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Coca Cola, one of if not the biggest export from the Confederate States of America.
Rare Confederate W
 
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The explosion of "Vanya" over Hamburg as seen from the bomber that dropped it, October 18th, 1989. Recovered from archives by the Russian Democratic Liberation Front

The Third Great War was the shortest of the three, but by far the most deadly. Fought between all great powers, it involved the total launch and use of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, more than five-hundred thousand tons of chemical and biological weapons, and the near destruction of the human race, with more than three billion people dying over the course of the ten-day conflict and its aftermath. The two primary belligerents, the Russian National Soviet Republic, ruled by the ruthless ultranationalist Dmitry Yazov, and the German Empire, led by the former secret police chief, Reinhard Heydrich. The two nations, eerily mirroring each other through ruthless collectivism, ultranationalism, and brutal suppression of human rights, had leered at each other from their long border since 1947, when a ceasefire signed at the end of the Second Great War gave both nations a respite from eight years of brutal, slogging warfare. With the Russians on the steps of Konigsberg and Breslau, the Germans tested their newly developed "Atom-Split Bomb" on the Russians at Ohlau, outside of Breslau, and then again bombing occupied Warsaw, killing tens of thousands of civilians in the process. Taking the Russians to the negotiating table, the Germans threatened to use more of these bombs on Russian cities such as Moscow, Leningrad, and even Sverdlovsk. This terrified the Russians, who accepted a peace offer, while quietly speeding up the development of their own weapons.

It was 1948 when the Russians tested their first bomb, a gun-type bomb much like the German one. The year later, Igor Kurchatov, a leading nuclear scientist in Russia and foremost authority in nuclear physics accidentally discovered the Hydrogen Fusion Bomb, which was a much more massive explosion. He realized the scalability, and soon, the Russian nuclear weapon production was a race to build the biggest bomb. Concerns about weight were largely sidelined, as Andrei Zhdanov had directed much of the Russian budget into the development of supersonic bombers, of which hundreds would be built. After the successful test of RDS-220 in 1961, at 58 Megatons, scientists had major concerns about developing bigger bombs, for fear that it could disrupt the atmosphere of earth or even cause tectonic plate movement if the bomb was powerful enough. Those concerns were eventually disproven by scientists later, but were ignored at the time. Zhdanov died in 1959, and the esoteric platform of "Ultrafuturism" began to sprout in the minds of Russian military and intelligentsia. With Viktor Glushkov's OGAS program for central computerized planning receiving massive funding, and the Soviet Akademset in development to share ideas and advance computer technology faster, a military program was needed as well. Project Arena became that program. Proposed by Anatoly Kitov in 1966 and approved in 1969, it would seek to streamline reaction, direction, and logistics across the titanic Russian army. It was in 1971 that the first Arena computer was installed in the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, as well as in the headquarter buildings of all military districts. Working with OGAS in a controlled manner, it also communicated the needs of the military to factories and institutions, and it did so with few mistakes and almost instantly, much faster than a telegram or document sent through the post.

