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George III of the United Kingdom

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History
1750-1900; Monarchs of Great Britain

   George III
   King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; King of
   Hanover; prev. King of Great Britain and Ireland; Elector of Hanover
   (more...)
   Portrait by Allan Ramsay, 1762
   Portrait by Allan Ramsay, 1762
   Reign 25 October 1760 - 29 January 1820
   Coronation 22 September 1761
   Predecessor George II
   Successor George IV
   Consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
   Issue
   George IV
   Frederick, Duke of York
   William IV
   Charlotte, Princess Royal
   Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent
   Princess Augusta Sophia
   Princess Elizabeth
   Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
   Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
   Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
   Princess Mary
   Princess Sophia
   Prince Octavius
   Prince Alfred
   Princess Amelia
   Full name
   George William Frederick
   Detail
   Titles
   HM King George III of the United Kingdom
   HM King George III of Great Britain
   HRH The Prince of Wales
   HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
   HRH Prince George of Wales
   Royal house House of Hanover
   Royal anthem God Save the King
   Father Frederick, Prince of Wales
   Mother Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
   Born 4 June 1738
   Norfolk House, London
   Baptised 4 June; 4 July 1738
   Norfolk House, London
   Died 29 January 1820 (aged 81)
   Windsor Castle, Berkshire
   Burial 16 February 1820
   St George's Chapel, Windsor

   George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820)
   was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760
   until 1 January 1801, and thereafter United Kingdom of Great Britain
   and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke of
   Brunswick-Lüneburg, and thus Elector (and later King) of Hanover. The
   Electorate became the Kingdom of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the
   third British monarch of the House of Hanover, and the first to be born
   in Britain and speak English as his first language. In fact, he never
   visited Germany.

   It was during George III's reign that Great Britain lost many of its
   colonies in North America in the wake of the American Revolution. These
   colonies would eventually become the United States. Also during his
   reign the realms of Great Britain and Ireland were joined together to
   form the United Kingdom.

   Later in his reign George III suffered from recurrent and, eventually,
   permanent mental illness. This baffled medical science at the time,
   although it is now generally thought that he suffered from the blood
   disease porphyria. Recently, owing to studies showing high levels of
   the poison arsenic in King George's hair, arsenic is also thought to be
   a possible cause of King George's insanity and health problems. After a
   final relapse in 1810, George's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales
   ruled as Prince Regent. Upon George's death, the Prince of Wales
   succeeded his father as George IV.

Early life

   His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales was born at Norfolk House on
   June 4, 1738. He was the son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the
   grandson of George II. Prince George's mother was Augusta of
   Saxe-Gotha.

   As Prince George was born prematurely, he was baptised that same day at
   Norfolk House by the Bishop of Oxford, Thomas Secker. He was publicly
   baptised again at Norfolk House by Secker, on 4 July 1738. His
   godparents were the King of Sweden (for whom Lord Baltimore stood
   proxy), the Duke of Saxe-Gotha (for whom the Duke of Chandos stood
   proxy) and the Queen of Prussia (for whom Lady Charlotte Edwin, a
   daughter of the Duke of Hamilton, stood proxy).

   George II and his son the Prince of Wales had an extremely poor
   relationship. In 1752 the Prince of Wales died from a lung injury, and
   Prince George became the Duke of Edinburgh. The new Duke of Edinburgh
   was heir apparent to the throne, and was subsequently created Prince of
   Wales in that year. George's mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales,
   mistrusted her father-in-law; thus, she kept the Prince of Wales
   separate from his grandfather. An important influence on the new Prince
   of Wales' childhood was Lord Bute, who would later serve as Prime
   Minister.

Marriage

   George inherited the Crown when his grandfather, George II, died on 25
   October 1760. After his accession, a search throughout Europe ensued
   for a suitable wife. On 8 September 1761, the King married Duchess
   Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in the Chapel Royal, St.
   James's Palace, London. A fortnight later, both were crowned at
   Westminster Abbey.

