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George IV

May 19, 2023

"The Prince Regent" redirects here. For other uses, see prince regent and George IV (disambiguation).

George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, he was acting as Prince Regent for his father King George III, having done so since 5 February 1811 during his father's final mental illness.

George IV
Coronation portrait by Thomas Lawrence, 1821
King of the United Kingdom and Hanover
Reign29 January 1820 – 26 June 1830
Coronation19 July 1821
PredecessorGeorge III
SuccessorWilliam IV
Prince Regent of the United Kingdom
Regency5 February 1811 – 29 January 1820
MonarchGeorge III
Born(1762-08-12)12 August 1762
St James's Palace, London, England, Great Britain
Died26 June 1830(1830-06-26) (aged 67)
Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom
Burial15 July 1830
Royal Vault, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1795; died 1821)​
IssuePrincess Charlotte of Wales
Names
George Augustus Frederick
HouseHanover
FatherGeorge III
MotherCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
ReligionProtestant
Signature

George IV was the eldest child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. He led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era. He was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace, and commissioned Jeffry Wyatville to rebuild Windsor Castle. George's charm and culture earned him the title "the first gentleman of England", but his dissolute way of life and poor relationships with his parents and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, earned him the contempt of the people and dimmed the prestige of the monarchy. He excluded Caroline from his coronation and asked the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in an unsuccessful attempt to divorce her.

George's rule was tarnished by scandal and financial extravagance. His ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable and irresponsible and he was strongly influenced by favourites.[1] During most of George's regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Liverpool's government presided over Britain's ultimate victory over Napoleon and negotiated a peace settlement with the French. After Liverpool's retirement, George IV was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it. His only legitimate child, Princess Charlotte, predeceased him in 1817, as did his childless younger brother Prince Frederick in 1827, so he was succeeded by another younger brother, William IV.

Early life

 
George (left) with his mother, Queen Charlotte, and younger brother, Frederick. Portrait by Allan Ramsay, 1764

George was born at St James's Palace, London, on 12 August 1762, the first child of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. As the eldest son of a British sovereign, he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth; he was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester a few days later.[2] On 18 September of the same year, he was baptised by Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury.[3] His godparents were his maternal uncle Adolphus Frederick IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (for whom the Lord Chamberlain, William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, stood proxy); his paternal grand-uncle Prince William, Duke of Cumberland; and his grandmother Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales.[4] George was a talented student, and quickly learned to speak French, German and Italian, in addition to his native English.[5]

At the age of 18, Prince George was given a separate establishment, and in dramatic contrast to his prosaic, scandal-free father, threw himself with zest into a life of dissipation and wild extravagance involving heavy drinking and numerous mistresses and escapades. He was a witty conversationalist, drunk or sober, and showed good, but grossly expensive, taste in decorating his palace. George turned 21 in 1783, and obtained a grant of £60,000 (equivalent to £7,685,000 today[6]) from Parliament and an annual income of £50,000 (equivalent to £6,404,000 today[6]) from his father. It was far too little for his wants – his stables alone cost £31,000 a year. He then established his residence in Carlton House, where he lived a profligate life.[7] Animosity developed between the prince and his father, who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the heir apparent. The King, a political conservative, was also alienated by the prince's adherence to Charles James Fox and other radically inclined politicians.[8]

Soon after he reached the age of 21, the prince became infatuated with Maria Fitzherbert. She was a commoner (though granddaughter of a baronet), six years his elder, twice widowed, and a Roman Catholic.[9] Nevertheless, the prince was determined to marry her. This was in spite of the Act of Settlement 1701, which barred the spouse of a Catholic from succeeding to the throne, and the Royal Marriages Act 1772, which prohibited his marriage without the King's consent.[10]

Nevertheless, the couple went through a marriage ceremony on 15 December 1785 at her house in Park Street, Mayfair. Legally the union was void, as the King's consent was not granted (and never even requested).[11] However, Fitzherbert believed that she was the prince'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 Fitzherbert promised not to reveal it.[12]

Prince George was plunged into debt by his exorbitant lifestyle. His father refused to assist him, forcing him to quit Carlton House and live at Fitzherbert's residence. In 1787, the prince's political allies proposed to relieve his debts with a parliamentary grant. George's relationship with Fitzherbert was suspected, and revelation of the illegal marriage would have scandalised the nation and doomed any parliamentary proposal to aid him. Acting on Prince George's authority, the Whig leader Charles James Fox declared that the story was a calumny.[13] Fitzherbert was not pleased with the public denial of the marriage in such vehement terms and contemplated severing her ties to George. He appeased her by asking another Whig, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, to restate Fox's forceful declaration in more careful words. Parliament, meanwhile, granted the prince £161,000 (equivalent to £21,765,000 today[6]) to pay his debts and £60,000 (equivalent to £8,111,000 today[6]) for improvements to Carlton House.[5][14][15]

Regency crisis of 1788

 
Mezzotint engraving by Samuel William Reynolds, based on a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1785

