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George IV of the United Kingdom

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

                                George IV
   King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; King of
   Hannover (more...)
   Portrait by Sir Thomas Laurence, 1816
   Portrait by Sir Thomas Laurence, 1816
      Reign     29 January 1820 — 26 June 1830
    Coronation  19 July 1821
   Predecessor  George III
    Successor   William IV
     Consort    Caroline of Brunswick
                                  Issue
   Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales
                                Full name
   George Augustus Frederick
                                 Detail
   Titles
   HM The King
   HRH The Prince Regent
   HRH The Prince of Wales
   HRH The Duke of Cornwall
   Royal house  House of Hanover
   Royal anthem God Save the King
      Father    George III
      Mother    Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
       Born     12 August 1762
                St James's Palace, London
     Baptised   18 September 1762
       Died     26 June 1830 (aged 67)
                Windsor Castle, Berkshire
      Burial    15 July 1830
                St George's Chapel, Windsor

   George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830)
   was king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Hanover
   from 29 January 1820 until his death. He had earlier served as Prince
   Regent when his father, George III, suffered from a relapse into
   insanity from an illness that is now suspected to have been porphyria.
   The Regency, George's nine-year tenure as Prince Regent, which
   commenced in 1811 and ended with George III's death in 1820, was marked
   by victory in the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. George was a stubborn
   monarch, often interfering in politics, especially in the matter of
   Catholic emancipation, though not as much as his father. For most of
   George's regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as
   Prime Minister.

   George is remembered largely for the extravagant lifestyle that he
   maintained as prince and monarch. By 1797 his weight had reached
   17 stone 7 pounds (111 kg), and by 1824 his corset was made for a waist
   of 50 inches (127 cm). He had a poor relationship with both his father
   and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, whom he even forbade to attend his
   coronation. He was a patron of new forms of leisured style and taste,
   was responsible for the building of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, and
   was largely instrumental in the foundation of the National Gallery,
   London and King's College London.

Early life

   Upon his birth at St James's Palace, London on 12 August 1762, he
   automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay; he was
   created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester a few days afterwards. On
   18 September of the same year, he was baptised by Thomas Secker,
   Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were the Duke of
   Mecklenburg-Strelitz (his uncle), the Duke of Cumberland (his
   great-uncle) and the Dowager Princess of Wales (his grandmother).
   George was a talented student, quickly learning to speak French, German
   and Italian in addition to his native English.

   The Prince of Wales turned 21 in 1783, and obtained a grant of £60,000
   from Parliament and an annual income of £50,000 from his father. He
   then established his residence in Carlton House, where he lived a
   profligate life. Animosity developed between the prince and his father,
   a monarch who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the
   heir-apparent. The King, a political conservative, was also alienated
   by the Prince of Wales's adherence to Charles James Fox and other
   radically-inclined politicians.

   Soon after he reached the age of 21, the Prince of Wales fell in love
   with a Roman Catholic, Maria Anne Fitzherbert, who was a widow twice
   over; her first husband, Edward Weld, died in 1775, and her second
   husband, Thomas Fitzherbert, in 1781. A marriage between the two was
   prohibited by the Act of Settlement 1701, which declared those who
   married Roman Catholics ineligible to succeed to the Throne. In
   addition, under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 the Prince of Wales could
   not marry without the consent of the King, which would have never been
   granted. Nevertheless, the couple contracted a marriage on 15 December
   1785 at her house in Park Lane, Mayfair. Legally the union was void as
   the King's assent was never requested. However, Mrs Fitzherbert
   believed that she was the Prince of Wales's canonical and true wife,
   holding the law of the Church to be superior to the law of the State.
   For political reasons, the union remained secret and Mrs Fitzherbert
   promised not to publish any evidence relating to it.