   It is said that George was smitten with Lady Sarah Lennox, daughter of
   the Duke of Richmond, and actually winced when he first saw the homely
   Charlotte, whom he met on their wedding day. However, he gamely went
   ahead with his marriage vows, and, remarkably, never took a mistress
   (in contrast with both his Hanoverian predecessors and his sons). The
   couple enjoyed a genuinely happy marriage. They had 15 children—nine
   sons and six daughters, more than any other British monarch with the
   exception of Queen Anne, who had 18 children of which none lived to
   adulthood. Two sons, George, Prince of Wales and William, Duke of
   Clarence, became kings of the United Kingdom and Hanover; another
   became King of Hanover; a daughter became Queen of Württemberg. George
   III was the grandfather of Queen Victoria, who was the daughter of his
   fourth son, the Duke of Kent.

American Revolution

   The rest of the 1700s were marked by bureaucratic bungling, which led
   to denunciations of George III by the Whigs as an autocrat in the
   manner of Charles I. Lord Bute (who had probably been appointed only
   because of his agreement with George's views on royal power) resigned
   in 1763, allowing the Whigs to return to power. Later that year, the
   British government under George III issued the Royal Proclamation of
   1763 that placed a boundary upon the westward expansion of the American
   colonies. The Proclamation's goal was to force colonists to negotiate
   with the Native Americans for the lawful purchase of the land and,
   therefore, to reduce the costly frontier warfare that had erupted over
   land conflicts. The Proclamation Line, as it came to be known, was
   incredibly unpopular with the Americans and ultimately became another
   wedge between the colonists and the British government, which would
   eventually lead to war. With the American colonists generally
   unburdened by British taxes, it was becoming increasingly difficult for
   the crown to pay for its military excursions and the defense of the
   American colonies from native uprisings. So, after George Grenville
   became Prime Minister, he introduced the Stamp Act, which levied a
   stamp duty on all printed paper in the British colonies in North
   America. Grenville attempted to reduce George III to a mere puppet. The
   King requested William Pitt the Elder to accept the office of Prime
   Minister, but was unsuccessful. George then settled on Lord Rockingham,
   and dismissed Grenville in 1765.

   Monarchical Styles of
   King George III of the United Kingdom
    Reference style  His Majesty
     Spoken style    Your Majesty
   Alternative style Sire

   Lord Rockingham repealed Grenville's unpopular Stamp Act. He faced
   considerable internal dissent, and was replaced in 1766 by Pitt, whom
   George created Earl of Chatham. Lord Chatham proved to be pro-American,
   criticising his colleagues' harsh attitudes towards the American
   colonists. George III, however, deemed that the chief duty of the
   colonists was to submit to him and to Great Britain and he resented the
   Americans' rebellious attitude. Lord Chatham fell ill in 1767, allowing
   the Duke of Grafton to take over government, although he did not
   formally become Prime Minister until 1768. Political attacks led him to
   leave office in 1770, once again allowing the Tories to return to
   power.

   The government of the new Prime Minister, Lord North, was chiefly
   concerned with the American Revolution. The Americans grew increasingly
   hostile to British attempts to levy taxes in the colonies. During the
   Boston Tea Party in 1773, a Boston mob threw 342 crates of tea into
   Boston Harbour as a political protest, costing approximately 10,000
   Pounds. In response, Lord North introduced the Punitive Acts, known as
   the Coercive Acts or the Intolerable Acts by the colonists. The Port of
   Boston was shut down and legislative elections in the Colony of
   Massachusetts Bay were suspended.
                       British Royalty
                       House of Hanover
                          George III
      George IV
       Frederick, Duke of York
      William IV
       Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg
       Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent
       Princess Augusta Sophia
       Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg
       Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
       Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
       Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
       Mary, Duchess of Gloucester
       Princess Sophia
       Prince Octavius
       Prince Alfred
       Princess Amelia
   Grandchildren
       Charlotte, Princess Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield
       Princess Charlotte of Clarence
       Princess Elizabeth of Clarence
      Victoria
       George V, King of Hanover
       George, Duke of Cambridge
       Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
       Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck

American Revolutionary War

   The American Revolutionary War began when armed conflict between
   British regulars and colonial militiamen broke out in New England in
   April 1775. A month later, thirteen of the British colonies sent
   delegates to the Second Continental Congress, which had been called to
   meet in May by the First Continental Congress the previous October.
   With the fighting already underway when Congress convened, the
   delegates drafted a peace proposal known as the Olive Branch Petition.
   The proposal was quickly rejected in London because fighting had
   already erupted. A year later, on July 4, 1776 ( American Independence
   Day), the provinces declared their independence from the Crown and
   became a new nation, the "United States of America". The Declaration of
   Independence was a long list of grievances against the British King,
   legislature, and populace. Amongst George's other offences, the
   Declaration charged, "He has abdicated Government here... He has
   plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed
   the lives of our people."

   George III was indignant when he learned of the opinions of the
   colonists. In the war the British captured New York City in 1776, but
   the grand strategic plan of invading from Canada became a great
   American victory with the surrender of the British Lieutenant-General
   John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga. In 1778, France signed a
   treaty of friendship with the new United States. Lord North asked to
   transfer power to Lord Chatham, whom he thought more capable. George
   III, however, would hear nothing of such suggestions; he suggested that
   Chatham serve as a subordinate minister in Lord North's administration.
   Chatham refused to cooperate, and died later in the same year. Great
   Britain was then at war with France, and in 1779 it was also at war
   with Spain.

   George III obstinately tried to keep Great Britain at war with the
   rebels in America, despite the opinions of his own ministers. Lord
   Gower and Lord Weymouth both resigned rather than suffer the indignity
   of being associated with the war. Lord North advised George III that
   his (North's) opinion matched that of his ministerial colleagues, but
   stayed in office.

   George III did give up hope of subduing America by more armies. "It was
   a joke," he said, "to think of keeping Pennsylvania". There was no hope
   of ever recovering New England. But the King was determined "never to
   acknowledge the independence of the Americans, and to punish their
   contumacy by the indefinite prolongation of a war which promised to be
   eternal." His plan was to keep the 30,000 men garrisoned in New York,
   Rhode Island, in Canada, and in Florida; other forces would attack the
   French and Spanish in the West Indies. To punish the Americans the King
   planned to destroy their coasting-trade, bombard their ports; sack and
   burn towns along the coast (like New London, Connecticut), and turn
   loose the Indians to attack civilians in frontier settlements. These
   operations, the King felt, would inspire the Loyalists; would splinter
   the Congress; and "would keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor,
   until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and
   disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse" and they
   would beg to return to his authority. The plan meant destruction for
   the Loyalists and loyal Indians, and indefinite prolongation of a
   costly war, as well as the risk of disaster as the French and Spanish
   were assembling an armada to invade the British isles and seize London.

   In 1781, the news of Lord Cornwallis's surrender at the Siege of
   Yorktown reached London; the Tory Lord North subsequently resigned in
   1782. After Lord North persuaded the king against abdicating, George
   III finally accepted the defeat in North America, and authorised the
   negotiation of a peace. The Treaty of Paris and the associated Treaty
   of Versailles were ratified in 1783. The former treaty provided for the
   recognition of the United States by Great Britain. The latter required
   Great Britain to give up Florida to Spain and to grant access to the
   waters of Newfoundland to France.

Constitutional struggle

   Half-Crown coin of George III, 1816. Click for notes.
   Half-Crown coin of George III, 1816. Click for notes.

   In 1782, after 12 years in office, the ministry of Lord North
   collapsed. The Whig Lord Rockingham became Prime Minister for the
   second time, but died within months. The King then chose Lord Shelburne
   to replace him. Charles James Fox, however, refused to serve under
   Shelburne, and demanded the appointment of the Duke of Portland. In
   1783, the House of Commons forced Lord Shelburne from office and his
   government was replaced by the Fox-North Coalition. The Duke of
   Portland became Prime Minister; Fox and Lord North, Foreign Secretary
   and Home Secretary respectively, really held power, with Portland
   acting as a figurehead.