In the summer of 1788, the King's mental health deteriorated, possibly as the result of the hereditary disease porphyria.[16][17] He was nonetheless able to discharge some of his duties and to declare Parliament prorogued from 25 September to 20 November. During the prorogation he 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.[13][18]

Although arguably barred from doing so, Parliament began debating a regency. In the House of Commons, Charles James Fox declared his opinion that Prince George 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.[19] 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."[20] 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.[13][18]

 
Miniature by Richard Cosway, 1792

The Prince of Wales—though offended by Pitt's boldness—did not lend his full support to Fox's approach. Prince George's brother Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, declared that George would not attempt to exercise any power without previously obtaining the consent of Parliament.[21] Following the passage of preliminary resolutions Pitt outlined a formal plan for the regency, suggesting that Prince George's powers be greatly limited. Among other things, George 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. Prince George denounced Pitt's scheme, declaring it a "project for producing weakness, disorder, and insecurity in every branch of the administration of affairs."[22] In the interests of the nation, both factions agreed to compromise.[18]

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. However, 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 in itself gave legal force to the bill. This legal fiction was denounced by Edmund Burke as "forgery, fraud",[23] a "glaring falsehood",[24] and as a "palpable absurdity".[24] Prince Frederick described the plan as "unconstitutional and illegal."[22] 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. The King declared retroactively that the instrument authorising the Lords Commissioners to act was valid.[13][18]

Marriage and mistresses

 
Portrait by Sir William Beechey, 1798

Prince George's debts continued to climb, and his father refused to aid him unless he married his cousin Princess Caroline of Brunswick.[25] In 1795, the prince acquiesced, and they were married on 8 April 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 thereafter. George remained attached to Maria Fitzherbert for the rest of his life, despite several periods of estrangement.[26]

George's mistresses included Mary Robinson, an actress whom he paid to leave the stage;[27] Grace Elliott, the divorced wife of a physician;[28][29] and Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey, who dominated his life for some years.[26] In later life, his mistresses were the Marchioness of Hertford and the Marchioness Conyngham.[30]

George was rumoured to have fathered several illegitimate children. James Ord (born 1786)—who moved to the United States and became a Jesuit priest—was reportedly his son by Fitzherbert.[31] Late in life, George told a friend that he had a son who was a naval officer in the West Indies, whose identity has been tentatively established as Captain Henry A. F. Hervey (1786–1824), reportedly George's child by the songwriter Lady Anne Lindsay (later Barnard), a daughter of James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres.[32] Other reported children include Major George Seymour Crole, the son of theatre manager's daughter Eliza Crole; William Hampshire, the son of publican's daughter Sarah Brown; and Charles "Beau" Candy, the son of a Frenchwoman with that surname.[33] Anthony Camp, Director of Research at the Society of Genealogists, has dismissed the claims that George IV was the father of Ord, Hervey, Hampshire and Candy as fictitious.[34]

The problem of George's debts, which amounted to the extraordinary sum of £630,000 in 1795[35] (equivalent to £69,246,000 today[6]), 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 (equivalent to £7,144,000 today[6]) per annum.[36] In 1803, a further £60,000 (equivalent to £5,829,000 today[6]) was added, and George's debts as at 1795 were finally cleared in 1806, although the debts he had incurred since 1795 remained.[15]

In 1804, a dispute arose over the custody of Princess Charlotte, which led to her being placed in the care of the King. It also led to a Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into Princess Caroline's conduct after her husband accused her of having an illegitimate son. The investigation cleared Caroline of the charge but still revealed her behaviour to have been extraordinarily indiscreet.[37]

Regency

Main article: Regency era
 
Profile by Sir Thomas Lawrence, c. 1814
 
Portrait in Garter robes by Lawrence, 1816

In late 1810, the King's mental health once again broke down, 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 letters patent lacked the Royal Sign Manual, but were sealed by request of resolutions passed by both Houses of Parliament. The Lords Commissioners appointed by the letters patent, in the name of the King, then signified the granting of 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.[38] The Prince of Wales became Prince Regent on 5 February 1811.[39]

The Regent let his ministers take full charge of government affairs, playing a far smaller role than his father. The principle that the prime minister was the person supported by a majority in the House of Commons, whether the King personally favoured him or not, became established.[40] His governments, with little help from the Regent, presided over British policy. 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 Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, were opposed to Catholic emancipation, while the Whigs supported it. At the beginning of the Regency, Prince George was expected to support the Whig leader, Lord Grenville. He did not, however, immediately put Grenville and the Whigs into 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.[41]

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 Perceval. The Whigs, however, refused to co-operate because of disagreements over Catholic emancipation. Grudgingly, Prince George allowed Perceval to continue as Prime Minister.[42]

On 11 May 1812, Perceval was assassinated by John Bellingham. 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",[43] so George then offered leadership of the government to Lord Wellesley and afterwards to Lord Moira. He doomed the attempts of both to failure, however, by forcing each to construct an all-party 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, George immediately reappointed the Perceval administration, with Lord Liverpool as Prime Minister.[44]

