Henry VIII's chilling final words after years of misery weighing 28 stone

Henry VIII is arguably the most famous King of England.

However, in the final years of his life, he was largely unrecognisable from the strong and of renown.

During the last several years of his reign, from 1539 to 1547, he was a lonely and vulnerable man.

The second of the Tudor kings, built a navy and made England stronger and more important in Europe.

But by the time he died, aged 56, he was plagued by illness, bankruptcy and thwarted ambitions.

He took the throne at the age of just 17 due to the death of his brother Arthur, whose widow, , became the first of six wives. By the time of his death, he had alienated England from the still all-powerful Catholic church and installed himself as the Head of the Church of England.

Born in 1509, Henry was disabled before he turned 40. Chronic osteomyelitis - bone infection - in Henry's legs forced him to walk with a staff

Within two years, he was winched into his first-floor Whitehall apartments by a chair on a rope. By 1545, six attendants carried him everywhere in a kind of sedan chair called the King's Tram.

By this time, the King weighed a gargantuan 28 stone. And he was frequently depressed, suffered violent mood swings, and became increasingly psychotic and paranoid.

This - along with his round face and wounds that were slow heal - has led some to speculate he was suffering from Cushing's syndrome. This is a rare endocrine abnormality triggered by excessive levels of the hormone cortisol.

says a traumatic brain injuries Henry suffered in the Greenwich Joust in 1536 could have caused this condition

By 1547, Henry's legs were is such a state that doctors were cauterising his wounds with hot irons, to burn away the infected tissue. The King was entering his final days - but nobody would tell the terrifying Tudor that he was dying.

Eventually, Sir Anthony Denny - the 'groom of the stool' who helped the King dress - would be the man to the tell the King that his end was nigh. Henry agreed to see Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, so the last rites could be performed.

But first, he said:"I would take a little sleep."

These would be his last words. Henry soon after slipped into a coma from which he would never recover.