   The Prince of Wales was plunged into debt by his exorbitant lifestyle.
   His father refused to assist him, forcing him to quit Carlton House and
   live at Mrs Fitzherbert's residence. In 1787, the Prince of Wales's
   allies in the House of Commons introduced a proposal to relieve his
   debts with a parliamentary grant. The prince's personal relationship
   with Mrs Fitzherbert was suspected, but revelation of the illegal
   marriage would have scandalized the nation and doomed any parliamentary
   proposal to aid him. Acting on the prince's authority, the Whig leader
   Charles James Fox declared that the story was a calumny. Mrs
   Fitzherbert was not pleased with the public denial of the marriage in
   such vehement terms and contemplated severing her ties to the prince.
   He appeased her by asking another Whig, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, to
   restate Fox's forceful declaration in more careful words. Parliament,
   meanwhile, was sufficiently pleased to grant the Prince of Wales
   £161,000 for the payment of his debts, in addition to £60,000 for
   improvements to Carlton House.

Regency crisis of 1788

   It is hypothesized George III suffered the hereditary disease
   porphyria. In the summer of 1788, the King's mental health
   deteriorated, but he was nonetheless able to discharge some of his
   duties. Thus, he was able to declare Parliament prorogued from 25
   September to 20 November. During the prorogation, however, George III
   became deranged, posing a threat to his own life, and when Parliament
   reconvened in November the King could not deliver the customary Speech
   from the Throne during the State Opening of Parliament. Parliament
   found itself in an untenable position; according to long-established
   law, it could not proceed to any business until the delivery of the
   King's Speech at a State Opening.

   Although theoretically barred from doing so, Parliament began debating
   a Regency. In the House of Commons, Charles James Fox declared his
   opinion that the Prince of Wales was automatically entitled to exercise
   sovereignty during the King's incapacity. A contrasting opinion was
   held by the Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, who argued that,
   in the absence of a statute to the contrary, the right to choose a
   Regent belonged to Parliament alone. He even stated that, without
   parliamentary authority "the Prince of Wales had no more right...to
   assume the government, than any other individual subject of the
   country." Though disagreeing on the principle underlying a Regency,
   Pitt agreed with Fox that the Prince of Wales would be the most
   convenient choice for a Regent.

   The Prince of Wales — though offended by Pitt's boldness — did not lend
   his full support to Fox's philosophy. The prince's brother, Prince
   Frederick, Duke of York, declared that the prince would not attempt to
   exercise any power without previously obtaining the consent of
   Parliament. Following the passage of preliminary resolutions, Pitt
   outlined a formal plan for the Regency, suggesting that the powers of
   the Prince of Wales be greatly limited. Among other things, the Prince
   of Wales would not be able either to sell the King's property or to
   grant a peerage to anyone other than a child of the King. The Prince of
   Wales denounced Pitt's scheme, declaring it a "project for producing
   weakness, disorder, and insecurity in every branch of the
   administration of affairs." In the interests of the nation, both
   factions agreed to compromise.

   A significant technical impediment to any Regency Bill involved the
   lack of a Speech from the Throne, which was necessary before Parliament
   could proceed to any debates or votes. The Speech was normally
   delivered by the King, but could also be delivered by royal
   representatives known as Lords Commissioners, but no document could
   empower the Lords Commissioners to act unless the Great Seal of the
   Realm was affixed to it. The Seal could not be legally affixed without
   the prior authorisation of the Sovereign. Pitt and his fellow ministers
   ignored the last requirement and instructed the Lord Chancellor to
   affix the Great Seal without the King's consent, as the act of affixing
   the Great Seal gave, in itself, legal force to the Bill. This legal
   fiction was denounced by Edmund Burke as a "glaring falsehood", as a
   "palpable absurdity", and even as a "forgery, fraud". The Prince of
   Wales's brother, the Duke of York, described the plan as
   "unconstitutional and illegal." Nevertheless, others in Parliament felt
   that such a scheme was necessary to preserve an effective government.
   Consequently, on 3 February 1789, more than two months after it had
   convened, Parliament was formally opened by an "illegal" group of Lords
   Commissioners. The Regency Bill was introduced, but, before it could be
   passed, the King recovered. Retroactively, the King declared that the
   instrument authorising the Lords Commissioners to act was valid.