The Tories, unlike Whigs such as Lord Grey, sought to continue the vigorous prosecution of the war in Continental Europe against the powerful and aggressive emperor of the French, Napoleon I.[45] An anti-French alliance, which included Russia, Prussia, Austria, Britain 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 the Kingdom of Hanover. Napoleon returned from exile in 1815, but was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington, brother of Lord Wellesley.[46]

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.[47]

Reign

 
George IV's coronation, 19 July 1821
 
George IV at Holyhead en route to Ireland on 7 August 1821, the day of his wife's death

When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent, then aged 57, ascended the throne as George IV, with no real change in his powers.[48] By the time of his accession, he was obese and possibly addicted to laudanum.[5]

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. In 1814, Caroline left the United Kingdom for continental Europe, but she chose to return for her husband's coronation and to publicly assert her rights as queen consort. However, he refused to recognise Caroline as queen, and commanded British ambassadors to ensure that monarchs in foreign courts did the same. By royal command, Caroline's name was omitted from the Book of Common Prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England.[49]

The King sought a divorce, but his advisors suggested that any divorce proceedings might involve the publication of details relating to George's own adulterous relationships. Therefore, he requested and ensured the introduction of the Pains and Penalties Bill, 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 decided, nonetheless, to exclude his wife from his coronation at Westminster Abbey, on 19 July 1821. Caroline fell ill that day and died on 7 August; during her final illness she often stated that she thought she had been poisoned.[50]

 
Half-crown of George IV, 1821
 
Portrait by Sir David Wilkie depicting George during his 1822 trip to Scotland

George's coronation was a magnificent and expensive affair, costing about £243,000 (approximately £23,558,000 in 2023;[6] for comparison, his father's coronation had only cost about £10,000). Despite the enormous cost, it was a popular event.[5] In 1821, George became the first monarch to pay a state visit to Ireland since Richard II of England.[51] The following year he visited Edinburgh for "one and twenty daft days".[52] His visit to Scotland, organised by Sir Walter Scott, was the first by a reigning monarch since the mid-17th century.[53]

George spent most of his later reign in seclusion at Windsor Castle,[54] but he continued to intervene in politics. At first it was believed that he would support Catholic emancipation, as he had proposed a Catholic Emancipation Bill for Ireland in 1797, 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.[55] 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.[56] The influence of the Crown was so great, and the will of the Tories under Prime Minister Liverpool so strong, that Catholic emancipation seemed hopeless. In 1827, however, Liverpool retired, to be replaced by the pro-emancipation Tory George Canning. When Canning entered office, the King, 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 of his revered father, George III.[57]

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.[58] Canning died later in that year, leaving Lord Goderich to lead the tenuous Tory–Whig coalition. Goderich left office in 1828, to be succeeded by Wellington, who had by that time accepted that the denial of some measure of relief to Roman Catholics was politically untenable.[59][60] George was never as friendly with Wellington as he had been with Canning and chose to annoy the Duke by pretending to have fought at Waterloo disguised as a German general. 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 Ernest Augustus, 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.[5] Royal Assent was finally granted to the Catholic Relief Act on 13 April.[61]

Declining health and death

 
Lithograph of George IV in profile, by George Atkinson, printed by C. Hullmandel, 1821
 
King Henry IV by William Heath, c. 1827
 
Henry IV Part 2 Act II Scene 4 by Henry Fuseli, 1805
Cartoon (left) of George IV and his mistress Lady Conyngham, mirroring a well known work (right) by Fuseli[62]

George's heavy drinking and indulgent lifestyle had taken their toll on his health by the late 1820s. While still Prince of Wales, he had become obese through his huge banquets and copious consumption of alcohol, making him the target of ridicule on the rare occasions that he appeared in public;[63] by 1797, his weight had reached 17 stone 7 pounds (111 kg; 245 lb).[64] By 1824, his corset was made for a waist of 50 inches (130 cm).[65] He had gout, arteriosclerosis, peripheral edema ("dropsy"), and possibly porphyria. In his last years, he spent whole days in bed and had acute and serious spasms of breathlessness.[5]

George's last years were marked by increasing physical and mental decay and withdrawal from public affairs. Privately, a senior aide to the King confided to his diary: "A more contemptible, cowardly, selfish, unfeeling dog does not exist ... There have been good and wise kings but not many of them ... and this I believe to be one of the worst."[1] By December 1828, like his father, George was almost completely blind from cataracts, and had such severe gout in his right hand and arm that he could no longer sign documents.[66] In mid-1829, David Wilkie reported the King "was wasting away frightfully day after day", and had become so obese that he looked "like a great sausage stuffed into the covering".[66] George took laudanum to counteract severe bladder pains, which left him in a drugged and mentally impaired state for days on end.[67] He underwent surgery to remove a cataract in September 1829, by which time he was regularly taking over 100 drops of laudanum before state occasions.[68]

