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On September 22, 1761, the coronation of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte took place. From the article:
"George III
England’s longest-ruling monarch before Queen Victoria, King George III (1738-1820) ascended the British throne in 1760. During his 59-year reign, he pushed through a British victory in the Seven Years’ War, led England’s successful resistance to Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, and presided over the loss of the American Revolution. After suffering intermittent bouts of acute mental illness, he spent his last decade in a fog of insanity and blindness.
George III: Birth and Education
The Georgian era (1714-1830) spanned the combined reigns of the five British monarchs from the Electorate of Hanover, a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. George III was the first Hanoverian king born in England rather than Germany. His parents were Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
On his father’s death in 1751, the 12-year-old George became Prince of Wales. He was cared for in relative isolation by his mother and tutored by the Scottish nobleman Lord Bute.
George III: Early Reign
George III became king of Great Britain and Ireland in 1760 following his grandfather George II’s death. In his accession speech to Parliament, the 22-year-old monarch played down his Hanoverian connections. “Born and educated in this country,” he said, “I glory in the name of Britain.”
A year after his coronation, George was married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of a German duke. It was a political union—the two met for the first time on their wedding day—but a fruitful one; Queen Charlotte gave birth to 15 children.
George III worked for an expedited end to the The Seven Years’ War (1756-63), taking a position that forced his influential war minister William Pitt the Elder (who wanted to broaden the conflict) to resign in 1761. The next year George appointed Lord Bute as his prime minister, the first in a quick succession of five ineffective ministers.
In 1764 Prime Minister George Grenville introduced the Stamp Act as a way of raising revenue in the American colonies. The act was fervently opposed in America, especially by the pamphleteers whose paper would be taxed. Parliament would repeal the act two years later, but mistrust persisted in the colonies.
George III: The American Revolution
In 1770 Lord North became prime minister, beginning a 12-year period of parliamentary stability. In 1773 he passed an act taxing tea in the colonies. The Americans complained of taxation without representation (and staged the Boston Tea Party), but North held firm with George’s backing.
The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The next year, the Declaration of Independence laid out the Americans’ case for freedom, portraying George III as an inflexible tyrant who had squandered his right to govern the colonies. In reality the situation was more complex: Parliamentary ministers, not the crown, were responsible for colonial policies, though George still had means of direct and indirect influence.
The king was reluctant to come to terms with his army’s defeat in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. He drafted an abdication speech but in the end decided to defer to Parliament’s peace negotiations. The 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the United States and ceded Florida to Spain.
George III: Mental Illness
At the end of 1783, Lord North’s coalition was forced out by William Pitt the Younger, who would be prime minister for more than 17 years. In 1778 George lapsed into a months-long period of violent insanity. He was restrained with a straitjacket and suffered various treatments as crisis of rule unfolded around him. He recovered the next year and reigned for the next 12 as a newly beloved monarch and symbol of stability in the era of France’s revolutionary chaos. George’s support of England’s role in the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 1790s offered early resistance against the Napoleonic juggernaut.
George suffered a second major bout of insanity in 1804 and recovered, but in 1810 he slipped into his final illness. A year later his son, the future George IV, became prince regent, giving him effective rule for the War of 1812 and Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo in 1815. George III died blind, deaf and mad on January 29, 1820. His illnesses may have been caused by porphyria, an inherited metabolic disorder, though a 2005 analysis of hair samples suggested arsenic poisoning (from medicines and cosmetics) as a possible cause. He is buried in St. George’s Chapel."
"George III
England’s longest-ruling monarch before Queen Victoria, King George III (1738-1820) ascended the British throne in 1760. During his 59-year reign, he pushed through a British victory in the Seven Years’ War, led England’s successful resistance to Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, and presided over the loss of the American Revolution. After suffering intermittent bouts of acute mental illness, he spent his last decade in a fog of insanity and blindness.
George III: Birth and Education
The Georgian era (1714-1830) spanned the combined reigns of the five British monarchs from the Electorate of Hanover, a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. George III was the first Hanoverian king born in England rather than Germany. His parents were Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
On his father’s death in 1751, the 12-year-old George became Prince of Wales. He was cared for in relative isolation by his mother and tutored by the Scottish nobleman Lord Bute.
George III: Early Reign
George III became king of Great Britain and Ireland in 1760 following his grandfather George II’s death. In his accession speech to Parliament, the 22-year-old monarch played down his Hanoverian connections. “Born and educated in this country,” he said, “I glory in the name of Britain.”
A year after his coronation, George was married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of a German duke. It was a political union—the two met for the first time on their wedding day—but a fruitful one; Queen Charlotte gave birth to 15 children.
George III worked for an expedited end to the The Seven Years’ War (1756-63), taking a position that forced his influential war minister William Pitt the Elder (who wanted to broaden the conflict) to resign in 1761. The next year George appointed Lord Bute as his prime minister, the first in a quick succession of five ineffective ministers.
In 1764 Prime Minister George Grenville introduced the Stamp Act as a way of raising revenue in the American colonies. The act was fervently opposed in America, especially by the pamphleteers whose paper would be taxed. Parliament would repeal the act two years later, but mistrust persisted in the colonies.
