It was rumored that after her death Diana, Princess of Wales was hastily embalmed to cloud tests that she may have been pregnant. However if this were the case an autopsy would still have easily been able to determine such an obvious condition and the rumour is just a myth.
Contrary to media reports John Paul II (pope 1978-2005) was not embalmed before lying in state and photographs of him clearly show the blotchiness and discoloration that is characteristic of lividity and the early stages of decomposition.
Having died in the summer when heat would hasten decomposition, Paul VI (pope 1963-1978) decomposed at his lying in state, prompting Vatican officials to install fans around the body to get rid of the odor.
Murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers was so well embalmed it allowed for a viable autopsy to be performed on his corpse decades after his death and this helped secure the conviction of his killer.
Perhaps the most famous embalmed body of the 20th century is that of Vladimir Lenin, which continues to draw crowds decades after his death.
Eva Perón ("Evita") was embalmed at the request of her husband, Argentine President Juan Perón, in order to make a Lenin-like shrine to her memory. A coup d'état toppled Perón, and his plan did not come to fruition. Sixteen years after her death, Eva Perón's body was exhumed and found to be in perfect condition, leading some sectors of Argentine society to call for her canonization
When Abraham Lincoln's body was embalmed, the embalmer preserved it for the long term. At the turn of the century, it was disinterred for forensic study, revealing a perfectly preserved corpse.
Rosalia Lombardo, who died at age two on 6 December 1920 and was one of the last corpses to make it to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Sicily before the local authorities banned the practice. Nicknamed the 'Sleeping Beauty', Rosalia's body is still perfectly intact. Embalmed by a certain Alfredo Salafia, she is in a glass case, looking very much like a surreal doll.