The medieval Englishmen sure were fans of ironic deaths when they murdered members of the royal family. Edward II, said to have a gay lover, was murdered by being sodomized with a hot poker. Another ironic murder was done to Prince George, Duke of Clarence, during the War of the Roses. You know, the period that inspired "Game of Thrones"? Clarence was sort of the Renly Baratheon of the royal house of York. He was a younger brother to King Edward IV of York, who was definitely the real-world Robert Baratheon. Clarence was a constantly frustrated younger brother, angered at his increasing irrelevance after his brother had come to the throne. He actually betrayed Edward, siding with their enemies in the War of the Roses (the house of Lancaster), but then he changed his mind, and betrayed the Lancasters to come back to his brother's side. He might have expected to be better rewarded for not being a traitor anymore, but (obviously) he was never really trusted again, and had less influence than ever. He came to be known as a raging alcoholic (his older brother was one too, but that was OK since he was the king), and a paranoid that suspected Edward's wife was plotting against him. When Clarence's wife died, he became convinced that the Queen had poisoned her. He started plans to raise up another rebellion against the King, but he was found out and arrested. This time the King would not pardon his brother. He was sentenced to death (legend has it that he may have changed his mind at the last minute, but their other brother Richard - the future Richard III- made sure Clarence was dead before the pardon could reach him). And while it's not proven, the story goes that the famously alcoholic Clarence was executed not by beheading, but by being drowned in a large vat of wine.