By the spring of 1830, George's imminent end was apparent. Now largely confined to his bedchambers, having completely lost sight in one eye and describing himself "as blind as a beetle", he was forced to approve legislation with a stamp of his signature in the presence of witnesses.[69] His weight was recorded to be 20 stone (130 kg; 280 lb).[70] Attacks of breathlessness due to dropsy forced him to sleep upright in a chair, and doctors frequently tapped his abdomen in order to drain excess fluid.[67] Despite his obvious decline, George was admired for clinging doggedly to life.[71] His will to live and still-prodigious appetite astonished observers; in April 1830, the Duke of Wellington wrote that the King had consumed for breakfast "a Pidgeon and Beef Steak Pye ... Three parts of a bottle of Mozelle, a Glass of Dry Champagne, two Glasses of Port [and] a Glass of Brandy", followed by a large dose of laudanum.[69] Writing to Maria Fitzherbert in June, the King's doctor, Sir Henry Halford, noted "His Majesty's constitution is a gigantic one, and his elasticity under the most severe pressure exceeds what I have ever witnessed in thirty-eight years' experience."[72] Though George had been under Halford's care since the time of the Regency, the doctor's social ambitions and perceived lack of competence were strongly criticised, with The Lancet labelling Halford's bulletins on the King's health as "utterly and entirely destitute of information", subsequently characterising Halford's treatment of George, which involved administering both opium and laudanum as sedatives, as appearing to lack sense or direction.[73]

George dictated his will in May and became very devout in his final months, confessing to an archdeacon that he repented of his dissolute life, but hoped mercy would be shown to him as he had always tried to do the best for his subjects.[67] By June, he was unable to lie down, and received the Sacrament on 14 June in the presence of Lady Conyngham, Halford, and a clergyman.[72] While Halford only informed the Cabinet on 24 June that "the King's cough continues with considerable expectoration", he privately told his wife that "things are coming to a conclusion ... I shall be released about Monday."[74]

At about three in the morning of 26 June 1830 at Windsor Castle, George awoke and passed a bowel movement – "a large evacuation mix'd with blood".[74] He then sent for Halford, allegedly calling to his servants "Sir Henry! Sir Henry! Fetch him; this is death!"[74] Accounts of George's final moments and last words vary. According to Halford, following his arrival and that of Sir William Knighton, the King's "lips grew livid, and he dropped his head on the page's shoulder ... I was up the stairs in five minutes, and he died but eight minutes afterwards."[74] Other accounts state the King placed his hands on his stomach and said "Surely, this must be death", or that he called out "Good God, what is this?", clasped his page's hand, and said "my boy, this is death".[75][74][76] George died at 3:15 a.m.[74] An autopsy conducted by his physicians revealed George had died from upper gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from the rupture of a blood vessel in his stomach.[77] A large tumour "the size of an orange" was found attached to his bladder; his heart was enlarged, had heavily calcified valves and was surrounded by a large fat deposit.[77] The King was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 15 July.[78]

Legacy

See also: Cultural depictions of George IV
 
"A VOLUPTUARY under the horrors of Digestion": 1792 caricature by James Gillray from George's time as Prince of Wales
 
Statue of George IV in Trafalgar Square, London

George's only legitimate child, Charlotte, had died from post-partum complications in 1817, after delivering a stillborn son. George III's second son, Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, had died childless in 1827, so the throne passed to the third son of George III, William, Duke of Clarence, who reigned as William IV.[79]

 
An obelisk in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, honouring George IV's 1823 visit

George was described as the "First Gentleman of England" on account of his style and manners.[80] He was bright, clever, and knowledgeable, but his laziness and gluttony led him to squander much of his talent. The Times wrote that he would always prefer "a girl and a bottle to politics and a sermon".[81]

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.[82] 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.[83] His visit to Scotland in 1822 led to the revival, if not the creation, of Scottish tartan dress as it is known today.[84]

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".[85] However, his eulogy delivered in the House of Lords called George "the most accomplished man of his age" and praised his knowledge and talent.[86] Wellington's true feelings were probably 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 preponderance of good—that I ever saw in any character in my life."[86]

Upon George's death, The Times captured elite opinion succinctly: "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".[87]

There are many statues of George IV, a large number of which were erected during his reign. In the United Kingdom, they include a bronze statue of him on horseback by Sir Francis Chantrey in Trafalgar Square.[88]

In Edinburgh, "George IV Bridge" is a main street linking the Old Town High Street to the north 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.[89] A square and a neighbouring park in St Luke's, Islington, are also named after George IV.[90]

Titles, styles, honours, and arms

Titles and styles

At birth, George was entitled to the dignities Prince of Great Britain and Ireland, Electoral Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Duke of Rothesay.[91] 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".[92]

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

Military appointments

Arms

Coats of arms of George IV
 
As Prince of Wales (1763–1801)
 
As Prince of Wales and Prince Regent (1801–1820)
 
As King (1820–1830)
 
As King (in Scotland) (1820–1830)

