Wallpaper clue to Napoleon's death
A fragment of wallpaper to be auctioned this month might help prove the cause of Napoleon's death.
Controversy has raged over how the French emperor met his death while in British custody on the South Atlantic island of St Helena in 1821.
Some historians have argued that he died from cancer, others that the British poisoned him, while a third theory is that his death was accidentally hastened by toxic vapours from wallpaper dyed with arsenic.
In 1995 a Swedish scientist found eight times the normal amount of arsenic in a strand of hair allegedly taken from Napoleon's head.
On Oct 16 a piece of wallpaper less than 3in long, with a note claiming that it came from Napoleon's bedroom on St Helena, will be auctioned by Mullock Madeley in Church Stretton, Shropshire, and is expected to fetch up to £1,000.