George III: The American Revolution
In 1770 Lord North became prime minister, beginning a 12-year period of parliamentary stability. In 1773 he passed an act taxing tea in the colonies. The Americans complained of taxation without representation (and staged the Boston Tea Party), but North held firm with George’s backing.
The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The next year, the Declaration of Independence laid out the Americans’ case for freedom, portraying George III as an inflexible tyrant who had squandered his right to govern the colonies. In reality the situation was more complex: Parliamentary ministers, not the crown, were responsible for colonial policies, though George still had means of direct and indirect influence.
The king was reluctant to come to terms with his army’s defeat in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. He drafted an abdication speech but in the end decided to defer to Parliament’s peace negotiations. The 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the United States and ceded Florida to Spain.
George III: Mental Illness
At the end of 1783, Lord North’s coalition was forced out by William Pitt the Younger, who would be prime minister for more than 17 years. In 1778 George lapsed into a months-long period of violent insanity. He was restrained with a straitjacket and suffered various treatments as crisis of rule unfolded around him. He recovered the next year and reigned for the next 12 as a newly beloved monarch and symbol of stability in the era of France’s revolutionary chaos. George’s support of England’s role in the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 1790s offered early resistance against the Napoleonic juggernaut.
George suffered a second major bout of insanity in 1804 and recovered, but in 1810 he slipped into his final illness. A year later his son, the future George IV, became prince regent, giving him effective rule for the War of 1812 and Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo in 1815. George III died blind, deaf and mad on January 29, 1820. His illnesses may have been caused by porphyria, an inherited metabolic disorder, though a 2005 analysis of hair samples suggested arsenic poisoning (from medicines and cosmetics) as a possible cause. He is buried in St. George’s Chapel."
George III
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More information on King George III: George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738[c] – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 Oc...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on September 22, 1761 the coronation of British King George III and Queen Charlotte took place at Westminster Abbey.
King George III Documentary
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738[c] – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two predecessors he was born in Britain, spoke English as his first language,[1] and never visited Hanover.[2]
His life and with it his reign, which were longer than any other British monarch before him, were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britain's American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness. Although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, and George III's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent. On George III's death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV.
Historical analysis of George III's life has gone through a "kaleidoscope of changing views" that have depended heavily on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them.[3] Until it was reassessed in the second half of the 20th century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant; and in Britain he became "the scapegoat for the failure of imperialism"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVh6Jr7CbYI
Images:
1. King George III studio of Sir William Beechey, oil on canvas, based on a work of 1799-1800
2. King George III by Bernard Baron, after Josef Anton Adolph line engraving, 1755
3. The Royal Family of England in the year 1787 - in the centre King George III (1738 - 1820), and Queen Charlotte Sophia (1744 - 1818), surrounded by their children.
4. Pastel portrait of George as Prince of Wales by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1754
Biographies:
1. https://www.thoughtco.com/king-george-iii-biography-4178933
2. royal.uk/george-iii]
1. Background from {[https://www.thoughtco.com/king-george-iii-biography-4178933]}
King George III: British Ruler During the American Revolution
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland during the American Revolution. Much of his reign, which lasted from 1760 to 1820, was colored by his ongoing problems with mental illness. During the last decade of his life, he was incapacitated to the degree that his eldest son ruled as Prince Regent, giving name to the Regency Era.
Fast Facts: King George III
• Full Name: George William Frederick
• Known For: King of Great Britain and Ireland during the American Revolution, suffered from acute and debilitating bouts of mental illness
• Born: June 4, 1738 in London, England
• Died: January 29, 1820 in London, England
• Spouse's Name: Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• Children: 15
Early Years
Born June 4, 1738, George William Frederick was the grandson of Great Britain’s King George II. His father, Frederick, the Prince of Wales, though estranged from the king, was still the heir apparent to the throne. George’s mother, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Goethe, was the daughter of a Hanoverian duke.
Although sickly as a child—George was born two months prematurely—he soon grew stronger, and he and his younger brother Prince Edward moved with their parents to the family home in London’s exclusive Leicester Square. The boys were educated by private tutors, as was common for the children of royalty. Young George was precocious, and he could read and write several languages fluently, as well as discuss politics, science, and history, by the time he was an adolescent.
In 1751, when George was thirteen, his father, the Prince of Wales, died unexpectedly, following a pulmonary embolism. Suddenly, George became the Duke of Edinburgh and the heir apparent to the British crown; within three weeks, his grandfather made him Prince of Wales. In 1760, George II passed away at the age of seventy, leaving 22-year-old George III to take the throne. Once he became king, he soon realized it was vital for him to find a suitable wife to bear his sons; the very future of the empire depended on it.
Seventeen-year-old Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the daughter of a duke, privately educated, and had no scandals attached to her name, making her the perfect bride for a king. George and Charlotte did not even meet until their wedding day in 1761. By all reports, the two of them had a mutually respectful marriage; there was no infidelity on either of their parts, and they had fifteen children together. Charlotte and George were avid patrons of the arts, and were especially interested in German music and composers like Handel, Bach, and Mozart.
