The late Queen Elizabeth II was widely known for her appreciation of classical homeopathy. She was also patron of the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine for many years. At the time, her personal homeopathic physician Dr Fischer, was its medical director. She took on patronage of the hospital from her father King George VI, who had been its patron when still Duke of York.
Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t the first royal to find her way to natural healing homeopathy. It started centuries earlier.
Early successes
As early as 1835, King William IV’s wife Queen Adelaide (1792-1849) spoke of her positive experiences with homeopathy. The queen suffered from a serious illness that the court doctors could not cure. At her wits’ end, she brought in Dr Johann Ernst Stapf, a colleague of Hahnemann. He succeeded in restoring her to health. As a result, many British aristocrats visited homeopathic doctors when they needed medical care. The Marquise of Anglesey even crossed the channel to Paris, to seek treatment by Dr Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy.
Growing appreciation
Queen Mary (1865-1953), and her husband King George V, were both great fans of homeopathy. The Queen set up a fundraising campaign for the extension and relocation of the London Homeopathic Hospital. Their son, King George VI (1895-1952), had named his racehorse after the well-known homeopathic remedy ‘Hypericum’. It was also this king, who, in 1948 showed his deep appreciation for homeopathy when he conferred the royal title on the London Homeopathic Hospital.
The Queen Mother (Queen Elizabeth) was a great fan of Arnica. She was once said, “I think Arnica is the most wonderful medicine and that every doctor, even those not trained in homeopathy, should use Arnica.” Her dogs were also given Arnica when needed.
Recent advocates
Prince Charles will not only succeed his mother as King, but he will also uphold the tradition as an advocate of homeopathy.
Spreading the word
The early growth of homeopathy in Britain was due in large part to royal support and the British aristocracy. The first British homeopath for the British royal family, Dr Frederick Quin, was a son of the Duchess of Devonshire (1765-1824) and an aristocrat. When Quin started his full-time homeopathic practice in London in 1832, he mainly treated his own aristocratic class members.
But it is not only in the British Kingdom where homeopathy played, and still plays, a major role.
Many royal houses of Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Prussians and the Tsars of Russia were advocates of homeopathy.
Sources
Excerpt kindly provided by our EFHPA member KVHN in the Netherlands. Find the original English article from Huffington Post here: The King’s Homeopath. Image is by Annie Spratt, Unsplash and shows Queen Elizabeth II sitting in a carriage during the Opening of Parliament, Queens royal procession in 1965.
