Talk:Ida Macalpine

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography

Women scientists

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women scientists, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Women in science on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women scientistsWikipedia:WikiProject Women scientistsTemplate:WikiProject Women scientistsWomen scientists
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Medicine: Society / Psychiatry Low‑importance

	Medicine portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Medicine, which recommends that medicine-related articles follow the Manual of Style for medicine-related articles and that biomedical information in any article use high-quality medical sources. Please visit the project page for details or ask questions at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine.MedicineWikipedia:WikiProject MedicineTemplate:WikiProject Medicinemedicine
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the Society and Medicine task force (assessed as Low-importance).
	Psychiatry portal This article is supported by the Psychiatry task force.

Germany

	Germany portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Germany, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Germany on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GermanyWikipedia:WikiProject GermanyTemplate:WikiProject GermanyGermany
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

England

	England portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject England, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of England on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.EnglandWikipedia:WikiProject EnglandTemplate:WikiProject EnglandEngland-related
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

A fact from Ida Macalpine appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 30 November 2025 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that, to prove that the "mad king" George III was not actually mad, psychiatrist Ida Macalpine sought out his descendants' faeces?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Did you know archive/2025/November. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Ida Macalpine.

Wikipedia

Did you know nomination

Latest comment: 6 months ago5 comments3 people in discussion

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. You can locate your hook here. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by HurricaneZeta (talk) 22:09, 23 November 2025 (UTC)Reply

(

Comment or view
Article history

)

... that psychiatrist Ida Macalpine complained that royals were too squeamish to provide her with their feces?

Source: "The problems of obtaining the necessary samples did prove to be a major frustration to Macalpine , as evidenced by her remarks: 'The greatest difficulty seems to be the squeamishness of living members to supply the necessary goods', and 'How I look forward to the time when we no longer depend on Royalty." (Röhl, Warren & Hunt 1999, p. 44)

- ALT1: ... that in order to prove that the "mad king" George III was not actually mad, psychiatrist Ida Macalpine sought out his descendants' feces?
- ALT2: ... that psychiatrist Ida Macalpine boasted of having secretly obtained royal urine? Source: "... would hint of eminent personages who confirmed her story (and even of having got clandestine specimens of Royal urine , which had proved positive )." (Röhl, Warren & Hunt 1999, p. 47)
- Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Bob Barrabee, Template:Did you know nominations/XIV International Chopin Piano Competition

Created by Surtsicna (talk). Number of QPQs required: 2. DYK is currently in unreviewed backlog mode and nominator has 260 past nominations.

Surtsicna (talk) 21:13, 8 November 2025 (UTC).Reply

Will review this. BeanieFan11 (talk) 00:26, 9 November 2025 (UTC)Reply

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: That is...very odd – but interesting! Article looks good and hook is verified. Should be good to go. BeanieFan11 (talk) 00:57, 9 November 2025 (UTC)Reply

Thanks! Very odd is indeed one way to describe her. I hope this hook can run on the same day as that about her son. Perhaps the anniversary of his death, 25 November, would be suitable. Surtsicna (talk) 08:02, 10 November 2025 (UTC)Reply

Add topic