George II of Great Britain

George II was born in 1683 and christened George Augustus. He arrived in Britain as Prince of Wales in 1714, when his father acceded to the throne on the death of Queen Anne. He was by this time a man of thirty, and had been married for several years to Caroline of Ansbach. George had a poor relationship with his father, and his own eldest son, Frederick, would have an equally bad relationship with him.

George was neither cultured nor intelligent, but his wife, Caroline, was both. She exercised political influence by her friendship with the prime minister, Robert Walpole, even after a quarrel with the king which resulted in the Prince and Princess of Wales - as they then were - being thrown out of their royal apartments. They held a rival court at their home in Leicester House, and had a total of ten children.

George II succeeded to the throne on his father's death in 1727, but a battle of wills continued with his son and heir, Frederick, Prince of Wales, ending only with Frederick's untimely death in 1751. George is remembered as the last King of Britain to lead his own troops onto the battlefield, which he did at Dettingen. The most important event of his reign, however, was the second Jacobite uprising of 1745, which almost resulted in his overthrow by the Stuart claimant to the throne and culminated in the Battle of Culloden, the last battle to be fought on British soil.

George II died in 1760, and was succeeded by his grandson, George III.