During the first few years of George's reign, the British Empire was financially shaky, due in part to the aftershocks of the Seven Years War (1756 to 1763). The British colonies were generating little revenue, so strict tax laws and regulations were enacted to bring extra money to the crown coffers.
Revolution in the Colonies
After decades of no representation in Parliament, and resentful of the extra tax burdens, the colonies in North America rebelled. America's founding fathers famously detailed the transgressions perpetrated against them by the King in the Declaration of Independence:
"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
After a series of setbacks in North America, George's advisor Lord North, then the Prime Minister, suggested the king take a break from trying to handle the dissent in the colonies. North proposed that Lord Chatham, William Pitt the Elder, step in and take power of oversight. George refused the idea, and North resigned following General Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown. Eventually, George accepted that his armies had been defeated by the colonists, and authorized peace negotiations.
Mental Illness and the Regency
Wealth and status could not protect the king from suffering extreme bouts of mental illness—some so severe that he was incapacitated and unable to make decisions for his realm. George’s mental health issues were well-documented by his equerry, Robert Fulke Greville, and Buckingham Palace. In fact, he was heavily monitored by staff at all times, even while he slept. In 2018, the records were made public for the first time. In 1788, Dr Francis Willis wrote:
“H.M became so ungovernable that recourse was had to the strait waistcoat: His legs were tied, & he was secured down across his Breast, & in this melancholy situation he was, when I came to make my morning Enquiries.”
Scientists and historians have debated for over two centuries about the cause of the famous “madness.” One 1960s study indicated a link to the hereditary blood disorder porphyria. People suffering from porphyria experience acute anxiety, confusion, and paranoia.
However, a 2010 study published in the Journal of Psychiatry concluded that George probably didn’t have porphyria at all. Led by Peter Garrard, professor of neurology at St. George’s University of London, researchers did a linguistic study of George’s correspondences, and determined that he suffered from “acute mania.” Many of the characteristics of George’s letters during his periods of illness are also seen in the writings and speech of patients today who are in the midst of the manic phase of illnesses like bipolar disorder. Typical symptoms of a manic state are compatible with contemporary accounts of George’s behavior.
It is believed that George's first bout of mental illness surfaced around 1765. He spoke endlessly, often for hours, and sometimes without an audience, causing himself to foam at the mouth and lose his voice. He rarely slept. He shouted unintelligibly at advisors who spoke to him, and wrote lengthy letters to anyone and everyone, with some sentences being hundreds of words long.
With the king unable to function effectively, his mother Augusta and Prime Minister Lord Bute somehow managed to keep Queen Charlotte unaware of what was happening. In addition, they conspired to keep her ignorant of the Regency Bill, which decreed that in the event of George’s full incapacity, Charlotte herself would then be appointed Regent.
Some twenty years later, after the Revolution had ended, George had a relapse. Charlotte was, by now, aware of the existence of the Regency Bill; however, her son, the Prince of Wales, had designs of his own on the Regency. When George recovered in 1789, Charlotte held a ball in honor of the King's return to health—and deliberately failed to invite her son. However, the two of them formally reconciled in 1791.
Although he remained popular with his subjects, George eventually descended into permanent madness, and in 1804, Charlotte moved into separate quarters. George was declared insane in 1811, and agreed to be placed under Charlotte's guardianship, which remained in place until Charlotte's death in 1818. At the same time, he consented to his empire being placed in the hands of his son, the Prince of Wales, as Prince Regent.
Death and Legacy
For the last nine years of his life, George lived in seclusion at Windsor Castle. He eventually developed dementia, and didn't seem to understand that he was the king, or that his wife had died. On January 29, 1820, he died, and was buried a month later at Windsor. His son George IV, the Prince Regent, succeeded to the throne, where he reigned for ten years until his own death. In 1837, George's granddaughter Victoria became Queen.
Although the issues addressed in the Declaration of Independence paint George as a tyrant, twentieth-century scholars take a more sympathetic approach, viewing him as a victim of both the changing political landscape and his own mental illness.
Sources
• “George III.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, http://www.history.com/topics/british-history/george-iii.
• “What Was the Truth about the Madness of George III?” BBC News, BBC, 15 Apr. 2013, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22122407.
• Yedroudj, Latifa. “'Mad' King George III Mental Health Records REVEALED in Buckingham Palace Archives.” Express.co.uk, Express.co.uk, 19 Nov. 2018, http://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1047457/royal-news-king-george-III-buckingham-palace-hamilton-royal-family-news.
2. Background from {[https://www.royal.uk/george-iii]}
George III (r. 1760-1820)
George III was born on 4 June 1738 in London, the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
He became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first language.
George III is widely remembered for two things: losing the American colonies and going mad. This is far from the whole truth.
George's direct responsibility for the loss of the colonies is not great. He opposed their bid for independence to the end, but he did not develop the policies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties of 1767 on tea, paper and other products, which led to war in 1775-76 and which had the support of Parliament.
These policies were largely due to the financial burdens of garrisoning and administering the vast expansion of territory brought under the British Crown in America, the costs of a series of wars with France and Spain in North America, and the loans given to the East India Company (then responsible for administering India).