Marriage

                       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

   The Prince of Wales's debts continued to climb; his father refused to
   aid him unless he married his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. In 1795,
   the Prince of Wales acquiesced, and they were married on April 8, 1795
   at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace. The marriage, however, was
   disastrous; each party was unsuited to the other. The two were formally
   separated after the birth of their only child, Princess Charlotte, in
   1796, and remained separated for the rest of their lives. The Prince of
   Wales remained attached to Mrs Fitzherbert for the rest of his life,
   despite several periods of estrangement.

   Before meeting Mrs Fitzherbert, the Prince of Wales may have fathered
   several illegitimate children. His mistresses included Mary Robinson,
   an actress who was bought off with a generous pension when she
   threatened to sell his letters to the newspapers; Grace Elliott, the
   divorced wife of a physician; and Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey,
   who dominated his life for some years. In later life, his mistresses
   were Isabella Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford, and finally, for
   the last ten years of his life, the immensely fat and greedy Elizabeth
   Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham.

   Meanwhile, the problem of the Prince of Wales's debts, which amounted
   to the extraordinary sum of £630,000 in 1795, was solved (at least
   temporarily) by Parliament. Being unwilling to make an outright grant
   to relieve these debts, it provided him an additional sum of £65,000
   per annum. In 1803, a further £60,000 was added, and the Prince of
   Wales's debts of 1795 were finally cleared in 1806, although the debts
   he had incurred since 1795 remained.

   In 1804 a dispute arose over the custody of Princess Charlotte, which
   led to her being placed in the care of the King, George III. It also
   led to a Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into Princess Caroline's
   conduct after the Prince of Wales accused her having an illegitimate
   son. The investigation cleared Caroline of the charge but still
   revealed her behaviour to be extraordinarily indiscreet.

Regency

   The Prince Regent by Sir Thomas Lawrence, c.1814
   The Prince Regent by Sir Thomas Lawrence, c.1814

   In late 1810, George III was once again overcome by his malady
   following the death of his youngest daughter, Princess Amelia.
   Parliament agreed to follow the precedent of 1788; without the King's
   consent, the Lord Chancellor affixed the Great Seal of the Realm to
   letters patent naming Lords Commissioners. The Lords Commissioners, in
   the name of the King, signified the granting of the Royal Assent to a
   bill that became the Regency Act 1811. Parliament restricted some of
   the powers of the Prince Regent (as the Prince of Wales became known).
   The constraints expired one year after the passage of the Act.

   As, on 5 January, the Prince of Wales became Prince Regent, one of the
   most important political conflicts facing the country concerned
   Catholic emancipation, the movement to relieve Roman Catholics of
   various political disabilities. The Tories, led by the Prime Minister,
   Spencer Perceval, were opposed to Catholic emancipation, while the
   Whigs supported it. At the beginning of the Regency, the Prince of
   Wales was expected to support the Whig leader, William Wyndham
   Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville. He did not, however, immediately put
   Lord Grenville and the Whigs in office. Influenced by his mother, he
   claimed that a sudden dismissal of the Tory government would exact too
   great a toll on the health of the King (a steadfast supporter of the
   Tories), thereby eliminating any chance of a recovery. In 1812, when it
   appeared highly unlikely that the King would recover, the Prince of
   Wales again failed to appoint a new Whig administration. Instead, he
   asked the Whigs to join the existing ministry under Spencer Perceval.
   The Whigs, however, refused to co-operate because of disagreements over
   Catholic emancipation. Grudgingly, the Prince of Wales allowed Perceval
   to continue as Prime Minister.