George's coat of arms as the Prince of Wales was the royal arms (with an inescutcheon of Gules plain in the Hanoverian quarter), differenced by a label of three points Argent.[103] The arms included the royal crest and supporters but with the single arched coronet of his rank, all charged on the shoulder with a similar label. His arms followed the change in the royal arms in 1801, when the Hanoverian quarter became an inescutcheon and the French quarter was dropped altogether.[104] The 1816 alteration did not affect him as it only applied to the arms of the King.[105]

As king, George's arms were those of his two kingdoms, the United Kingdom and Hanover, superimposed: 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 in pall reversed (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 Westphalia), overall an inescutcheon Gules charged with the crown of Charlemagne Or, the whole escutcheon surmounted by a crown.[106]

Ancestry

References

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  2. ^ Smith (1999), p. 1.
  3. ^ Smith (1999), p. 2.
  4. ^ Hibbert (1972), p. 2.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Hibbert (2008).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  7. ^ Smith (1999), pp. 25–28.
  8. ^ Smith (1999), p. 48.
  9. ^ Smith (1999), p. 33.
  10. ^ Parissien (2001), p. 64.
  11. ^ Smith (1999), pp. 36–38.
  12. ^ David (2000), pp. 57–91.
  13. ^ a b c d Innes (1914), pp. 396–397.
  14. ^ De-la-Noy (1998), p. 31.
  15. ^ a b Marilyn, Morris (2004). "Princely Debt, Public Credit, and Commercial Values in Late Georgian Britain". Journal of British Studies. 43 (3): 339–365. doi:10.1086/383599. S2CID 145614284.
  16. ^ Röhl, J. C. G.; Warren, M.; Hunt, D. (1998). Purple Secret. Bantam Press.
  17. ^ Peters, T. J.; Wilkinson, D. (2010). "King George III and porphyria: a clinical re-examination of the historical evidence". History of Psychiatry. 21 (81 Pt 1): 3–19. doi:10.1177/0957154X09102616. PMID 21877427. S2CID 22391207.
  18. ^ a b c d David, pp. 92–119.
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  107. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 5.

Sources and further reading

  • Baker, Kenneth (2005). "George IV: a Sketch". History Today. 55 (10): 30–36.
  • Baker, Kenneth (2005). George IV: A Life in Caricature. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-25127-4.
  • David, Saul (2000). Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3703-2.
  • De-la-Noy, Michael (1998). George IV. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1821-7.
  • Derry, John W. (1963). The Regency Crisis and the Whigs. Cambridge University Press.
  • Hibbert, Christopher (1972). George IV, Prince of Wales, 1762–1811. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-12675-4.
  • Hibbert, Christopher (1973). George IV, Regent and King, 1811–1830. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-0487-9.
  • Hibbert, Christopher (2008) [2004]. "George IV (1762–1830)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10541. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Innes, Arthur Donald (1914). A History of England and the British Empire. Vol. 3. The MacMillan Company.
  • Innes, Arthur Donald (1915). A History of England and the British Empire. Vol. 4. The MacMillan Company.
  • Machin, G. I. T. (1964). The Catholic Question in English Politics 1820 to 1830. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Parissien, Steven (2001). George IV: The Grand Entertainment. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5652-X.
  • Prebble, John (1988). The King's Jaunt: George IV in Scotland, 1822. London: Collins. ISBN 9-780002-154048.
  • Priestley, J. B. (1969). The Prince of Pleasure and His Regency (1811–20). London: Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-434-60357-2.
  • Raymond, John (1962). "King George IV: A Reappraisal". History Today. 12 (8, 9): 538–547, 614–621.
  • Smith, E. A. (1999). George IV. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07685-1.

External links

George IV
Cadet branch of the House of Welf
Born: 12 August 1762 Died: 26 June 1830
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of the United Kingdom and Hanover
29 January 1820 – 26 June 1830 		Succeeded by
British royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
George (III) 		Prince of Wales
1762–1820 		Vacant
Title next held by
Albert Edward
Vacant
Title last held by
Frederick 		Duke of Cornwall
Duke of Rothesay
1762–1820
Military offices
Preceded by Colonel of the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own)
Royal Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars)
1796–1820 		Succeeded by
Masonic offices
Preceded by Grand Master of the Premier
Grand Lodge of England
1790–1813 		Succeeded by
Other offices
Preceded by President of the Foundling Hospital
1809–1820 		Succeeded by
Previous:
Caroline of Ansbach
as Regent of Great Britain 		Regent of the United Kingdom
5 February 1811 – 29 January 1820
Became King 		Most recent

