{sfn|Bryant|2001|p=73}} and expressed regret at his treatment of his wife. On the last evening of his life he was received into the Catholic Church, in the presence of Father [[John Huddleston]], though the extent to which he was fully conscious or committed, and with whom the idea originated, is unclear.{{sfn|Hutton|1989|pp=443, 456}} He was buried in [[Westminster Abbey]] "without any manner of pomp"{{sfn|Bryant|2001|p=73}} on 14 February.{{sfn|Fraser|1979|p=459}}

Charles was succeeded by his brother James II and VII.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royal.uk/charles-ii |title=Charles II (r. 1660–1685) |publisher=royal.uk |access-date=7 May 2023}}</ref>