It was relatively common in the middle ages for Kings, royals, and various other titled men to die in combat, and they were at least usually expected to fight personally. Despite the dangers of medieval combat and the expectations of nobility, however, many at the highest levels of aristocracy died in less than noble mundane accidents, and even in embarrassing circumstances.
On November 11, 2004 some thirteen thousand coalition troops were in Anbar province, Iraq, fighting the deadliest battle of the War in Iraq. Armistice Day, 2004, was war at its most horrible.