By 1980, the "Ultrafuturism" of the Russian government had died down but it was still popular in academia. In 1975 Dmitry Yazov took power in a transition from the "Science Clique" of Vladimir Chelomei and Viktor Glushkov, who ran the country by computer and used political veteran Mikhail Suslov as a weapon against their enemies in the Russian government. Yazov, part of the radical wing of the military known as the "Nationalists" wanted to take the fight to Germany, using their superior industrial and military power to destroy Germany in a crusade, sweeping over the rest of Europe too. He dialed back on the enormous spending on computerization (by 1974, nearly 40% of the Russian budget was on computerization or technology industries, and the Russian government was beginning to deficit spend) and instead implemented radical policies towards the militarization of society, extreme totalitarian measures, classes in schools not useful to the progress of the state deemed "hindering to the goals of the Russian nation" and replaced with classes on military history, tactics, leadership, and military sciences. Yazov, a soldier in the Second Great War and veteran commander of multiple Soviet advisory forces and army groups, including the commander of the combined 32nd Army in Cyprus, where he was placed in control of dozens of nuclear-armed aircraft and missile batteries, knew about nuclear warfare better than most. Yazov immediately diverted funding into "Strengthening the Russian state for a crisis of the worst-case scenario," which including the moving of thousands of factories underground, the "Cadre-ization" of Russian society, moving two hundred million people into cadres, based on their work. In his time as the Premier of Russia, the Russians ceased nearly all international trade, began patrolling the border considerably more, and began erecting fortifications and anti-tank defenses across the entire border of the Russian National Soviet Republic. Populations were evacuated inwards, especially in Eastern Europe, and tens of millions of workers in "unhelpful industries" were put into labor armies to complete enormous infrastructure projects, sometimes by hand or with hand tools instead of modern machinery, which itself was run dry in top secret projects, building underground structures. Yazov also increased the allocation of resources to the military by a massive amount. Soon, Russian equipment was not only quantitatively superior than their German or American counterparts, they were qualitatively so as well. This led to a movement across Russia, building a massive military that every other power soon picked up on. It wasn't the cause of the Third Great War, but it certainly was a factor.

Germany itself had also changed greatly. Ending their war in 1947 with the only ever detonation of nuclear weapons in anger, they were the "victors" on paper but in reality they were anything but. The German Empire of 1939 was the largest economy in the world, with the largest army and navy. By 1949, they were a shell of their former selves. With over ten percent of their population dead to warfare or famine, and their food-producing eastern territories either ripped away from them or rendered completely unproductive because of the environmental pollution caused by the fighting. This actually led to a famine indirectly, as wheat grown in Poland, Ukraine, and European Russia was the primary food source for much of Africa. This area was almost entirely either destroyed or diverted from regular shipments, causing the death of around a million people in Middle-Africa. In the 1950's, Germany experienced a massive economic boom, similar to the Russians, based on their trade with the surviving members of the Anglosphere, Notably Canada, Australia, and India. This would help them keep pace with the Russians, who were growing exponentially more powerful due to their rapidly growing population, who, while having taken slightly more casualties than Germany, had more than double the population. The growth of "cybernetics" in the Russian academia was noticed by German institutions, but the SD (Security Service, the Secret Police of Germany) put a stop to it, declaring it as "Bolshevik Propaganda". That was the first of the major computerization efforts of Germany. One more was tried in the 1980's, separate from the Cybernetics terminology and Russian influence, but it was also put down as the Government was worried about security breaches. One area they were ahead of the world, however, was rocketry. Stemming from their experience since the First Great War, the Germans led the world. While Russia and America were both making supersonic bombers to evade air defense and cross continents, Germans built missiles. This led to Germans having a sophisticated air defense network, while Russia pioneered Anti-ballistic missile technology, and the Americas developed near-hypersonic aircraft to intercept terminal-course missiles, Germany had no such defense. When the Russians tested their first ICBM in 1965, the Germans had no defense. They were late to reach supersonic fighters, only achieving flight with an operational aircraft in 1958, only a week before Russia entered a mach-2 capable aircraft into service. This meant that Germany was ahead in missiles, but lacked an aircraft to carry them.