   When, on May 10, 1812, John Bellingham assassinated Spencer Perceval,
   the Prince Regent was prepared to reappoint all the members of the
   Perceval ministry under a new leader. The House of Commons formally
   declared its desire for a "strong and efficient administration.", so
   the Prince Regent then offered leadership of the government to Richard
   Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, and afterwards to Francis
   Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira. He doomed the attempts of both to
   failure, however, by forcing each to construct a bipartisan ministry at
   a time when neither party wished to share power with the other.
   Possibly using the failure of the two peers as a pretext, the Prince
   Regent immediately reappointed the Perceval administration, with Robert
   Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, as Prime Minister.

   The Tories, unlike Whigs such as Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, sought to
   continue the vigorous prosecution of the war in Continental Europe
   against the powerful and aggressive Emperor of the French, Napoleon I.
   Russia, Prussia, Austria, the United Kingdom and several smaller
   countries defeated Napoleon in 1814. In the subsequent Congress of
   Vienna, it was decided that the Electorate of Hanover, a state that had
   shared a monarch with Britain since 1714, would be raised to a Kingdom.
   Napoleon made a return in 1815, but was defeated at the Battle of
   Waterloo by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the brother of
   the Marquess Wellesley. Also in 1815, the British-American War of 1812
   was brought to an end, with neither side victorious.

   During this period George took an active interest in matters of style
   and taste, and his associates such as the dandy Beau Brummell and the
   architect John Nash created the Regency style. In London Nash designed
   the Regency terraces of Regent's Park and Regent Street. George took up
   the new idea of the seaside spa and had the Brighton Pavilion developed
   as a fantastical seaside palace, adapted by Nash in the "Indian Gothic"
   style inspired loosely by the Taj Mahal, with extravagant "Indian" and
   "Chinese" interiors.

Reign

   Half-Crown of George IV, 1821. The inscription reads GEORGIUS IIII
   D[ei] G[ratia] BRITANNIAR[um] REX F[idei] D[efensor] (George IV, by the
   grace of God King of the Britains (British kingdoms), Defender of the
   Faith). George IV was the last British King to be shown on coins
   wearing a Roman-style laurel wreath.
   Half-Crown of George IV, 1821. The inscription reads GEORGIUS IIII
   D[ei] G[ratia] BRITANNIAR[um] REX F[idei] D[efensor] (George IV, by the
   grace of God King of the Britains (British kingdoms), Defender of the
   Faith). George IV was the last British King to be shown on coins
   wearing a Roman-style laurel wreath.

   When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent ascended the throne as
   George IV, with no real change in his powers. By the time of his
   accession, he was obese and possibly addicted to laudanum.

   George IV's relationship with his wife Caroline had deteriorated by the
   time of his accession. They had lived separately since 1796, and both
   were having affairs. Caroline had later left the United Kingdom for
   Europe, but she chose to return for her husband's coronation, and to
   publicly assert her rights. However, George IV refused to recognize
   Caroline as Queen, commanding British ambassadors to ensure that
   monarchs in foreign courts did the same. By royal command, Caroline's
   name was omitted from the liturgy of the Church of England. The King
   sought a divorce, but his advisors suggested that any divorce
   proceedings might involve the publication of details relating to the
   King's own adulterous relationships. Therefore, he requested and
   ensured the introduction of the Pains and Penalties Bill 1820, under
   which Parliament could have imposed legal penalties without a trial in
   a court of law. The bill would have annulled the marriage and stripped
   Caroline of the title of Queen. The bill proved extremely unpopular
   with the public, and was withdrawn from Parliament. George IV decided,
   nonetheless, to exclude his wife from his coronation at Westminster
   Abbey, on 19 July 1821. Caroline died soon afterwards, on 7 August of
   the same year.
   The coronation banquet for George IV was held at Westminster Hall on 19
   July 1821
   The coronation banquet for George IV was held at Westminster Hall on 19
   July 1821
   Gold Double-Pound Coin of George IV, dated 1823
   Gold Double-Pound Coin of George IV, dated 1823

   George's coronation was a magnificent and expensive affair, costing
   about £243,000. Despite the enormous cost, it was a popular event. In
   1821 the King became the first monarch to pay a state visit to Ireland
   since Richard II of England. The following year he visited Edinburgh
   for "one and twenty daft days." His visit to Scotland, organised by Sir
   Walter Scott, was the first by a reigning British monarch since Charles
   I went there in 1633.