   George III was distressed by the attempts to force him to appoint
   ministers not of his liking. But the Portland ministry quickly built up
   a majority in the House of Commons, and could not be easily displaced.
   He was, however, extremely dissatisfied when the government introduced
   the India Bill. Immediately after the House of Commons passed it,
   George informed the House of Lords that he would regard any peer who
   voted for the bill as his enemy. On 17 December 1783, the bill was
   rejected by the Lords; on the next day, the Portland ministry was
   dismissed, and William Pitt the Younger was appointed Prime Minister.
   George III dissolved Parliament in March 1784; the subsequent election
   gave Pitt a firm mandate.

William Pitt

   Gold guinea of George III, dated 1789
   Gold guinea of George III, dated 1789

   For George III, Pitt's appointment was a great victory. The King felt
   that the scenario proved that he still had the power to appoint Prime
   Ministers without having to rely on any parliamentary group. Throughout
   Pitt's ministry, George eagerly supported many of his political aims.
   To aid Pitt, George created new peers at an unprecedented rate. The new
   peers flooded the House of Lords and allowed Pitt to maintain a firm
   majority.

   During Pitt's ministry, George III was extremely popular. The public
   supported the exploratory voyages to the Pacific Ocean that he
   sanctioned. George also aided the Royal Academy with large grants from
   his private funds. The British people admired their King for remaining
   faithful to his wife, unlike the two previous Hanoverian monarchs.
   Great advances were made in fields such as in science and industry.

   George III's health, however, was in a poor condition. He suffered from
   a mental illness, now strongly believed to be a symptom of porphyria.
   (A 2004 study of the King's hair samples revealed high levels of
   arsenic, a possible trigger of the disease.) The King had previously
   suffered a brief episode of the disease in 1765, but a longer episode
   began in 1788. Though ill during the summer of 1788, George was
   sufficiently sane to prorogue Parliament from 25 September to 20
   November. During the intervening time, however, he became seriously
   deranged and posed a threat to his own life. When Parliament reconvened
   in November, the King could not, as was customary, communicate to them
   the agenda for the upcoming legislative session. According to
   long-established practice, Parliament could not begin the transaction
   of business until the King had made the Speech from the Throne.
   Parliament, however, ignored the custom and began to debate provisions
   for a regency.

   Charles James Fox and William Pitt wrangled over which individual was
   entitled to take over government during the illness of the Sovereign.
   Although both parties agreed that it would be most reasonable for
   George III's eldest son and heir-apparent, the Prince of Wales, to act
   as Regent, they disagreed over the basis of a regency. Fox suggested
   that it was the Prince of Wales's absolute right to act on his ill
   father's behalf; Pitt argued that it was for Parliament to nominate a
   Regent.

   Proceedings were further delayed as the authority for Parliament to
   merely meet was questioned, as the session had not been formally opened
   by the Sovereign. Pitt proposed a remedy based on an obscure legal
   fiction. As was well-established at the time, the Sovereign could
   delegate many of his functions to Lords Commissioners by letters
   patent, which were validated by the attachment of the Great Seal. It
   was proposed that the custodian of the Great Seal, the Lord Chancellor,
   affix the Seal without the consent of the Sovereign. Although such an
   action would be unlawful, it would not be possible to question the
   validity of the letters patent, as the presence of the Great Seal would
   be deemed conclusive in court. George III's second son, the Prince
   Frederick, Duke of York, denounced Pitt's proposal as "unconstitutional
   and illegal". Nonetheless, the Lords Commissioners were appointed and
   then opened Parliament. In February 1789, the Regency Bill, authorising
   the Prince of Wales to act as Prince Regent, was introduced and passed
   in the House of Commons. But before the House of Lords could pass the
   bill, George III recovered from his illness under the care of Dr
   Francis Willis. He confirmed the actions of the Lords Commissioners as
   valid, but resumed full control of government.