Over the next two decades, Germany struggled to catch up in military technology. While their military remained a fearsome force, they often struggled with matching the high-end of Russian and American equipment, and to some extent, even Japanese. Japan led the world in macroengineering and consumer goods, and rarely exported it. While the Americans had the superiority of position and navy, and the Russians had an endless industry and minerals. In 1970 a German satellite was shot down over Russia, prompting an uncomfortable realization. Upon discovering the phenomenon, the world was shocked. The MiG-25, a Mach-3.75 capable titanium aircraft with a service ceiling higher than any aircraft in human history, a massive range, and the fastest manned aircraft in the world, even slightly faster than the American S-71 series of aircraft at it's maximum ceiling of 37km. At this time, Germany had no anti-aircraft missile capable of hitting the aircraft, and even fighters launched to fly to an intercept point would often burn out their engines trying to climb to an intercept point, almost always in vain. Only one MiG-25 was ever shot down, with both crew dying and the plane exploding into thousands of tiny pieces due to a capture-prevention failsafe. It was never able to be inspected by the Germans, as the debris was so fast that much of it carried into the North Sea. This caused Germany to rapidly invest into the air force, producing more aircraft, more missiles, and ever advancing air-defense systems. This military expansion caused the Reichstag to become nervous, as they had just witnessed the over-influential military remove the government from power in Russia, and the defense complex in America had gone on strike in 1973, causing several mass-casualty shootings by Military Police. Unfortunately for them, the SD was a much bigger threat. On August 15, 1978, under the direction of Reinhard Heydrich, the ruthless leader of the SD, special forces stormed the Reichstag in session, dressed in all black, clearing the building with no survivors, including Prince Frederick, the son and heir apparent of Emperor Wilhelm. When the Emperor heard this, he committed suicide. This was convenient for Heydrich, as he appointed no successor and gave himself absolute power as "Regent" of the German Empire as well as Chancellor. He immediately started with a genocide of "unhelpful people" including Poles, Hungarians, and the South Slavs. He also reorganized the industry and military to be considerably more centralized, and nationalized almost every company. Like Russia, the Germans would also retreat from international trade and diplomacy, with their embassies evacuated in the night and facilities in their former colonies guarded by black-clad soldiers.

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Picture of the explosion that destroyed Leningrad, a German H-30 series bomb with a yield of 26 Megatons. October 19, 1989
On October 8, 1989, border movements, cryptic statements by the Russian government, and the German's racism caused a border incident outside of Warsaw. A German tank commander saw tracers being fired and soldiers advancing, as part of an attack. No official document on that was ever recovered, but due to the Russian's penchant for exercises in firepower right across the border, it would not be surprising if it was such an exercise. Nevertheless, his nerves frayed and he fired, destroying a building holding a guard's post and a small ammunition stockpile. This alerted the larger elements of the Russian force, and it caused a fight between the German tank platoon and a Russian division, which immediately shot up the chain. Both sides fearing an attack, plans were immediately launched. Aircraft took off from bases across Europe, tanks revved their engines and trucks sped down highways that were quickly evacuated of people. It was not long before Yazov's Directive No. 777 was put in place, stating "In the worse case scenario, then it is imperative to secure the most apt of the populations and attempt to save them. Reserve units should also be brought into protection for the post-bomb reconquering of our territories." This massive exodus of people away from major cities in European Russia, and towards enormous underground cities and bunkers in Mountains, steppes, and as part of subterranean engineering complexes. Even airfields and warehouses, covered under dozens of meters of dirt, were stocked full in the following days. Meanwhile, Germany was enacting a similar plan, on a smaller scale. Members of the German government, police, and military were funneled into bunkers and fortress complexes in the Alps and sealed in cavernous war rooms, filled with equipment to track progress. It was not long before the first news came in on the thirteenth of October. America had sunk three German ships carrying troops back from Africa, and had launched an invasion of Argentina and South Africa. The United States was in the War. However, Japan had struck out against the Russians, going from Manchuria into Mongolia and the Far East, cutting deep into Russia's depleted eastern regions. However, all they found was emptiness, populated by enormous mines, subterranean complexes filled with soldiers, and often, cities full of people, trapped by thousands of soldiers. The Japanese met stiff resistance in Zeya, after moving through Russia at a rapid pace, they hit a brick wall which ten full divisions could not break into. Artillery, pre-sighted on roads and common avenues, decimated Japanese units, while rocket attacks, tanks, and machinegun fire obliterated those survivors charging into the city. Zeya was a nightmare for an attacker, based entirely on well-built concrete blocks, squat and hard to collapse, and filled with defenders using night vision scopes and thermal imagers to pick out targets in any conditions. This was almost every town and city in Russia by this point, and any attacker would lose more men than would be replaceable just to take over a small town.