   George IV spent most of his reign in seclusion at Windsor Castle, but
   he continued to interfere in politics. At first, it was believed that
   he would support Catholic emancipation, as, in 1797, he had proposed a
   Catholic Emancipation Bill for Ireland, but his anti-Catholic views
   became clear in 1813 when he privately canvassed against the ultimately
   defeated Catholic Relief Bill of 1813. By 1824 he was denouncing
   Catholic emancipation in public. Having taken the coronation oath on
   his accession, George now argued that he had sworn to uphold the
   Protestant faith, and could not support any pro-Catholic measures. The
   influence of the Crown was so great, and the will of the Tories under
   Prime Minister Lord Liverpool so strong, that Catholic emancipation
   seemed hopeless. In 1827, however, Lord Liverpool retired, to be
   replaced by the pro-emancipation Tory George Canning. When Canning
   entered office, the King, who was hitherto content with privately
   instructing his ministers on the Catholic Question, thought it fit to
   make a public declaration to the effect that his sentiments on the
   question were those his revered father, George III.

   Canning's views on the Catholic Question were not well received by the
   most conservative Tories, including the Duke of Wellington. As a
   result, the ministry was forced to include Whigs. Canning died later in
   that year, leaving Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich to
   lead the tenuous Tory-Whig coalition. Lord Goderich left office in
   1828, to be succeeded by the Duke of Wellington, who had by that time
   accepted that the denial of some measure of relief to Roman Catholics
   was politically untenable. With great difficulty, Wellington obtained
   the King's consent to the introduction of a Catholic Relief Bill on 29
   January 1829. Under pressure from his fanatically anti-Catholic
   brother, the Duke of Cumberland, the King withdrew his approval and in
   protest the Cabinet resigned en masse on 4 March. The next day the
   King, now under intense political pressure, reluctantly agreed to the
   Bill and the ministry remained in power. Royal Assent was finally
   granted to the Catholic Relief Act on 13 April.

   George IV's heavy drinking and indulgent lifestyle took its toll on his
   health by the late 1820s. His taste for huge banquets and copious
   amounts of alcohol meant that he put on weight and eventually he became
   obese. This made him the target of ridicule on the rare occasions that
   he did appear in public. Furthermore, he suffered from gout,
   arteriosclerosis, cataracts and possible porphyria; he would spend
   whole days in bed and suffered spasms of breathlessness that would
   leave him half-asphyxiated. He died at about half-past three in the
   morning of 26 June 1830 at Windsor Castle; he called out "Good God,
   what is this?" clasped his page's hand and said, "my boy, this is
   death." He was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor on 15 July.

   His daughter, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, had died from
   post-partum complications in 1817, after delivering a still-born son;
   his eldest younger brother, Frederick, the Duke of York, had
   predeceased him in 1827. He was therefore succeeded by another of his
   brothers, Prince William, Duke of Clarence, who reigned as William IV.

Legacy

   An unflattering 1819 caricature by George Cruikshank, illustrating "The
   Political House that Jack Built" by William Hone.
   An unflattering 1819 caricature by George Cruikshank, illustrating "The
   Political House that Jack Built" by William Hone.
   "A Voluptuary Under The Horrors of Digestion," a caricature by James
   Gillray
   "A Voluptuary Under The Horrors of Digestion," a caricature by James
   Gillray

   On George's death The Times commented:

          There never was an individual less regretted by his
          fellow-creatures than this deceased king. What eye has wept for
          him? What heart has heaved one throb of unmercenary sorrow? ...
          If he ever had a friend — a devoted friend in any rank of life —
          we protest that the name of him or her never reached us.