Napoleonic Wars

   After George recovered from his illness, his popularity greatly
   increased. The French Revolution, in which the French monarchy had been
   overthrown, worried many British landowners. France subsequently
   declared war on Great Britain in 1793, and George soon represented the
   British resistance. George allowed Pitt to increase taxes, raise
   armies, and suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the
   war attempt.

   As well-prepared as Great Britain may have been, France was stronger.
   The First Coalition (which included Austria, Prussia, and Spain) was
   defeated in 1798. The Second Coalition (which included Austria, Russia,
   and the Ottoman Empire) was defeated in 1800. Only Great Britain was
   left fighting Napoleon Bonaparte, the military dictator of France.
   Perhaps surprisingly, a failed assassination attempt of May 15, 1800
   was not political in origin but motivated by the religious delusions of
   his assailant, James Hadfield, who shot at the King in the Drury Lane
   Theatre during the playing of the national anthem.

   Soon after 1800, a brief lull in hostilities allowed Pitt to
   concentrate on Ireland, where there had been an uprising in 1798.
   Parliament then passed the Act of Union 1800, which, on 1 January 1801,
   united Great Britain and Ireland into a single nation, known as the
   United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. George used the
   opportunity to drop the claim to the Throne of France, which English
   and British Sovereigns had maintained since the reign of Edward III. It
   is sometimes suggested that George dropped the claim pursuant to the
   Treaty of Paris or the Treaty of Amiens. Chronologically, neither would
   be logical; the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, and the Treaty of
   Amiens in 1802 (after George actually dropped his claim to the Throne
   of France.) It was suggested that George adopt the title " Emperor of
   the British and Hanoverian Dominions", but he refused. ( A. G.
   Stapleton writes that George III "felt that his true dignity consisted
   in his being known to Europe and the world by the appropriated and
   undisputed style belonging to the British Crown.")

   Pitt unpopularly planned to remove certain legal disabilities that
   applied to Roman Catholics after the Union. George III claimed that to
   emancipate Catholics would be to violate his coronation oath, in which
   Sovereigns promise to maintain Protestantism. The King famously
   declared, "Where is the power on Earth to absolve me from the
   observance of every sentence of that oath, particularly the one
   requiring me to maintain the Protestant Reformed Religion? … No, no, I
   had rather beg my bread from door to door throughout Europe, than
   consent to any such measure. I can give up my crown and retire from
   power. I can quit my palace and live in a cottage. I can lay my head on
   a block and lose my life, but I cannot break my oath."

   Faced with opposition to his religious reform policies, Pitt threatened
   to resign. At about the same time, the King suffered an attack of
   insanity, but quickly recovered. On 14 March 1801, Pitt was formally
   replaced by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Henry Addington. As
   Addington was his close friend, Pitt remained as a private advisor.
   Addington's ministry was particularly unremarkable, as almost no
   reforms were made or measures passed. In fact, the nation was strongly
   against the very idea of reform, having just witnessed the bloody
   French Revolution. Although they called for passive behaviour in the
   United Kingdom, the public wanted strong action in Europe, but
   Addington failed to deliver. In October 1801, he made peace with the
   French, and in 1802 signed the Treaty of Amiens.

   George did not consider the peace with France as "real"; it was more of
   an experiment. In 1803, the two nations once again declared war on each
   other. In 1804, George was again affected by his porphyria; as soon as
   he was able to continue his rule, he discovered that Addington was
   displeasing the public, which did not trust him to lead the nation into
   war. Instead, the public tended to put more faith in William Pitt the
   Younger. Pitt sought to appoint Charles James Fox to his ministry, but
   George III refused. The King disliked Fox, who had encouraged the
   Prince of Wales to lead an extravagant and expensive life. Lord
   Grenville perceived an injustice to Fox, and refused to join the new
   ministry.