By the 1770s, and at a time when there was no income tax, the national debt required an annual revenue of £4 million to service it.
The declaration of American independence on 4 July 1776, the end of the war with the surrender by British forces in 1782, and the defeat which the loss of the American colonies represented, could have threatened the Hanoverian throne.
Read a letter by George III on the loss of America
However, George's strong defence of what he saw as the national interest and the prospect of long war with revolutionary France made him, if anything, more popular than before.
The American war, its political aftermath and family anxieties placed great strain on George in the 1780s. After serious bouts of illness in 1788-89 and again in 1801, George became permanently deranged in 1810.
He was mentally unfit to rule in the last decade of his reign; his eldest son - the later George IV - acted as Prince Regent from 1811. Some medical historians have said that George III's mental instability was caused by a hereditary physical disorder called porphyria.
George's accession in 1760 marked a significant change in royal finances. Since 1697, the monarch had received an annual grant of £700,000 from Parliament as a contribution to the Civil List, i.e. civil government costs (such as judges' and ambassadors' salaries) and the expenses of the Royal Household.
In 1760, it was decided that the whole cost of the Civil List should be provided by Parliament, in return for the surrender of the hereditary revenues by the King for the duration of his reign.
The first 25 years of George's reign were politically controversial for reasons other than the conflict with America. The King was accused by some critics, particularly Whigs (a leading political grouping), of attempting to reassert royal authority in an unconstitutional manner.
In fact, George took a conventional view of the constitution and the powers left to the Crown after the conflicts between Crown and Parliament in the 17th century.
Although he was careful not to exceed his powers, George's limited ability and lack of subtlety in dealing with the shifting alliances within the Tory and Whig political groupings in Parliament meant that he found it difficult to bring together ministries which could enjoy the support of the House of Commons.
His problem was solved first by the long-lasting ministry of Lord North (1770-82) and then, William, from 1783, by Pitt the Younger, whose ministry lasted until 1801.
George III was the most attractive of the Hanoverian monarchs. He was a good family man and devoted to his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom he bought the Queen's House (later enlarged to become Buckingham Palace). They had 15 children, 13 of whom reached adulthood.
However, his sons disappointed him and, after his brothers made unsuitable secret marriages, the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 was passed at George's insistence. (Under this Act, the Sovereign must give consent to the marriage of any lineal descendant of George II, with certain exceptions.)
Being extremely conscientious, George read all government papers and sometimes annoyed his ministers by taking such a prominent interest in government and policy.
His political influence could be decisive. In 1801, he forced Pitt the Younger to resign when the two men disagreed about whether Roman Catholics should have full civil rights. George III, because of his coronation oath to maintain the rights and privileges of the Church of England, was against the proposed measure.
One of the most cultured of monarchs, George started a new royal collection of books (65,000 of his books were later given to the British Museum, as the nucleus of a national library) and opened his library to scholars.
In 1768, George founded and paid the initial costs of the Royal Academy of Arts (now famous for its exhibitions).
He was the first king to study science as part of his education (he had his own astronomical observatory), and examples of his collection of scientific instruments can now be seen in the Science Museum.
George III also took a keen interest in agriculture, particularly on the crown estates at Richmond and Windsor, being known as 'Farmer George'.
In his last years, physical as well as mental powers deserted him and he became blind.
He died at Windsor Castle on 29 January 1820, after a reign of almost 60 years - the third longest in British history. His son, George IV - who had been Prince Regent since 1811 became King."
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King George III Documentary
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738[c] – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two predecessors he was born in Britain, spoke English as his first language,[1] and never visited Hanover.[2]
His life and with it his reign, which were longer than any other British monarch before him, were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britain's American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness. Although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, and George III's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent. On George III's death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV.
Historical analysis of George III's life has gone through a "kaleidoscope of changing views" that have depended heavily on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them.[3] Until it was reassessed in the second half of the 20th century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant; and in Britain he became "the scapegoat for the failure of imperialism"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVh6Jr7CbYI
Images:
1. King George III studio of Sir William Beechey, oil on canvas, based on a work of 1799-1800
2. King George III by Bernard Baron, after Josef Anton Adolph line engraving, 1755
3. The Royal Family of England in the year 1787 - in the centre King George III (1738 - 1820), and Queen Charlotte Sophia (1744 - 1818), surrounded by their children.
4. Pastel portrait of George as Prince of Wales by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1754
Biographies:
1. https://www.thoughtco.com/king-george-iii-biography-4178933
2. royal.uk/george-iii]
1. Background from {[https://www.thoughtco.com/king-george-iii-biography-4178933]}
King George III: British Ruler During the American Revolution
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland during the American Revolution. Much of his reign, which lasted from 1760 to 1820, was colored by his ongoing problems with mental illness. During the last decade of his life, he was incapacitated to the degree that his eldest son ruled as Prince Regent, giving name to the Regency Era.
