6 of History’s Worst In-Laws

These historically terrible in-laws will make you appreciate your own family members.

I now pronounce you in-laws.
I now pronounce you in-laws. | Matthew Nigel via Shutterstock

If you thought your in-laws were bad, wait until you hear about some of these dysfunctional families from the annals of history. Eleanor Roosevelt had a famously overbearing mother-in-law—but that’s nothing compared to the royal family that killed all of their daughter-in-law’s kin.

On this episode of The List Show, host and Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy looks at some of the most dysfunctional in-laws known to history. From your garden-variety difficult personalities to brother-in-laws so bad they sent small children to the Tower of London, these famous figures prove that sometimes, marrying into a new family isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just be grateful they’re not your relatives.

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