   During the political crisis caused by Catholic emancipation, the Duke
   of Wellington said that George was "the worst man he ever fell in with
   his whole life, the most selfish, the most false, the most ill-natured,
   the most entirely without one redeeming quality", but his eulogy
   delivered in the House of Lords called George "the most accomplished
   man of his age" and praised his knowledge and talent. Wellington's true
   views probably lie somewhere between these two extremes; as he said
   later, George was "a magnificent patron of the arts...the most
   extraordinary compound of talent, wit, buffoonery, obstinacy, and good
   feeling — in short a medley of the most opposite qualities, with a
   great preponderence of good — that I ever saw in any character in my
   life."

   George IV was described as the "First Gentleman of England" on account
   of his style and manners. Certainly, he possessed many good qualities;
   he was bright, clever and knowledgeable, but his laziness and gluttony
   led him to squander much of his talent. As The Times once wrote, he
   would always prefer "a girl and a bottle to politics and a sermon."

   There are many statues of George IV, a large number of which were
   erected during his reign. Some in the United Kingdom include a bronze
   statue of him on horseback by Sir Francis Chantry in Trafalgar Square,
   another of him on horseback at the end of the Long Walk in Windsor
   Great Park and another outside the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

   In Edinburgh, George IV Bridge is a main street linking the Old Town
   High Street to the south over the ravine of the Cowgate, designed by
   the architect Thomas Hamilton in 1829 and completed in 1835. King's
   Cross, now a major transport hub sitting on the border of Camden and
   Islington in north London, takes its name from a short-lived monument
   erected to George IV in the early 1830s. From Roman times the area had
   been known as 'Battle Bridge'.

   The Regency period saw a shift in fashion that was largely determined
   by George. After political opponents put a tax on wig powder, he
   abandoned wearing a powdered wig in favour of natural hair. He wore
   darker colours than had been previously fashionable as they helped to
   disguise his size, favoured pantaloons and trousers over knee breeches
   because they were looser, and popularised a high collar with neck cloth
   because it hid his double chin. His visit to Scotland in 1822 led to
   the revival, if not the creation, of Scottish tartan dress as it is
   known today.

George IV in popular culture

   In the third installment of the BBC comedy series Blackadder, George IV
   (as Prince Regent) was played as an unsympathetic buffoon by the
   English actor Hugh Laurie. Much of the humour of the characterization
   was derived from the real Prince of Wales's spendthrift ways. An
   offhand remark by Blackadder for the Prince to "take out those plans
   for the beach house at Brighton," for instance, was a reference to the
   actual Oriental Pavillion at Brighton. At the conclusion of the series,
   Blackadder has taken advantage of mistaken identity to assume the
   identity of the Prince of Wales.

   George IV (as Prince of Wales) was played by Rupert Everett in the 1994
   film The Madness of King George, and by Peter Ustinov in the 1954 film
   Beau Brummell. The Prince Regent is also portrayed as the leader of the
   elite party set in the movie Princess Caraboo, which starred Phoebe
   Cates and was set in 1817.

   He appears as a character in Bernard Cornwell's novel Sharpe's
   Regiment, which is set during the Regency period. He is portrayed as
   fat, extravagant and possibly suffering from the same insanity which
   had afflicted his father. He is an enthusiastic fan of Richard Sharpe's
   military exploits, and claims to have been present at the Battle of
   Talavera and to have helped Sharpe capture a French standard. In the
   novel's historical note, Cornwell said he based the remark on an
   historical incident when George, during a dinner party at which
   Wellington was present, claimed to have led a charge at Waterloo. In
   the television version of the novel, he is played by Julian Fellowes.

Other information

   Monarchical Styles of
   King George IV of the United Kingdom
    Reference style  His Majesty
     Spoken style    Your Majesty
   Alternative style Sir

Titles

     * 12– 19 August 1762: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall
     * 19 August 1762– 29 January 1820: His Royal Highness The Prince of
       Wales
          + 5 January 1811– 29 January 1820: His Royal Highness The Prince
            Regent
     * 29 January 1820– 26 June 1830: His Majesty The King

   (Under the Act of Parliament that instituted the Regency, the Prince's
   formal title as Regent was Regent of the United Kingdom of Great
   Britain and Ireland, and thus, during the Regency period his formal
   style was His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Regent of the United
   Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The simplified style His Royal
   Highness The Prince Regent, used more commonly even in official
   documents, was a shortened version of that formal style.)