   Pitt concentrated on forming a coalition with Austria, Russia, and
   Sweden. The Third Coalition, however, met the same fate as the First
   and Second Coalitions, collapsing in 1805. An invasion by Napoleon
   seemed imminent, but the possibility was extinguished after Admiral
   Lord Nelson's famous victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

   The setbacks in Europe took a toll on William Pitt's health. Pitt died
   in 1806, once again reopening the question of who should serve in the
   ministry. Lord Grenville became Prime Minister, and his " Ministry of
   All the Talents" included Charles James Fox. The King was extremely
   distressed that he was forced to capitulate over the appointment. After
   Fox's death in September 1806, the King and ministry were in open
   conflict. The ministry had proposed a measure whereby Roman Catholics
   would be allowed to serve in the Armed Forces. George not only
   instructed them to drop the measure, but also to make an agreement to
   never set up such a measure again. The ministers agreed to drop the
   measure then pending, but refused to bind themselves in the future. In
   1807, they were dismissed and replaced by the Duke of Portland as the
   nominal Prime Minister, with actual power being held by the Chancellor
   of the Exchequer, Spencer Perceval. Parliament was dissolved; the
   subsequent election gave the ministry a strong majority in the House of
   Commons. George III made no further major political decisions during
   his reign; the replacement of the Duke of Portland by Perceval was of
   little actual significance.

Later life

   Prince George, Prince of Wales, acted as Prince-Regent from 1811 to
   1820
   Prince George, Prince of Wales, acted as Prince-Regent from 1811 to
   1820

   In 1810, George III became dangerously ill, the malady possibly having
   been triggered by the death of his youngest and favourite daughter,
   Princess Amelia, from erysipelas. Porphyria and arsenic poisoning are
   also possible causes of George's madness. By 1811, George III had
   become permanently insane and was locked away at Windsor Castle until
   his death. Sometimes speaking for many hours without pause, he claimed
   to talk to angels. One day, on a drive through Windsor Great Park, the
   king threw his arms up into the air and shouted, "Stop!" He alighted,
   walked over to an oak tree and acted as if he was shaking hands with
   one of its branches. He spoke for several moments before a footman
   asked him if he was feeling well. The King replied, "Of course I am!
   Now don't interrupt me sir. I am talking to the King of Prussia." To
   treat his illness, his doctors gave him James's Powder ( calomel and
   tartar emetic) and bled him regularly. They also advised him to bathe
   in the sea (thus encouraging seaside holidays). On inspecting his
   urine, doctors often found a bluish tint to it.

   Parliament then passed the Regency Act 1811, to which the Royal Assent
   was granted by the Lords Commissioners, appointed under the same
   irregular procedure as was adopted in 1788. The Prince of Wales acted
   as Regent for the remainder of George III's life.

   Spencer Perceval was assassinated in 1812 (the only British Prime
   Minister to have suffered such a fate) and was replaced by Lord
   Liverpool. Liverpool oversaw British victory in the Napoleonic Wars.
   The subsequent Congress of Vienna led to significant territorial gains
   for Hanover, which was upgraded from an electorate to a kingdom.

   Meanwhile, George's health deteriorated. Over the Christmas of 1819, he
   suffered a further bout of madness and spoke nonsense for 58 hours,
   then sank into a coma. On 29 January 1820, he died, blind, deaf and
   insane, at Windsor Castle. George lived for 81 years and 239 days and
   reigned for 59 years and 96 days — in each case, more than any other
   English or British monarch until that point. This record has been
   surpassed only once, by George's granddaughter Queen Victoria. George
   III's reign was longer than the reigns of all three of his immediate
   predecessors (Queen Anne, King George I and King George II) combined.
   George III was buried on 16 February in St. George's Chapel, Windsor.
   His death came six days after that of his fourth son, the Duke of Kent,
   the father of Queen Victoria.

