The final illness of Abdülmecid I in 1861 started a spate of rumors that there was a group in the palace who wanted Murad to succeed to the throne instead of Abdülaziz. There seems to have been no truth in these allegations, but they nevertheless worried Abdülaziz and especially his mother, Pertevniyal. On the night when Abdülmecid died and the grand vizier, the kapudan pasha, and the commander-in-chief of the Army conducted Abdülaziz from the heir's suite to the ruler's suite in Dolmabahçe Palace, Pertevniyal thought they were taking him prisoner.