Fast Facts: King George III
• Full Name: George William Frederick
• Known For: King of Great Britain and Ireland during the American Revolution, suffered from acute and debilitating bouts of mental illness
• Born: June 4, 1738 in London, England
• Died: January 29, 1820 in London, England
• Spouse's Name: Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• Children: 15
Early Years
Born June 4, 1738, George William Frederick was the grandson of Great Britain’s King George II. His father, Frederick, the Prince of Wales, though estranged from the king, was still the heir apparent to the throne. George’s mother, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Goethe, was the daughter of a Hanoverian duke.
Although sickly as a child—George was born two months prematurely—he soon grew stronger, and he and his younger brother Prince Edward moved with their parents to the family home in London’s exclusive Leicester Square. The boys were educated by private tutors, as was common for the children of royalty. Young George was precocious, and he could read and write several languages fluently, as well as discuss politics, science, and history, by the time he was an adolescent.
In 1751, when George was thirteen, his father, the Prince of Wales, died unexpectedly, following a pulmonary embolism. Suddenly, George became the Duke of Edinburgh and the heir apparent to the British crown; within three weeks, his grandfather made him Prince of Wales. In 1760, George II passed away at the age of seventy, leaving 22-year-old George III to take the throne. Once he became king, he soon realized it was vital for him to find a suitable wife to bear his sons; the very future of the empire depended on it.
Seventeen-year-old Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the daughter of a duke, privately educated, and had no scandals attached to her name, making her the perfect bride for a king. George and Charlotte did not even meet until their wedding day in 1761. By all reports, the two of them had a mutually respectful marriage; there was no infidelity on either of their parts, and they had fifteen children together. Charlotte and George were avid patrons of the arts, and were especially interested in German music and composers like Handel, Bach, and Mozart.
During the first few years of George's reign, the British Empire was financially shaky, due in part to the aftershocks of the Seven Years War (1756 to 1763). The British colonies were generating little revenue, so strict tax laws and regulations were enacted to bring extra money to the crown coffers.
Revolution in the Colonies
After decades of no representation in Parliament, and resentful of the extra tax burdens, the colonies in North America rebelled. America's founding fathers famously detailed the transgressions perpetrated against them by the King in the Declaration of Independence:
"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
After a series of setbacks in North America, George's advisor Lord North, then the Prime Minister, suggested the king take a break from trying to handle the dissent in the colonies. North proposed that Lord Chatham, William Pitt the Elder, step in and take power of oversight. George refused the idea, and North resigned following General Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown. Eventually, George accepted that his armies had been defeated by the colonists, and authorized peace negotiations.
Mental Illness and the Regency
Wealth and status could not protect the king from suffering extreme bouts of mental illness—some so severe that he was incapacitated and unable to make decisions for his realm. George’s mental health issues were well-documented by his equerry, Robert Fulke Greville, and Buckingham Palace. In fact, he was heavily monitored by staff at all times, even while he slept. In 2018, the records were made public for the first time. In 1788, Dr Francis Willis wrote:
“H.M became so ungovernable that recourse was had to the strait waistcoat: His legs were tied, & he was secured down across his Breast, & in this melancholy situation he was, when I came to make my morning Enquiries.”
Scientists and historians have debated for over two centuries about the cause of the famous “madness.” One 1960s study indicated a link to the hereditary blood disorder porphyria. People suffering from porphyria experience acute anxiety, confusion, and paranoia.
However, a 2010 study published in the Journal of Psychiatry concluded that George probably didn’t have porphyria at all. Led by Peter Garrard, professor of neurology at St. George’s University of London, researchers did a linguistic study of George’s correspondences, and determined that he suffered from “acute mania.” Many of the characteristics of George’s letters during his periods of illness are also seen in the writings and speech of patients today who are in the midst of the manic phase of illnesses like bipolar disorder. Typical symptoms of a manic state are compatible with contemporary accounts of George’s behavior.
It is believed that George's first bout of mental illness surfaced around 1765. He spoke endlessly, often for hours, and sometimes without an audience, causing himself to foam at the mouth and lose his voice. He rarely slept. He shouted unintelligibly at advisors who spoke to him, and wrote lengthy letters to anyone and everyone, with some sentences being hundreds of words long.
With the king unable to function effectively, his mother Augusta and Prime Minister Lord Bute somehow managed to keep Queen Charlotte unaware of what was happening. In addition, they conspired to keep her ignorant of the Regency Bill, which decreed that in the event of George’s full incapacity, Charlotte herself would then be appointed Regent.
Some twenty years later, after the Revolution had ended, George had a relapse. Charlotte was, by now, aware of the existence of the Regency Bill; however, her son, the Prince of Wales, had designs of his own on the Regency. When George recovered in 1789, Charlotte held a ball in honor of the King's return to health—and deliberately failed to invite her son. However, the two of them formally reconciled in 1791.
Although he remained popular with his subjects, George eventually descended into permanent madness, and in 1804, Charlotte moved into separate quarters. George was declared insane in 1811, and agreed to be placed under Charlotte's guardianship, which remained in place until Charlotte's death in 1818. At the same time, he consented to his empire being placed in the hands of his son, the Prince of Wales, as Prince Regent.