   George was succeeded first by his eldest son George IV, and then
   another son, William IV. William IV, too, died without legitimate
   children, leaving the throne to his niece, Victoria, the last monarch
   of the House of Hanover.

Legacy

   While tremendously popular in Britain, George was hated by rebellious
   American colonists (approximately one-third of the population in the
   colonies). The United States Declaration of Independence held him
   personally responsible for the political problems faced by the United
   States. The Declaration does not blame either Parliament or the
   ministers, and exposure to the views expressed in the Declaration has
   led the American public to perceive George as a tyrant. This view is,
   at worst, a historical consequence of the political climate of the
   times, wherein the state of the King's governing powers and mental
   health were practically unknown by the general public, and even less so
   by the distant North American colonies ruled under his crown. Another
   factor that exacerbated American resentment was the King's failure to
   intercede personally on the colonists' behalf after the Olive Branch
   Petition. Many modern British historians also place primary blame for
   the loss of the colonies on King George, largely because they attribute
   the Proclamation of Rebellion (which treated the colonies' complaints
   as acts of rebellion) to him.

   George was hated in Ireland for the atrocities carried out in his name
   during the suppression of the 1798 rebellion.

   George's insanity is the subject of the film The Madness of King George
   (1994), based on the play The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett.
   The film concerns George's first bouts of insanity. He was portrayed by
   Nigel Hawthorne, who received the Laurence Olivier Award and was
   nominated for an Academy Award for his role.

   There are many cities and towns in former British colonies are named
   Georgetown. These may be named either after George III or his son,
   George IV. Statues of George III can be seen today in places such as
   the courtyard of Somerset House in London and in Weymouth, Dorset,
   which he popularised as a seaside resort (one of the first in England).
   A statue of George III was pulled down in New York at the beginning of
   the War of Independence in 1776 and two engravings of its destruction
   still exist (though one is wholly inaccurate).

   The British Agricultural Revolution reached its peak under George III.
   The period provided for unprecedented growth in the rural population,
   which in turn provided much of the workforce for the concurrent
   Industrial Revolution. George III has been nicknamed Farmer George, for
   "his plain, homely, thrifty manners and tastes" and because of his
   passionate interest in agriculture.

   He was also noted for his tendency to repeat himself and say "what?
   what?" at the end of almost every sentence.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

     * 4 June 1738 – 31 March 1751: His Royal Highness Prince George of
       Wales
     * 31 March 1751 – 20 April 1751: His Royal Highness The Duke of
       Edinburgh
     * 20 April 1751 – 25 October 1760: His Royal Highness The Prince of
       Wales
     * 25 October 1760 – 29 January 1820: His Majesty The King

Styles

   In Great Britain, George III used the official style "George the Third,
   by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland,
   Defender of the Faith, etc." In 1801, when Great Britain united with
   Ireland, he took the opportunity to drop his claim to the French
   Throne. He also dispensed with the phrase "etc.," which was added
   during the reign of Elizabeth I. His style became, "George the Third,
   by the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
   Ireland, Defender of the Faith."

Arms

   Whilst he was King of Great Britain, George's arms were: Quarterly, I
   Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England) impaling Or
   a lion rampant within a double-tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for
   Scotland); II Azure three fleurs-de-lys Or (for France); III Azure a
   harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland); IV tierced per pale and per
   chevron (for Hanover), I Gules two lions passant guardant Or (for
   Brunswick), II Or a semy of hearts Gules a lion rampant Azure (for
   Lüneburg), III Gules a horse courant Argent (for Westfalen), overall an
   escutcheon Gules charged with the crown of Charlemagne Or (for the
   dignity of Arch treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire).

   When he became King of the United Kingdom, his arms were amended,
   dropping the French quartering. They became: Quarterly, I and IV Gules
   three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England); II Or a lion
   rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for
   Scotland); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland); overall
   an escutcheon tierced per pale and per chevron (for Hanover), I Gules
   two lions passant guardant Or (for Brunswick), II Or a semy of hearts
   Gules a lion rampant Azure (for Lunenburg), III Gules a horse courant
   Argent (for Westfalen), the whole inescutcheon surmounted by an
   electoral bonnet. In 1816, two years after the Electorate of Hanover
   became a Kingdom, the electoral bonnet was changed to a crown.