In Poland, the Russians were on the offensive. T-80 tanks, the excellent tank produced across Russia, by the Omsktransmash Design Bureau, were fearsome in their firepower, armor, and speed, but were logistically difficult to operate. Because of the logistical difficulties of maintaining a huge offensive, Stavka focused instead on blasting German lines with copious artillery and exploiting the breakthroughs with fast-moving tanks and infantry carriers. The Russians held a massive advantage here, and after smashing German fortifications near Radom, they broke through in massive numbers. Flooding the area with more than twenty divisions and two thousand tanks, the Russians quickly encircled the city of Radom, and then swung north to attack Warsaw from behind, either encircling the Germans or squeezing them out. It wasn't long before Germany deployed their only remaining effective defense. A tactical Nuclear weapon. At 4:55AM, on October 16th, 1989, a German He-343 supersonic bomber took off from a base near Breslau, Germany, carrying two tactical nuclear weapons with a ten kiloton yield each. These were dropped on Bialobrzegi and Radom itself, wiping out thousands of Russian troops. However, all Russian troops were supplied with NBC protection, and thus those that were left unscathed by the bombs were also unscathed by the radiation. Now, the gloves were off. Hitting rail-hubs, marshalling yards, and division headquarters, Russian low-flying cruise missiles obliterated dozens of German strongpoints before hundreds of thousands of protected troops rushed through. This was the end. Heydrich and his top commanders discussed what to do, with the German military in chaos and the Russians surging across Poland, the decision was made on early October 17th to use Germany's stockpile of nuclear weapons, about 12,000, on all Russian targets they could find. This launch was detected by all other powers, who launched theirs. The Great War continued for roughly two more weeks, where each side used submarines and bombers to destroy new targets or reduce larger targets to rubble. It wouldn't be until early February of 1990 that the bombing stopped in earnest, with the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons almost entirely used up and few countries left unscathed. Even non-combatant nations in South America, Africa, and Asia were targeted, to prevent them from establishing dominance and conquering the former territory of one of the superpowers. Nearly 100,000 nuclear detonations, some ground-burst, some air-explosion, had wracked Earth's environment and atmosphere. The War was over.


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The United States B-83 nuclear device in testing. Two similar bombs wiped out Tokyo and Khabarovsk in Asia.
 
George Kastriotos held the title of Megas Domestikos of the Albanians, meaning supreme commander of the Stratioti. Known for his courage and unwavering Orthodox faith and his great qualities as a general. Thanks to him, the Hungarian armies failed to advance beyond Belgrade, and with the help of King Lazar of Serbia, he even managed to drive the Catholic puppet from Tarnovo. However, his political acumen was not inferior. During the battle of Nicomedia, when Basileus Constantine XI clashed with Mehmed II the Young, Sultan of the Ottomans, losing his life, instead of supporting one of the two claimants, Demetrios or Thomas, and risking civil war, he seized the throne.
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In the image, a wall painting from his castle in Kruja, painted in the late 19th century (but a copy of a lost fresco from the 18th century) one can see the general and his Stratioti entering the city through the Adriaples gate.

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A rather late fresco of George I with the imperial regalia. This fresco is located in Hagia Sophia, on the external wall of the north Gallery, and was probably created in 1466 a few years before the death of the Basileus, as evidence of the restorations carried out by the sovereign.
 
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Trebizond was an extremely important city even when the Byzantine Empire was united, but after the invasion of the Seljuks and the creation of the Trapezuntine Empire in the 13th century, the city became even more important. It was a trading post for Russia and the destination of trade routes from the East. When the Safavid Empire, led by its charismatic religious leader Ismail, launched its conquest of the Middle East, the Empire of the Great Komnenos found itself increasingly isolated.
A first siege occurred during the reign of Shah Tahmasp I, the son of Ismail, but Trebizond was saved from the intervention of Russian, Georgian and Roman forces. However, the Safavids occupy Sinop and a large piece of Kurdistan.