Death and Legacy
For the last nine years of his life, George lived in seclusion at Windsor Castle. He eventually developed dementia, and didn't seem to understand that he was the king, or that his wife had died. On January 29, 1820, he died, and was buried a month later at Windsor. His son George IV, the Prince Regent, succeeded to the throne, where he reigned for ten years until his own death. In 1837, George's granddaughter Victoria became Queen.
Although the issues addressed in the Declaration of Independence paint George as a tyrant, twentieth-century scholars take a more sympathetic approach, viewing him as a victim of both the changing political landscape and his own mental illness.
Sources
• “George III.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, http://www.history.com/topics/british-history/george-iii.
• “What Was the Truth about the Madness of George III?” BBC News, BBC, 15 Apr. 2013, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22122407.
• Yedroudj, Latifa. “'Mad' King George III Mental Health Records REVEALED in Buckingham Palace Archives.” Express.co.uk, Express.co.uk, 19 Nov. 2018, http://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1047457/royal-news-king-george-III-buckingham-palace-hamilton-royal-family-news.
2. Background from {[https://www.royal.uk/george-iii]}
George III (r. 1760-1820)
George III was born on 4 June 1738 in London, the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
He became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first language.
George III is widely remembered for two things: losing the American colonies and going mad. This is far from the whole truth.
George's direct responsibility for the loss of the colonies is not great. He opposed their bid for independence to the end, but he did not develop the policies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties of 1767 on tea, paper and other products, which led to war in 1775-76 and which had the support of Parliament.
These policies were largely due to the financial burdens of garrisoning and administering the vast expansion of territory brought under the British Crown in America, the costs of a series of wars with France and Spain in North America, and the loans given to the East India Company (then responsible for administering India).
By the 1770s, and at a time when there was no income tax, the national debt required an annual revenue of £4 million to service it.
The declaration of American independence on 4 July 1776, the end of the war with the surrender by British forces in 1782, and the defeat which the loss of the American colonies represented, could have threatened the Hanoverian throne.
Read a letter by George III on the loss of America
However, George's strong defence of what he saw as the national interest and the prospect of long war with revolutionary France made him, if anything, more popular than before.
The American war, its political aftermath and family anxieties placed great strain on George in the 1780s. After serious bouts of illness in 1788-89 and again in 1801, George became permanently deranged in 1810.
He was mentally unfit to rule in the last decade of his reign; his eldest son - the later George IV - acted as Prince Regent from 1811. Some medical historians have said that George III's mental instability was caused by a hereditary physical disorder called porphyria.
George's accession in 1760 marked a significant change in royal finances. Since 1697, the monarch had received an annual grant of £700,000 from Parliament as a contribution to the Civil List, i.e. civil government costs (such as judges' and ambassadors' salaries) and the expenses of the Royal Household.
In 1760, it was decided that the whole cost of the Civil List should be provided by Parliament, in return for the surrender of the hereditary revenues by the King for the duration of his reign.
The first 25 years of George's reign were politically controversial for reasons other than the conflict with America. The King was accused by some critics, particularly Whigs (a leading political grouping), of attempting to reassert royal authority in an unconstitutional manner.
In fact, George took a conventional view of the constitution and the powers left to the Crown after the conflicts between Crown and Parliament in the 17th century.
Although he was careful not to exceed his powers, George's limited ability and lack of subtlety in dealing with the shifting alliances within the Tory and Whig political groupings in Parliament meant that he found it difficult to bring together ministries which could enjoy the support of the House of Commons.
His problem was solved first by the long-lasting ministry of Lord North (1770-82) and then, William, from 1783, by Pitt the Younger, whose ministry lasted until 1801.
George III was the most attractive of the Hanoverian monarchs. He was a good family man and devoted to his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom he bought the Queen's House (later enlarged to become Buckingham Palace). They had 15 children, 13 of whom reached adulthood.
However, his sons disappointed him and, after his brothers made unsuitable secret marriages, the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 was passed at George's insistence. (Under this Act, the Sovereign must give consent to the marriage of any lineal descendant of George II, with certain exceptions.)
Being extremely conscientious, George read all government papers and sometimes annoyed his ministers by taking such a prominent interest in government and policy.
His political influence could be decisive. In 1801, he forced Pitt the Younger to resign when the two men disagreed about whether Roman Catholics should have full civil rights. George III, because of his coronation oath to maintain the rights and privileges of the Church of England, was against the proposed measure.
One of the most cultured of monarchs, George started a new royal collection of books (65,000 of his books were later given to the British Museum, as the nucleus of a national library) and opened his library to scholars.
In 1768, George founded and paid the initial costs of the Royal Academy of Arts (now famous for its exhibitions).
He was the first king to study science as part of his education (he had his own astronomical observatory), and examples of his collection of scientific instruments can now be seen in the Science Museum.
George III also took a keen interest in agriculture, particularly on the crown estates at Richmond and Windsor, being known as 'Farmer George'.
In his last years, physical as well as mental powers deserted him and he became blind.
He died at Windsor Castle on 29 January 1820, after a reign of almost 60 years - the third longest in British history. His son, George IV - who had been Prince Regent since 1811 became King."
