Every tragedy to strike the Queen Vic since Aunt Babe cursed EastEnders’ iconic pub

We all remember exactly where we were when Aunt Babe stood in the pouring rain outside EastEnders’ Queen Vic and laid a curse on the iconic pub – but can you believe that that was seven years ago?

The Queen Vic has seen a lot of drama over the years, from murders to fires, brawls to raids and everything in between.

While we can’t necessarily attribute everything that has gone wrong in the past seven years to Aunt Babe’s curse – it had a pretty bad track record before then – it certainly didn’t help matters.

After finally being caught out for a series of misdeeds, Babe Smith was thrown out of the Queen Vic – and the family home – on February 9, 2017.

Aunt Babe’s curse has caused havoc in the lives of many

Standing in the pouring rain, she proceeded to lay a curse on the Carter family, hoping that they would lose everything, as well as turning on the pub itself.

So, seven years later, just how much damage has Aunt Babe’s curse inflicted on Albert Square’s iconic boozer?

Sylvie Carter’s tragic death

It didn’t take long for things to go downhill for the Carters, with Sylvie dying in a tragic accident in March 2017.

Sylvie and Babe had never really got on, with Babe’s cruelty towards her actually being the catalyst to her exit.

When the Carters found out that Babe had left Sylvie all alone at the canal in the rain, they were furious, and it was the beginning of the end for Babe.

Poor Sylvie was suffering with dementia, and woke up confused in the middle of the night just a few weeks later, after having been put to bed with a CD by daughter Tina.

Sylvie then carried the CD player into the bathroom, before running herself a bath.

Later the Carters were alarmed when the power suddenly cut out, and their investigation led them to find Sylvie dead in the bath, having been electrocuted.

Abi and Lauren’s fatal fall

December 2017 was a bad time for most of the residents of Albert Square.

The return of Kathy Beale’s (Gillian Taylforth) rapist James Willmott-Brown as Chief Executive Officer of property developing company Weyland & Co spelled disaster for the future of the Queen Vic as well as other businesses on the Square.

Weyland & Co managed to get their hands on a number of iconic Walford properties thanks to the help of Max Branning, who felt scorned by his neighbours for allowing him to be scapegoated for the murder of Lucy Beale.

When it was revealed that the company planned to knock everything down to build flats, and Max’s involvement was subsequently uncovered, everything began to fall apart, with Max ultimately making his way up to the roof of the Queen Vic with plans to end his life.

However, he was soon joined by daughters Abi and Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa), who urged him not to do it.

With the rain pouring down, it didn’t take long for the girls to slip, sending them both over the edge of the roof, leaving Max horrified.

Thankfully, Lauren made a full recovery, but Abi wasn’t so fortunate, and later died in hospital from her injuries.

The pub brawl

In March 2018, the Queen Vic suffered quite a lot of damage amid the dramatic return of Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace).

Residents of Albert Square had gathered in the local boozer, all clad out in leopard print, to celebrate the life of Kat, who they believed had tragically died.

Imagine their shock when Kat herself walked in, followed by an ashamed Mo Harris, announcing that she was actually very much alive, and Mo had lied about her being dead.

What followed were scenes of absolute carnage, which saw Mo fake a heart attack, punches be thrown and an all out brawl erupt, finally resulting in a barstool being lobbed through a window.

Hunter holds the pub hostage

Things remained relatively quiet in the Queen Vic until September 2019, when Hunter Owen held a number of residents hostage in the pub.

The dramatic scenes saw Kush Kazemi, Jack Branning, Mick Carter and Keegan Baker all fight Hunter for control of his gun, with Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) being shot in the crossfire.

With Ben fighting for his life, Hunter refused to let anyone leave, despite mum Mel Owen’s pleas for him to see sense.

In a dramatic scene, Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) performed possibly the most impressive procedure of her entire nursing career when she managed to save Ben’s life with just a knife and a biro.

However, not everyone survived the day, as Hunter was later killed by armed police after shooting Keanu Taylor and holding Louise Mitchell at gunpoint.