May 19, 2023
george, prince, regent, redirects, here, other, uses, prince, regent, disambiguation, george, augustus, frederick, august, 1762, june, 1830, king, united, kingdom, great, britain, ireland, king, hanover, from, january, 1820, until, death, 1830, time, accession. The Prince Regent redirects here For other uses see prince regent and George IV disambiguation George IV George Augustus Frederick 12 August 1762 26 June 1830 was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830 At the time of his accession to the throne he was acting as Prince Regent for his father King George III having done so since 5 February 1811 during his father s final mental illness George IVCoronation portrait by Thomas Lawrence 1821King of the United Kingdom and HanoverReign29 January 1820 26 June 1830Coronation19 July 1821PredecessorGeorge IIISuccessorWilliam IVPrince Regent of the United KingdomRegency5 February 1811 29 January 1820MonarchGeorge IIIBorn 1762 08 12 12 August 1762St James s Palace London England Great BritainDied26 June 1830 1830 06 26 aged 67 Windsor Castle Berkshire England United KingdomBurial15 July 1830Royal Vault St George s Chapel Windsor CastleSpouseCaroline of Brunswick m 1795 died 1821 wbr IssuePrincess Charlotte of WalesNamesGeorge Augustus FrederickHouseHanoverFatherGeorge IIIMotherCharlotte of Mecklenburg StrelitzReligionProtestantSignatureGeorge IV was the eldest child of King George III and Queen Charlotte He led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era He was a patron of new forms of leisure style and taste He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace and commissioned Jeffry Wyatville to rebuild Windsor Castle George s charm and culture earned him the title the first gentleman of England but his dissolute way of life and poor relationships with his parents and his wife Caroline of Brunswick earned him the contempt of the people and dimmed the prestige of the monarchy He excluded Caroline from his coronation and asked the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in an unsuccessful attempt to divorce her George s rule was tarnished by scandal and financial extravagance His ministers found his behaviour selfish unreliable and irresponsible and he was strongly influenced by favourites 1 During most of George s regency and reign Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Liverpool s government presided over Britain s ultimate victory over Napoleon and negotiated a peace settlement with the French After Liverpool s retirement George IV was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it His only legitimate child Princess Charlotte predeceased him in 1817 as did his childless younger brother Prince Frederick in 1827 so he was succeeded by another younger brother William IV Contents 1 Early life 2 Regency crisis of 1788 3 Marriage and mistresses 4 Regency 5 Reign 6 Declining health and death 7 Legacy 8 Titles styles honours and arms 8 1 Titles and styles 8 2 Honours 8 2 1 National honours 8 2 2 Foreign honours 8 2 3 Military appointments 8 3 Arms 9 Ancestry 10 References 11 Sources and further reading 12 External linksEarly life Edit George left with his mother Queen Charlotte and younger brother Frederick Portrait by Allan Ramsay 1764 George was born at St James s Palace London on 12 August 1762 the first child of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz As the eldest son of a British sovereign he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth he was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester a few days later 2 On 18 September of the same year he was baptised by Thomas Secker Archbishop of Canterbury 3 His godparents were his maternal uncle Adolphus Frederick IV Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz for whom the Lord Chamberlain William Cavendish 4th Duke of Devonshire stood proxy his paternal grand uncle Prince William Duke of Cumberland and his grandmother Augusta Dowager Princess of Wales 4 George was a talented student and quickly learned to speak French German and Italian in addition to his native English 5 At the age of 18 Prince George was given a separate establishment and in dramatic contrast to his prosaic scandal free father threw himself with zest into a life of dissipation and wild extravagance involving heavy drinking and numerous mistresses and escapades He was a witty conversationalist drunk or sober and showed good but grossly expensive taste in decorating his palace George turned 21 in 1783 and obtained a grant of 60 000 equivalent to 7 685 000 today 6 from Parliament and an annual income of 50 000 equivalent to 6 404 000 today 6 from his father It was far too little for his wants his stables alone cost 31 000 a year He then established his residence in Carlton House where he lived a profligate life 7 Animosity developed between the prince and his father who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the heir apparent The King a political conservative was also alienated by the prince s adherence to Charles James Fox and other radically inclined politicians 8 Portrait miniature by Richard Cosway c 1780 82 Soon after he reached the age of 21 the prince became infatuated with Maria Fitzherbert She was a commoner though granddaughter of a baronet six years his elder twice widowed and a Roman Catholic 9 Nevertheless the prince was determined to marry her This was in spite of the Act of Settlement 1701 which barred the spouse of a Catholic from succeeding to the throne and the Royal Marriages Act 1772 which prohibited his marriage without the King s consent 10 Nevertheless the couple went through a marriage ceremony on 15 December 1785 at her house in Park Street Mayfair Legally the union was void as the King s consent was not granted and never even requested 11 However Fitzherbert believed that she was the prince 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 Fitzherbert promised not to reveal it 12 Prince George was plunged into debt by his exorbitant lifestyle His father refused to assist him forcing him to quit Carlton House and live at Fitzherbert s residence In 1787 the prince s political allies proposed to relieve his debts with a parliamentary grant George s relationship with Fitzherbert was suspected and revelation of the illegal marriage would have scandalised the nation and doomed any parliamentary proposal to aid him Acting on Prince George s authority the Whig leader Charles James Fox declared that the story was a calumny 13 Fitzherbert was not pleased with the public denial of the marriage