Styles

   George IV's official style as King of the United Kingdom was "George
   the Fourth, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
   and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith." He was also King of Hanover.

Honours

   British Honours
     * KG: Knight of the Garter, 26 December 1765–29 January 1820
     * PC: Privy Counsellor, 29 August 1783–29 January 1820
     * KT: Knight of the Thistle, assumed informally 5 November 1811–29
       January 1820
     * KP: Knight of St Patrick, assumed informally 5 November 1811–29
       January 1820
     * GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, assumed informally 2 January
       1815–29 January 1820
     * GCH: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, assumed
       informally 12 August 1815–29 January 1820
     * GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George, assumed
       informally 27 April 1818–29 January 1820

   Sovereign of..., 29 January 1820–26 June 1830
     * The Most Noble Order of the Garter
     * The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle
     * The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick
     * The Most Honourable Order of the Bath
     * The Royal Guelphic Order
     * The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

   Foreign Honours
     * Flag of Russia Knight of St Andrew, 25 November 1813
     * Flag of France Knight of the Holy Spirit, 20 April 1814
     * Flag of France Knight of St Michael, 20 April 1814
     * Flag of Austria Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1814
     * Knight of the Black Eagle, 9 June 1814
     * Knight Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, 9 June 1814
     * Flag of Spain Knight of the Red Eagle, July 1814
     * Flag of Denmark Knight of the Elephant, 15 July 1815
     * Knight of St Ferdinand and of Merit, 1816
     * Knight of St Januarius, 1816
     * Flag of Portugal Riband of the Three United Military Orders of
       Christ, Benedict of Aviz and St James of the Sword, 1816
     * Flag of Portugal Knight Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword (for
       Valour, Loyalty and Merit), 1816
     * Flag of Netherlands Knight Grand Cross of Willem, 27 November 1818
     * Flag of Bavaria Knight of St Hubert, 27 November 1818
     * Flag of Brazil Knight Grand Cross of the Southern Cross, 27
       November 1818
     * Flag of Brazil Knight Grand Cross of Dom Pedro I, 27 November 1818
     * Flag of Spain Knight Grand Cross (with Collar) of Carlos III, 27
       November 1818

Honorary military appointments

     * 4 March 1766-: Captain-General & Colonel, of Honourable Artillery
       Company
     * 18 July 1796–29 January 1820: Colonel, of the 10th Royal Regiment
       of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars) , The Prince of Wales's Own
     * 25 July 1815-: Colonel-in-Chief, of the Life Guards (1st and 2nd)
     * Field Marshal, assumed 1815

Arms

   His arms, when King, were: Quarterly, I and IV Gules three lions
   passant guardant in pale Or (for England); II Or a lion rampant within
   a 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 Lüneburg), III Gules a horse courant Argent (for Westfalen), the
   whole inescutcheon surmounted by a crown.

Ancestors

   CAPTION: George IV's ancestors in three generations

   George IV of United Kingdom Father:
   George III of the United Kingdom Paternal grandfather:
   Frederick, Prince of Wales Paternal great-grandfather:
   George II of Great Britain
   Paternal great-grandmother:
   Caroline of Ansbach
   Paternal grandmother:
   Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Paternal great-grandfather:
   Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
   Paternal great-grandmother:
   Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst
   Mother:
   Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Maternal grandfather:
   Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow
   Maternal great-grandfather:
   Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
   Maternal great-grandmother:
   Christiane Emilie von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
   Maternal grandmother:
   Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen Maternal
   great-grandfather:
   Ernst Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
   Maternal great-grandmother:
   Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach
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