At the end of the century, however, the great Shah Abbas I conquered the whole Anatolia, ending the Ottoman dynasty that kept the peninsula since the fourteenth century
A second siege was implemented against the pontic city. This time the rescue army sent by the Romans was intercepted by the Persians at the city of Sangarios. Defeated, the Romans had to retire.
Georgia no longer existed as an independent state, but after being defeated by Shah Tahmasp she had disintegrated into states fighting between itself and vassals (more or less loyal) of the Safavids.
Russian help was not sufficiently consistent and in the end Trebisonda had to surrender.
In the image, a miniature of a late Safavid age, you can see the Shah Abbas overlooking the port of the city while behind him the cathedral of Hagia Sofia stands out
 
Not an image, but a video.


An alternate version (alternate scene from 0:10-0:14 in the video) of the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Dying for Pie with SpongeBob showing off Squidward to a female office worker (compared to OTL, where he was shown off to a passerby anchovy businessman). Clip taken from a rerun during the early 2000s.

Storyboard of deleted scene
 
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One of the few pictures taken of the giant 25 foot (7.62 meter) gorilla-like primate known as Megaprimatus Kong, more often known as King Kong or just Kong for short in December 1933.

Shortly after this photo was taken, Kong broke free of his chains, escaped the Broadway theater that Carl Denham (who lead an expedition team to the fabled Skull Island and had him captured and brought back to New York City) had him displayed on stage as "Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World", kidnaped actress Ann Darrow and then climbed up to the top of the Empire State Building. After that, Kong would be shot down by US Navy biplanes and would fall off the 1,250 foot (381 meter) skyscraper to his death.

Following his death, Kong's remains were removed from the streets and put into storage inside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. His remains are the only known surviving remains of any Skull Island creature, as the island sunk into the Indian Ocean following a massive earthquake in 1948.
 
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One of the few pictures taken of the giant 25 foot (7.62 meter) gorilla-like primate known as Megaprimatus Kong, more often known as King Kong or just Kong for short in December 1933.

Shortly after this photo was taken, Kong broke free of his chains, escaped the Broadway theater that Carl Denham (who lead an expedition team to the fabled Skull Island and had him captured and brought back to New York City) had him displayed on stage as "Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World", kidnaped actress Ann Darrow and then climbed up to the top of the Empire State Building. After that, Kong would be shot down by US Navy biplanes and would fall off the 1,250 foot (381 meter) skyscraper to his death.

Following his death, Kong's remains were removed from the streets and put into storage inside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. His remains are the only known surviving remains of any Skull Island creature, as the island sunk into the Indian Ocean following a massive earthquake in 1948.
Very cool!
 
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The last picture ever taken of King George VI before his death on February 6, 1984. George VI served as King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 28 May 1972 until his death in 1984, aged 88. George asceded to the throne in 1972 at age 76 upon the death of his brother King Edward VIII at age 77. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.

His wife, known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II, would live a nearly unprecedented 117 years and 260 days until her death on 21 April 2018 (coincidentally also her daughter's 90th birthday), making her the oldest living person for 7 months and also was the last confirmed person that was alive during the 19th century.

Queen Elizabeth II is the current Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and has been since her father's death on 6 February 1984. With the successes of Lifex (Life Extension) technologies and biohancing techniques emerging in the late-2020s the Queen has just recently celebrated her 240th birthday on 21 April 2166, though she is in very poor health. 153-year-old George, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent to the British throne, and has been ever since the death of his father William, Prince of Wales in 2100 at age 118 from poor health. It is widely reported that upon his ascension to the throne that George will use his first name as his regnal name in honour of his grandfather King George VI. Elizabeth's eldest son Charles, Prince of Wales died in 2043 aged 95, despite Lifex treatments. Queen Elizabeth II's husband King Consort Philip Mountbatten passed away in June 2023 shortly after his 102nd birthday before such life extension technologies were available.
 
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The last picture ever taken of King George VI before his death on February 6, 1984. George VI served as King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 28 May 1972 until his death in 1984, aged 88. George asceded to the throne in 1972 at age 76 upon the death of his brother King Edward VIII at age 77. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.