Mick and Linda’s divorce

With Aunt Babe’s curse encompassing not just the pub but the Carter family as well, it was only a matter of time before Mick and Linda Carter’s (Kellie Bright) marriage fell apart.

Linda and Mick were childhood sweethearts, but things looked bleak for them when Linda’s alcoholism put a strain on their marriage.

Surprisingly, it was not Mick who chose to end things between them, but Linda herself, who, while drunk, offered her husband of four years divorce papers in a scene reminiscent of Den Watts’ Christmas Day 1986 surprise for wife Angie.

Thankfully, Mick and Linda managed to get things back on track for a while after Linda’s near death experience during the boat crash, but their commitment to helping Linda recover from her alcoholism meant that they ended up having to sell the Vic to Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt).

However, their happiness didn’t last long, as Linda soon embarked on an affair with Max Branning, falling pregnant with his daughter.

Though Mick tried to bond with baby Annie, he eventually realised that he couldn’t forgive Linda for what she’d done.

Things only got worse when Janine Butcher made it her mission to split Mick and Linda up, eventually succeeding in her plight – more on that later.

Carbonara gate

It seems that Aunt Babe’s curse stretched way beyond the Carters, as Ian Beale’s tenure are landlord didn’t exactly go smoothly either.

In one of EastEnders most insane, camp storylines ever, Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) decided she was going to get revenge on husband Ian for his involvement in son Denny’s death.

But how was she going to do that? By poisoning his carbonara, of course.

Over a number of weeks, Ian’s health began deteriorating as a result of Sharon poisoning his food, until he finally worked out what was going on.

Though Ian was willing to eat his poisoned final meal, Sharon had a sudden change of heart, and urged him stop.

Needless to say, the couple were soon divorced, and Ian left the Square for quite a long time…

Mick’s demise

With the Carters back in control of the Queen Vic, things weren’t about to get any easier, especially with Janine thrown in the mix.

After a dramatic year, things came to a head in December 2022 when Mick and Janine finally tied the knot, only for Janine’s misdeeds to finally be exposed.

Christmas Day saw Mick learn that Linda hadn’t actually been drink driving, and that Janine had been playing him the whole time.

After finally admitting that they still loved one another (Aw!), Mick and Linda embarked on a dramatic car chase in pursuit of Janine, which resulted in all three of them driving over a cliff and into the murky depths below.

While Linda and Janine made it out alive, the same couldn’t be said for landlord Mick, who has been missing at sea ever since.

Dean’s return

In October 2023, the return of evil rapist Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) tore Linda’s world apart.

The months that followed brought further pain and suffering to the landlady, as she tried to cope with Dean’s overbearing presence.

Things came to a head when a fight between Dean and George Knight (Colin Salmon) saw Dean go flying down the stairs.

With Dean threatening to go to the police and send George, who was already on a suspended sentence, to prison, Linda was left with no choice but to give in to Dean’s blackmail.

Dean insisted that Linda tell him he hadn’t raped her, which Linda eventually did, not knowing that he had recorded the exchange.

Weeks later, Dean played the recording in the middle of the Queen Vic, leaving the punters stunned and Linda devastated.

The Christmas murder

Christmas Day 2023 was an episode the whole nation had been waiting for, given that it was teased in a flash forward scene the February before.

However, no one could have expected the absolute carnage that ensue at the Vic that night.

First of all, Nish Panesar (Navin Chowdhry) was attacked with a bottle by Denise Fox (Diane Parish), who was trying to save Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) from his clutches.

Nish was knocked unconscious and only survived thanks to Suki’s CPR.

While she was busy attempting to save his life, the five other women had gathered in the hallway to witness a confrontation between Sharon Watts and Keanu Taylor.

As Keanu strangled Sharon, Linda Carter swept in and stabbed him in order to save her best friend.

In the hours that followed, The Six pulled together to coverup the murder by hiding Keanu’s body in the café.