in such vehement terms and contemplated severing her ties to George He appeased her by asking another Whig Richard Brinsley Sheridan to restate Fox s forceful declaration in more careful words Parliament meanwhile granted the prince 161 000 equivalent to 21 765 000 today 6 to pay his debts and 60 000 equivalent to 8 111 000 today 6 for improvements to Carlton House 5 14 15 Regency crisis of 1788 Edit Mezzotint engraving by Samuel William Reynolds based on a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds 1785 In the summer of 1788 the King s mental health deteriorated possibly as the result of the hereditary disease porphyria 16 17 He was nonetheless able to discharge some of his duties and to declare Parliament prorogued from 25 September to 20 November During the prorogation he 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 13 18 Although arguably barred from doing so Parliament began debating a regency In the House of Commons Charles James Fox declared his opinion that Prince George 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 19 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 20 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 13 18 Miniature by Richard Cosway 1792 The Prince of Wales though offended by Pitt s boldness did not lend his full support to Fox s approach Prince George s brother Prince Frederick Duke of York and Albany declared that George would not attempt to exercise any power without previously obtaining the consent of Parliament 21 Following the passage of preliminary resolutions Pitt outlined a formal plan for the regency suggesting that Prince George s powers be greatly limited Among other things George 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 Prince George denounced Pitt s scheme declaring it a project for producing weakness disorder and insecurity in every branch of the administration of affairs 22 In the interests of the nation both factions agreed to compromise 18 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 However 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 in itself gave legal force to the bill This legal fiction was denounced by Edmund Burke as forgery fraud 23 a glaring falsehood 24 and as a palpable absurdity 24 Prince Frederick described the plan as unconstitutional and illegal 22 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 The King declared retroactively that the instrument authorising the Lords Commissioners to act was valid 13 18 Marriage and mistresses Edit Portrait by Sir William Beechey 1798 Prince George s debts continued to climb and his father refused to aid him unless he married his cousin Princess Caroline of Brunswick 25 In 1795 the prince acquiesced and they were married on 8 April 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 thereafter George remained attached to Maria Fitzherbert for the rest of his life despite several periods of estrangement 26 George s mistresses included Mary Robinson an actress whom he paid to leave the stage 27 Grace Elliott the divorced wife of a physician 28 29 and Frances Villiers Countess of Jersey who dominated his life for some years 26 In later life his mistresses were the Marchioness of Hertford and the Marchioness Conyngham 30 George was rumoured to have fathered several illegitimate children James Ord born 1786 who moved to the United States and became a Jesuit priest was reportedly his son by Fitzherbert 31 Late in life George told a friend that he had a son who was a naval officer in the West Indies whose identity has been tentatively established as Captain Henry A F Hervey 1786 1824 reportedly George s child by the songwriter Lady Anne Lindsay later Barnard a daughter of James Lindsay 5th Earl of Balcarres 32 Other reported children include Major George Seymour Crole the son of theatre manager s daughter Eliza Crole William Hampshire the son of publican s daughter Sarah Brown and Charles Beau Candy the son of a Frenchwoman with that surname 33 Anthony Camp Director of Research at the Society of Genealogists has dismissed the claims that George IV was the father of Ord Hervey Hampshire and Candy as fictitious 34 The problem of George s debts which amounted to the extraordinary sum of 630 000 in 1795 35 equivalent to 69 246 000 today 6 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 equivalent to 7 144 000 today 6 per annum 36 In 1803 a further 60 000 equivalent to 5 829 000 today 6 was added and George s debts as at 1795 were finally cleared in 1806 although the debts he had incurred since 1795 remained 15 In 1804 a dispute arose over the custody of Princess Charlotte which led to her being placed in the care of the King It also led to a Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into Princess Caroline s conduct after her husband accused her of having an illegitimate son The investigation cleared Caroline of the charge but still revealed her behaviour to have been extraordinarily indiscreet 37 Regency EditMain article Regency era Profile by Sir Thomas Lawrence c 1814 Portrait in Garter robes by Lawrence 1816 In late 1810 the King s mental health once again broke down 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 letters patent lacked the Royal Sign Manual but were sealed by request of resolutions passed by both Houses of Parliament The Lords Commissioners appointed by the letters patent in the name of the King then signified the granting of 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 38 The Prince of Wales became Prince Regent on 5 February 1811 39 The Regent let his ministers take full charge of government affairs playing a far smaller role than his father The principle that the prime minister was the person supported by a majority in the House of Commons whether the King personally favoured him or not became established 40 His governments with little help from the Regent presided over British policy 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 Prime Minister Spencer Perceval were opposed to Catholic emancipation while the Whigs supported it At the beginning of the Regency Prince George was expected to support the Whig leader Lord Grenville He did not however immediately put Grenville and the Whigs into 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 41 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 Perceval The Whigs however refused to co operate because of disagreements over Catholic emancipation Grudgingly Prince George allowed Perceval to continue as Prime Minister 42 On 11 May 1812 Perceval was assassinated by John