The Troubling Question of Life or Death

Arguments over the moral and legal issues of euthanasia remain in stalemate, writes Jacqueline Maley.

“I have made this trip half way around the world to try and achieve control in my passing” … the terminally ill Dr Elliott in Zurich shortly before he was helped to die.
Photo: Kate Geraghty

In January 1936, King George V lay weak and sick in his bed at Sandringham Castle. The 71-year-old monarch had long suffered from chronic bronchial problems, exacerbated by heavy smoking, and a few days earlier he had taken to bed with a cold.According to contemporary reports, he inquired after the state of his empire before lapsing into unconsciousness. The illness would be his last.

The doctor attending the king, Lord Dawson, had been told by the King’s wife, Queen Mary, and his son, the Prince of Wales, that they did not want the king’s life needlessly prolonged. The royal physician followed instructions. About 11pm on January 20 he administered lethal doses of morphine and cocaine. The king’s death was announced in The Times the next day under the headline: “A Peaceful Ending at Midnight”.

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