Ancestors

   CAPTION: George's ancestors in three generations

   George III of United Kingdom Father:
   Frederick, Prince of Wales Paternal grandfather:
   George II of Great Britain Paternal great-grandfather:
   George I of Great Britain
   Paternal great-grandmother:
   Sophia Dorothea of Celle
   Paternal grandmother:
   Caroline of Ansbach Paternal great-grandfather:
   Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
   Paternal great-grandmother:
   Eleanor Erdmuthe Louise of Saxe-Eisenach
   Mother:
   Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Maternal grandfather:
   Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Maternal great-grandfather:
   Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
   Maternal great-grandmother:
   Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels
   Maternal grandmother:
   Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst Maternal great-grandfather:
   Karl of Anhalt-Zerbst
   Maternal great-grandmother:
   Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels

Issue

   Name Birth Death Notes
   George IV 12 August 1762 26 June 1830 married 1795, Princess Caroline
   of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel; had issue
   Frederick, Duke of York 16 August 1763 5 January 1827 married 1791,
   Princess Frederica of Prussia; no issue
   William IV 21 August 1765 20 June 1837 married 1818, Adelaide of
   Saxe-Meiningen; no legitimate surviving issue
   Charlotte, Princess Royal 29 September 1766 6 October 1828 married
   1797, Frederick, King of Württemberg; no issue
   Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent 2 November 1767 23 January 1820 married
   1818, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; had issue (Queen
   Victoria)
   Princess Augusta Sophia 8 November 1768 22 September 1840
   Princess Elizabeth 22 May 1770 10 January 1840 married 1818, Frederick,
   Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg; no issue
   Ernest Augustus I of Hanover 5 June 1771 18 November 1851 married 1815,
   Princess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; had issue
   Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex 27 January 1773 21 April 1843 (1)
   married in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, The Lady
   Augusta Murray; had issue; marriage annulled 1794
   (2) married 1831, The Lady Cecilia Buggins (later 1st Duchess of
   Inverness); no issue
   Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge 24 February 1774 8 July 1850 married 1818,
   Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel; had issue
   Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester 25 April 1776 30 April 1857
   married 1816, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester; no issue
   Princess Sophia 3 November 1777 27 May 1848 had issue
   Prince Octavius 23 February 1779 3 May 1783
   Prince Alfred 22 September 1780 20 August 1782
   Princess Amelia 7 August 1783 2 November 1810 Possibly married Sir
   Charles Fitzroy; had issue

George III in popular culture

   The 1994 film The Madness of King George starred Nigel Hawthorne in the
   title role and Helen Mirren as Queen Charlotte. The film chronicles the
   decline of George III's mental faculties during his reign, while those
   in the royal court, including his own son (played by Rupert Everett)
   use this unfortunate situation as a way to sidestep regal authority.

   The popular 1970s children's educational series Schoolhouse Rock
   features a song entitled "No More Kings" which details George III's
   taxation of the British colonies in America. The song paints George III
   as a tyrant reluctant to allow the colonies out from under his boot,
   yet history suggests that George III was merely a puppet in the greedy
   designs of Prime Minister George Grenville. In July 1765, George III
   dismissed Grenville and replaced him.

   King George III: Mad or Maligned? is an A&E Biography documentary.

   King George III appears in the novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
   by Susanna Clarke.

   King George also appears in the last episode of the BBC Comedy
   Blackadder the Third, mistaking Blackadder for his own son, and
   entering with the line: "I wish you to marry this rose bush!", spoken
   with a pronounced German accent.

   In Douglas Adams' book, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, the
   character Arthur Dent refers to trees as, "Those things King George the
   Third used to talk to."

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