His wife, known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II, would live a nearly unprecedented 117 years and 260 days until her death on 21 April 2018 (coincidentally also her daughter's 90th birthday), making her the oldest living person for 7 months and also was the last confirmed person that was alive during the 19th century.

Queen Elizabeth II is the current Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and has been since her father's death on 6 February 1984. With the successes of lifex (life extension) technologies and biohancing techniques emerging in the late-2020s the Queen has just recently celebrated her 240th birthday on 21 April 2166. 185-year-old William, Prince of Wales, is the heir apparent to the British throne, and has been ever since the death of his father Charles, Prince of Wales in 2043 aged 95. Queen Elizabeth II's husband King Consort Philip Mountbatten passed away in June 2023 shortly after his 102nd birthday before such life extension technologies were available.
Oh lord a 240 year old Queen Elizabeth?! What is the world like by 2166 ittl?
 
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Yes. And I heard a lot people speareding some pathetic rumor about her, says Queen had passed away already in September of last year
Rumours arise whenever she reaches a momentous milestone like at her Silver Jubilee in 2009, Ruby Jubilee in 2024, Golden Jubilee in 2034, Diamond Jubilee in 2044, Platinum Jubilee in 2054, Palladium Jubilee in 2059, Oak Jubilee in 2064, Sapphire Jubilee in 2069(😉), and Emerald Jubilee in 2074. Prince Charles served as regent ever since Elizabeth II suffered a stroke in 2026 at age 99. Upon his own death in 2043 Prince William took over the regency. Now Prince George, who has been exposed to Lifex treatments for most of his adult life since youth, has been regent for over a century since his father died in 2100.
Why would someone do that of course the Queen will reign forever!
Obviously she's immortal, she's gotta be by now at least. Scientists have said for over a century that biological human immortality is theoretically possible, especially since Lifex became mainstream.
 
Rumours arise whenever she reaches a momentous milestone like at her Silver Jubilee in 2009, Ruby Jubilee in 2024, Golden Jubilee in 2034, Diamond Jubilee in 2044, Platinum Jubilee in 2054, Palladium Jubilee in 2059, Oak Jubilee in 2064, Sapphire Jubilee in 2069(😉), and Emerald Jubilee in 2074. Prince Charles served as regent ever since Elizabeth II suffered a stroke in 2026 at age 99. Upon his own death in 2043 Prince William took over the regency. Now Prince George, who has been exposed to Lifex treatments for most of his adult life since youth, has been regent for over a century since his father died in 2100.

Obviously she's immortal, she's gotta be by now at least. Scientists have said for over a century that biological human immortality is theoretically possible, especially since Lifex became mainstream.
No disrespect to the Queen but she may be immortal but she is definitely senile as hell ittl.
 
View attachment 831813
The last picture ever taken of King George VI before his death on February 6, 1984. George VI served as King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 28 May 1972 until his death in 1984, aged 88. George asceded to the throne in 1972 at age 76 upon the death of his brother King Edward VIII at age 77. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.

His wife, known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II, would live a nearly unprecedented 117 years and 260 days until her death on 21 April 2018 (coincidentally also her daughter's 90th birthday), making her the oldest living person for 7 months and also was the last confirmed person that was alive during the 19th century.

Queen Elizabeth II is the current Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and has been since her father's death on 6 February 1984. With the successes of Lifex (Life Extension) technologies and biohancing techniques emerging in the late-2020s the Queen has just recently celebrated her 240th birthday on 21 April 2166, though she is in very poor health. 153-year-old George, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent to the British throne, and has been ever since the death of his father William, Prince of Wales in 2100 at age 118 from poor health. It is widely reported that upon his ascension to the throne that George will use his first name as his regnal name in honour of his grandfather King George VI. Elizabeth's eldest son Charles, Prince of Wales died in 2043 aged 95, despite Lifex treatments. Queen Elizabeth II's husband King Consort Philip Mountbatten passed away in June 2023 shortly after his 102nd birthday before such life extension technologies were available.
Damn! Longer-living monarchs!
 
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