Lord Lyttelton, a 35-year old English noblemen, had an unusual visitor on November 24, 1779. He was lying in his four-poster bed, just after midnight, when he heard what sounded like a bird fluttering nearby. He looked up and saw a strange woman, dressed all in white, standing in his bedchamber.

The woman pointed her finger at Lyttelton accusingly, and then make a chilling prediction: she told him he would be dead within three days. As soon as she had delivered her message, she dissapeared.

Lord Lyttelton was very upset and frightened by what he had seen, and began to worry that he really did onl have three days to live. He confided in several of his friends, telling them all about the ghostly woman and her unnerving news. As Lyttelton was a wealthy, aristocrat, and was well known in London, gossip about the ghost soon spread throughout the city,

By the morning of November 27, three days after the ghost had appeared, hundreds of people were waiting to find out whether the spooky prediction would come true. Some even said the Lord was being punished for his self indulgent lifestyle.

Lord Lyttelton went to his country house, Pit Place, to spend what he thought might be the last day of his life. He was despondent, dreading that his death would soon be upon hiim. But as November 27 wore on, he showed no signs of illness, and by suppertime he began to feel quite relieved. He had invited a group of friends to dinner that evening, and he boldly told his guests that he thought the danger was over.

At 11pm, when he went to bed, Lord Lyttelton was still in good health, and confident that he would survive the night. His servant helped him undress, and was then sent to fetch a teaspoon.

When he returned just a few minutes later, the servant was horrified to find Lord Lyttelton having a violent fit. Just a few moments later, he was dead. The time was just before midnight-almost exactly three days after the woman in white's visit.

35 years old, you say? Thanks for that, siphis.

Anyhoo...Could this figure have been a premonition his mind created to give himself the message. If he had a fit that killed him, maybe there was something terminally wrong with his brain anyway.

Or was it one of those banshee/warning-of-death type entities, that Hammy posted a thread about, a few weeks back?

Here's the story of another `white lady' foretelling of death:

The White Lady of Prussia (Prussia being the heart of modern Germany, for those no good at history) would appear to members of the ruling family, the Hohenzollerns, shortly before they were to die, or before some disaster would befall the family.

In one account, the ghost of Frederick the Great appeared to his nephew, Frederick William, telling him not to invade France, and that should he still do so, he would receive a visit from the white lady, with the inevitable consequences.

There is a report that the white lady appeared in 1619 to the then ruler, John Sigismund, who died the day after. She was seen again at the Old Palace in 1806, shortly before Prince Louis of Prussia was killed.

And she was apparently seen in June 1914 during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Although the Kaiser did not die, his relative, the Archduke Ferdinand, was assassinated in that month, sparking the Great War.

Say can anyone tell me when the latest siteing was?

Much to my annoyance, I haven't been able to find a sighting since 1914, but I'm still looking.

One account I came across gives a name to the white lady. She is thought to be Princess Perchta von Rosenberg, who haunts the descendents of her cruel husband.

What happened in 1914?

Thanks, siphis.

Strangely enough, this tale of the supernatural dovetails nicely into another, detailing the cursed car in which the Archduke died.

Check out Hammy's Cursed Cars thread, also in this ghosts section.

could this white lady be somehow related to the banshee?