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The Madness of King George, Based on Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The Madness of George III, takes a dark-humored look at the mental decline of King George ...
The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George, Based on Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The Madness of George III, takes a dark-humored look at the mental decline of King George III of England. Taking place in 1788, the film's story begins three decades into George's reign, as the unstable king (Nigel Hawthorne) begins to show signs of increasing dementia, from violent fits of foul language to bouts of forgetfulness. The King's prime minister William Pitt (Julian Wadham) and his wife Queen Charlotte (Helen Mirren) are determined to protect the throne during this time of weakness, when many see it as an opportunity to overthrow the unpopular George, whom they blamed for the loss of the American colonies. Although doctors are brought in, their archaic treatments of the time prove of little value and therefore, in desperation, they turn to Dr. Willis (Ian Holm), a harsh, unconventional specialist whose unusual methods recall modern psychiatry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVhxuKFzc7s
Images:
1. Coronation Portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Their marriage was a very happy one. Between 1762 – 1783, Charlotte gave birth to 15 children, all of whom survived childbirth
2. King George III studio of Sir William Beechey, oil on canvas, based on a work of 1799-1800
3. 8 September 1761 King George III married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he had first met less than six hours before the wedding, in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace.
4. King George III and Queen Charlotte
Background from {[https://www.kyrackramer.com/2017/09/08/the-marriage-of-king-george-iii-and-queen-charlotte/]}
THE MARRIAGE OF KING GEORGE III AND QUEEN CHARLOTTE
On 8 September 1761 King George III married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he had first met less than six hours before the wedding, in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace.
Remarkably, the two feel deeply in love and both remained faithful throughout their 57 years of marriage.
George had been come king on 25 October 1760, at the age of 22. It was now seen as imperative that the young man take a bride, and this was proving difficult. They needed a highly born lady, preferably not one from England since that could cause all kinds of power plays, but also one that would not be seen as giving ‘too’ much influence to a foreign nation by her access to the king.
The king, his mother, and his advisors thus chose 17-year-old Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz because she was from a twee north German duchy that had very little political importance, and she would most likely have “no experience or interest in power politics or party intrigues”.
The bride-to-be was duly sent for, and arrived in London on the day of her wedding. Alas for the initial impression, the bride was considered to be “ugly” by many people who saw her, since she “had a dark complexion and flared nostrils”.
George liked her well enough, though.
The couple were jointly crowned on 22 September at Westminster Abbey, after which they lived primarily Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace), Kew, and Windsor Castle, with St James becoming the site of official governmental business. George didn’t like to travel, so they spent the rest of their lives in the area, with occasional trips to the seaside at Weymouth.
Her mother-in-law made things difficult for her at first, but Charlotte’s early and abundant reproductive success helped her gain confidence in her marriage. She gave birth to her first son on 12 August 1762, only 11 months after her wedding, and she would eventually fill the royal nursery with 15 children. Only two of the infants, their two youngest sons Octavius and Alfred, died in childhood.
In spite of suggestions that parents didn’t bond with their children in earlier times because of the risk of death, especially upper-class parents who let others care for their children most often, parents were just as likely to love their offspring in days of yore as today. George and Charlotte were very loving parents whom witnesses described as having “their Children always playing about them the whole time”. They were emotionally distraught by the loss of their boys, and mourned for them for the rest of their long lives.
According to Prince Alfred’s governess, Lady Charlotte Finch, when Alfred died shortly before his second birthday the queen “cried vastly” and was “very much hurt by her loss and the King also.” Octavius died less than a year later, and the already grieving parents were crushed by the additional bereavement. There was concern that such emotional agony would harm the queen’s pregnancy (which would be her last), and King George wrote that every day “increases the chasm I feel” because of his loss.
The royals would lose one other child, their youngest daughter Princess Amelia, in her early adulthood, to their great distress. She was one of the several daughters that the king never arranged a marriage for, preferring to keep them at home. King George has occasionally be portrayed as selfish for this, and perhaps even indecently attached to his daughters, but it was a natural reaction to how unhappy the king’s beloved sisters were in their arranged marriages. George and Charlotte could not bear to see their girls made miserable in a foreign country where they could do nothing to help them.
That sounds like very loving parents with altruistic motives, to me.
When Princess Amelia passed away on 2 November 1810, her parents were so bereft that the court physicians assumed grief had caused her father to become mentally unbalanced, and why he could never recover from his final bout of ‘madness’.
Her eldest brother, George, the Prince of Wales who would serve as Regent when his father went mad, was 21 years older than Amelia and so fond of her that he was nearly as devastated as his was father by her death. He would burst into tears at any mention of her name, even three years after her passing.
George and Charlotte did experience tragedies in their married life, including the king’s ‘madness’, but their was a great deal of joy as well. A dozen of their children would outlive them, and while George was in possession of his faculties he and Charlotte were very happy together. They had one of the most harmonious conjugal relationships of any royals in history, and until Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the longest.
During her reign, Queen Charlotte funded the General Lying-in Hospital in London to prevent it from being closed. It was later renamed Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in her honor, and is “an acknowledged centre of excellence amongst maternity hospitals”. It is a fitting legacy for such a fertile and maternal queen."
