George III

George III (1738–1820), king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760–1820), and elector of Hanover. The reputation of George III has been revised perhaps to a greater degree than any other British monarch. He was born in England, the first Hanoverian monarch to be a native of his own kingdom. Upon the death of his father Frederick in 1751, George became heir to the throne. The young prince was not on good terms with his grandfather, George II, believing that the old king was the tool of corrupt politicians. A key influence on the formation of this naïve view point was Lord Bute, tutor to the prince from 1755. When George succeeded to the throne in 1760, Bute rapidly rose from courtier to cabinet minister and, in May 1762, became prime minister. Yet, Bute proved a disappointment and resigned within a year. Ministries followed each other in swift succession: there were four different premiers between the fall of Bute and the appointment of North in 1770.

The advent of the North ministry inaugurated a period of political stability. The king behaved with impeccable constitutional propriety throughout North's twelve‐year premiership. Ministers, not the crown, were responsible for policy. This was particularly the case with regard to America. Yet, once war had broken out, it became necessary for the rebels to describe matters differently and the Declaration of Independence of 1776 enshrined the king as villain of the piece.

George III took a keen interest in the military struggle and refused to accept that America was lost, even after the disastrous defeat at Yorktown in 1781. Bowing to Parliament's refusal to continue the war, the king reluctantly parted with North. The king tried to maintain some freedom of manœuvre by playing upon the rivalry between Shelburne and Rockingham, the leading opposition politicians who now formed a ministry. When Rockingham died unexpectedly in July 1782, George III appointed Shelburne as his successor. But Shelburne was forced to resign following a concerted attack by the followers of Charles Fox and Lord North. The king viewed North's actions as personal betrayal, and remained implacably hostile to the coalition. The king's obvious dissatisfaction persuaded the younger Pitt to negotiate secretly for the overthrow of the coalition, which was accomplished during the India Bill crisis of 1783. Although the means had been underhand, the king's choice of Pitt proved excellent. Political stability was re‐established and no serious threat arose until the king fell ill in the autumn of 1788. The ensuing Regency crisis was precipitated by the apparent madness of the king. According to modern diagnosis he was suffering from acute intermittent porphyria, a hereditary metabolic disorder. The king recovered despite the treatment he received.

Pitt continued to dominate parliamentary politics, but found it necessary, in the wake of the French Revolution, to strengthen the ministry by incorporating Portland and the conservative Whigs. The king benefited from a groundswell of enthusiasm for monarchy, becoming a personal symbol of national resistance. But the danger of revolution was not negligible, and rebellion in Ireland convinced ministers of the necessity of parliamentary union. Having achieved this objective, Pitt resigned in 1801 over George III's refusal to countenance the removal of residual penalties against catholics. George considered his coronation oath, with its pledge to uphold the protestant religion, to be absolutely binding. The fall of Pitt led to a period of factional instability, akin to the early years of the reign, but further complicated by fears for the king's mental state. A moderate proposal for relief, by the Talents ministry in 1807, precipitated a ministerial crisis, during which the king reaffirmed his intransigence.

In 1810 the king suffered a final decline into mental derangement, exacerbated by increasing deafness and blindness. The following year a regency was established under his eldest son, the future George IV. As a hard‐working monarch, devoted husband, and sincere Christian, George III compares favourably with his dissolute successor.