Why Yes, That Is the Severed Head of the King of France
This is how you know you're rich: When you are the kind of person who has a "private collection" that includes the severed head of Henri IV, the former King of France. Apparently, there are several such people.
You see, the embalmed head—which was just confirmed by scientists as that of the monarch—has apparently "shuffled between private collections ever since it disappeared during the French Revolution in 1793," according to the AP. Not just been in a private collection! Private collections! Like, there are at least two people out there who are so rich and so weird that they owned a head. And not just a head! The head of a king! And finally, I have a life goal!
Henri, one of very few kings that the French look back upon with any kind of fondness, was killed in 1610 and buried near Paris in the Basilica of St. Denis. But during the revolution, his body was dug up and his head removed. At this point it seems to have entered one of these fascinating "private collections" between which it was "shuffled" until this year, when it somehow, mysteriously, came into the hands of a group of forensic scientists. They've confirmed its identity by comparing the head to portraits, and matching injuries to reports of assassination attempts. It will be buried with a ceremony next year, and weird rich collectors will have to turn their interest to other royal body parts.