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The Madness of King George, Based on Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The Madness of George III, takes a dark-humored look at the mental decline of King George III of England. Taking place in 1788, the film's story begins three decades into George's reign, as the unstable king (Nigel Hawthorne) begins to show signs of increasing dementia, from violent fits of foul language to bouts of forgetfulness. The King's prime minister William Pitt (Julian Wadham) and his wife Queen Charlotte (Helen Mirren) are determined to protect the throne during this time of weakness, when many see it as an opportunity to overthrow the unpopular George, whom they blamed for the loss of the American colonies. Although doctors are brought in, their archaic treatments of the time prove of little value and therefore, in desperation, they turn to Dr. Willis (Ian Holm), a harsh, unconventional specialist whose unusual methods recall modern psychiatry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVhxuKFzc7s
Images:
1. Coronation Portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Their marriage was a very happy one. Between 1762 – 1783, Charlotte gave birth to 15 children, all of whom survived childbirth
2. King George III studio of Sir William Beechey, oil on canvas, based on a work of 1799-1800
3. 8 September 1761 King George III married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he had first met less than six hours before the wedding, in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace.
4. King George III and Queen Charlotte
Background from {[https://www.kyrackramer.com/2017/09/08/the-marriage-of-king-george-iii-and-queen-charlotte/]}
THE MARRIAGE OF KING GEORGE III AND QUEEN CHARLOTTE
On 8 September 1761 King George III married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he had first met less than six hours before the wedding, in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace.
Remarkably, the two feel deeply in love and both remained faithful throughout their 57 years of marriage.
George had been come king on 25 October 1760, at the age of 22. It was now seen as imperative that the young man take a bride, and this was proving difficult. They needed a highly born lady, preferably not one from England since that could cause all kinds of power plays, but also one that would not be seen as giving ‘too’ much influence to a foreign nation by her access to the king.
The king, his mother, and his advisors thus chose 17-year-old Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz because she was from a twee north German duchy that had very little political importance, and she would most likely have “no experience or interest in power politics or party intrigues”.
The bride-to-be was duly sent for, and arrived in London on the day of her wedding. Alas for the initial impression, the bride was considered to be “ugly” by many people who saw her, since she “had a dark complexion and flared nostrils”.
George liked her well enough, though.
The couple were jointly crowned on 22 September at Westminster Abbey, after which they lived primarily Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace), Kew, and Windsor Castle, with St James becoming the site of official governmental business. George didn’t like to travel, so they spent the rest of their lives in the area, with occasional trips to the seaside at Weymouth.
Her mother-in-law made things difficult for her at first, but Charlotte’s early and abundant reproductive success helped her gain confidence in her marriage. She gave birth to her first son on 12 August 1762, only 11 months after her wedding, and she would eventually fill the royal nursery with 15 children. Only two of the infants, their two youngest sons Octavius and Alfred, died in childhood.
In spite of suggestions that parents didn’t bond with their children in earlier times because of the risk of death, especially upper-class parents who let others care for their children most often, parents were just as likely to love their offspring in days of yore as today. George and Charlotte were very loving parents whom witnesses described as having “their Children always playing about them the whole time”. They were emotionally distraught by the loss of their boys, and mourned for them for the rest of their long lives.
According to Prince Alfred’s governess, Lady Charlotte Finch, when Alfred died shortly before his second birthday the queen “cried vastly” and was “very much hurt by her loss and the King also.” Octavius died less than a year later, and the already grieving parents were crushed by the additional bereavement. There was concern that such emotional agony would harm the queen’s pregnancy (which would be her last), and King George wrote that every day “increases the chasm I feel” because of his loss.
The royals would lose one other child, their youngest daughter Princess Amelia, in her early adulthood, to their great distress. She was one of the several daughters that the king never arranged a marriage for, preferring to keep them at home. King George has occasionally be portrayed as selfish for this, and perhaps even indecently attached to his daughters, but it was a natural reaction to how unhappy the king’s beloved sisters were in their arranged marriages. George and Charlotte could not bear to see their girls made miserable in a foreign country where they could do nothing to help them.
That sounds like very loving parents with altruistic motives, to me.
When Princess Amelia passed away on 2 November 1810, her parents were so bereft that the court physicians assumed grief had caused her father to become mentally unbalanced, and why he could never recover from his final bout of ‘madness’.
Her eldest brother, George, the Prince of Wales who would serve as Regent when his father went mad, was 21 years older than Amelia and so fond of her that he was nearly as devastated as his was father by her death. He would burst into tears at any mention of her name, even three years after her passing.
George and Charlotte did experience tragedies in their married life, including the king’s ‘madness’, but their was a great deal of joy as well. A dozen of their children would outlive them, and while George was in possession of his faculties he and Charlotte were very happy together. They had one of the most harmonious conjugal relationships of any royals in history, and until Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the longest.
During her reign, Queen Charlotte funded the General Lying-in Hospital in London to prevent it from being closed. It was later renamed Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in her honor, and is “an acknowledged centre of excellence amongst maternity hospitals”. It is a fitting legacy for such a fertile and maternal queen."
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