George IV
King of the United Kingdom
George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762–26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820. He had earlier served as Prince Regent; his father, George III, suffered from porphyria, and had lapsed into insanity. The Regency (George's nine-year tenure as Regent, which commenced in 1811 and ended with George III's death in 1820) was marked by advancements in art and culture. George was a stubborn and extravagant monarch, but did not interfere in politics as much as his father. For most of George's regency and reign, Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister.
Early life
George, the eldest son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was born in St James's Palace. At his birth, he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay; he was created Prince of Wales shortly thereafter. He was a talented student, quickly learning to speak not only English but also French, German and Italian. The Prince of Wales turned twenty-one years old in 1783. He obtained a grant of £60,000 from Parliament, and an annual income of £50,000 from his father. The Prince of Wales established his residence in Carlton House, where he lived a profligate life. Animosity between him and his father, a monarch who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the heir-apparent, developed. The King, a strong supporter of the Tory party, was also alienated by the Prince of Wales's adherence to Charles James Fox and other Whigs.
Soon after he reached the age of twenty-one years, the Prince of Wales fell in love with a Roman Catholic, Maria Anne Fitzherbert. Mrs Fitzherbert was a widow; her first husband, Edward Weld died in 1775; her second husband, Thomas Fitzherbert did the same in 1781. A marriage between the two was impeded by the Act of Settlement 1701, under which the Prince of Wales would be ineligible to succeed to the Throne if he married a Roman Catholic. An even more daunting barrier was the Royal Marriages Act 1772, under which the Prince of Wales could not marry without the consent of the King, which unquestionably would have never been granted. Nevertheless, the Prince of Wales and Mrs Fitzherbert contracted a "marriage" in 1785. Legally the union was void, for the King's assent was never requested and received. Yet, Mrs Fitzherbert believed that she was the Prince of Wales's 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 the same.
The Prince married his cousin Caroline of Brunswick in 1795 to convince Parliament to pay off his debts (£650,000). This marriage was a disaster, both parties being disgusted with one another at their first meeting. After doing their official duty for a period of a few days, they lived apart for the rest of Caroline's life.
Despite several periods of estrangement, the prince remained attached to Mrs. Fitzherbert and rebuilt the Royal Pavilion for her in Brighton. After the birth of his only child by Caroline—Princess Charlotte Augusta—in 1796, the Prince attempted to divorce Caroline, and was prevented from doing so mainly by the disapproval of his father, the king, who sympathised with his daughter-in-law. Princess Charlotte died in childbirth in 1817, leaving George without an heir. He made no attempt to remarry, but waited until he was king to act against Caroline. He excluded her from his coronation in 1820 (she was turned away at the door), scandalising the nation.
Regency
King George III suffered periods of mental illness over several decades, but the Prince of Wales was regarded as too unsteady a character to be a popular choice as regent. From 1811, his father was permanently incapacitated, and he achieved a more definite status as Prince Regent. His extravagance continued, despite the involvement of Britain in the Napoleonic Wars, and during this period, much of the city of London was redesigned—hence Regent's Park and Regent Street. The architect, John Nash, and the dandy, Beau Brummell, were among the Regent's best-known associates.
Reign
When the king died in 1820, the prince ascended the throne as King George IV. He had acted conservatively as Regent and with some achievement as a patron of the arts but by the time of his coronation he was seriously overweight and possibly addicted to laudanum as well as showing some signs of the insanity that had affected his father.
In 1822 the King visited Edinburgh for "one and twenty daft days" as the first reigning monarch to visit Scotland since 1650. The visit was organised by Sir Walter Scott, who seized the opportunity to invent a splendid pageant wherein ancient Scotland would be reborn, and the King parodied in cartoons as a fat debaucher would be seen as "a portly handsome man looking and moving every inch a King". George would be presented as a new Jacobite King, with the logic that he was by bloodline as much a Stuart as Bonnie Prince Charlie had been, and would win the affections of the Scots away from radical reform. Scott had persuaded George that he was not only a Stuart prince, but also a Jacobite Highlander, and could rightly and properly swathe himself in "the garb of old Gaul", so in July 1822 the King placed his order with George Hunter & Co., outfitters of Tokenhouse Yard, London and Princes Street, Edinburgh for £1,354 18s worth of highland outfit in bright red Royal Tartan, later known as Royal Stuart, complete with pink tights, gold chains and assorted weaponry including dirk, sword and pistols. Dressed in this "our fat friend" was hoisted onto a horse and rode triumphantly into Edinburgh for an event that made tartans and kilts fashionable and turned them into the national icons they are today.
He spent the majority of his reign in seclusion at Windsor Castle, but continued to interfere unwisely in politics, opposing social reforms such as the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829. As a result of Princess Charlotte's death, his younger brother, Frederick, Duke of York, became heir to the throne; however, Frederick died in 1827.
King George IV died on June 26, 1830 and is buried at Windsor Castle. He was succeeded by his younger brother, as William IV.
Legacy
A bronze statue of him on horseback stands in Trafalgar Square. Lake George, located in New South Wales, Australia, is named after him.
King George IV is not as often portrayed in fiction as some other British monarchs, but when he is, he is usually represented as extravagant and irresponsible. One of the most famous fictional portrayals, is the Prince George featured in the third season of the mock-historical comedy series, Blackadder. This one wildly exaggerates the previously mentioned tendency, portraying him (during his time as Prince Regent) as an incompetent half-wit; however, it does explain away his extravagance as a need to continually restock the items that his dishonest butler keeps stealing. The Prince is depicted as killed by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in 1816. His identity is then taken by his previously mentioned butler Mr. E. Blackadder who presumably goes on to reign as George IV. He was aditionally portrayed by Rupert Everett in the film The Madness of King George (1994).
Style and arms
George's official style whilst King was, "George the Fourth, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith." His arms 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.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HRH The Princess Charlotte Augusta | 7 January 1796 | 6 November 1817 | married 1816, Prince Leopold George Frederick of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield; no issue |
| Preceded by: George III |
King of the United Kingdom | Succeeded by: William IV |
| King of Hanover |