Portrait of Catherine the Great
On the death of Catherine of Russia , called l a Great , uncontrolled gossip immediately circulated between the obscene and the laughable (https://www.pilloledistoria.it/10610/storia-moderna/caterina-la-grande-un-pettegolezzo-a-luci-rosse-sulla-sua- death), including the rumor that the sovereign was dead on the toilet bowl .
But was it really like that?
No, actually the Tsarina suffered a stroke she at the age of 67 while she changed clothes in her rooms:rescued by the chamberlain Zakhar Zotov, who found her slumped on the ground, she expired in her bed after about 12 hours without ever regaining consciousness.
The rumor of the water it was born from a misunderstanding that arose around the term “toilette” , which meant a toilet but also a dressing room:hence the backbiting, aimed at discrediting the memory of a powerful and uncomfortable woman.