Bellingham 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 43 so George then offered leadership of the government to Lord Wellesley and afterwards to Lord Moira He doomed the attempts of both to failure however by forcing each to construct an all party 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 George immediately reappointed the Perceval administration with Lord Liverpool as Prime Minister 44 The Tories unlike Whigs such as Lord Grey sought to continue the vigorous prosecution of the war in Continental Europe against the powerful and aggressive emperor of the French Napoleon I 45 An anti French alliance which included Russia Prussia Austria Britain 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 the Kingdom of Hanover Napoleon returned from exile in 1815 but was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington brother of Lord Wellesley 46 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 47 Reign Edit George IV s coronation 19 July 1821 George IV at Holyhead en route to Ireland on 7 August 1821 the day of his wife s death When George III died in 1820 the Prince Regent then aged 57 ascended the throne as George IV with no real change in his powers 48 By the time of his accession he was obese and possibly addicted to laudanum 5 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 In 1814 Caroline left the United Kingdom for continental Europe but she chose to return for her husband s coronation and to publicly assert her rights as queen consort However he refused to recognise Caroline as queen and commanded British ambassadors to ensure that monarchs in foreign courts did the same By royal command Caroline s name was omitted from the Book of Common Prayer the liturgy of the Church of England 49 The King sought a divorce but his advisors suggested that any divorce proceedings might involve the publication of details relating to George s own adulterous relationships Therefore he requested and ensured the introduction of the Pains and Penalties Bill 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 decided nonetheless to exclude his wife from his coronation at Westminster Abbey on 19 July 1821 Caroline fell ill that day and died on 7 August during her final illness she often stated that she thought she had been poisoned 50 Half crown of George IV 1821 Portrait by Sir David Wilkie depicting George during his 1822 trip to Scotland George s coronation was a magnificent and expensive affair costing about 243 000 approximately 23 558 000 in 2023 6 for comparison his father s coronation had only cost about 10 000 Despite the enormous cost it was a popular event 5 In 1821 George became the first monarch to pay a state visit to Ireland since Richard II of England 51 The following year he visited Edinburgh for one and twenty daft days 52 His visit to Scotland organised by Sir Walter Scott was the first by a reigning monarch since the mid 17th century 53 George spent most of his later reign in seclusion at Windsor Castle 54 but he continued to intervene in politics At first it was believed that he would support Catholic emancipation as he had proposed a Catholic Emancipation Bill for Ireland in 1797 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 55 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 56 The influence of the Crown was so great and the will of the Tories under Prime Minister Liverpool so strong that Catholic emancipation seemed hopeless In 1827 however Liverpool retired to be replaced by the pro emancipation Tory George Canning When Canning entered office the King 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 of his revered father George III 57 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 58 Canning died later in that year leaving Lord Goderich to lead the tenuous Tory Whig coalition Goderich left office in 1828 to be succeeded by Wellington who had by that time accepted that the denial of some measure of relief to Roman Catholics was politically untenable 59 60 George was never as friendly with Wellington as he had been with Canning and chose to annoy the Duke by pretending to have fought at Waterloo disguised as a German general 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 Ernest Augustus 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 5 Royal Assent was finally granted to the Catholic Relief Act on 13 April 61 Declining health and death Edit Lithograph of George IV in profile by George Atkinson printed by C Hullmandel 1821 King Henry IV by William Heath c 1827 Henry IV Part 2 Act II Scene 4 by Henry Fuseli 1805Cartoon left of George IV and his mistress Lady Conyngham mirroring a well known work right by Fuseli 62 George s heavy drinking and indulgent lifestyle had taken their toll on his health by the late 1820s While still Prince of Wales he had become obese through his huge banquets and copious consumption of alcohol making him the target of ridicule on the rare occasions that he appeared in public 63 by 1797 his weight had reached 17 stone 7 pounds 111 kg 245 lb 64 By 1824 his corset was made for a waist of 50 inches 130 cm 65 He had gout arteriosclerosis peripheral edema dropsy and possibly porphyria In his last years he spent whole days in bed and had acute and serious spasms of breathlessness 5 George s last years were marked by increasing physical and mental decay and withdrawal from public affairs Privately a senior aide to the King confided to his diary A more contemptible cowardly selfish unfeeling dog does not exist There have been good and wise kings but not many of them and this I believe to be one of the worst 1 By December 1828 like his father George was almost completely blind from cataracts and had such severe gout in his right hand and arm that he could no longer sign documents 66 In mid 1829 David Wilkie reported the King was wasting away frightfully day after day and had become so obese that he looked like a great sausage stuffed into the covering 66 George took laudanum to counteract severe bladder pains which left him in a drugged and mentally impaired state for days on end 67 He underwent surgery to remove a cataract in September 1829 by which time he was regularly taking over 100 drops of laudanum before state occasions 68 By the spring of 1830 George s imminent end was apparent Now largely confined to his bedchambers having completely lost sight in one eye and describing himself as blind as a beetle he was forced to approve legislation with a stamp of his signature in the presence of witnesses 69 His weight was recorded to be 20 stone 130 kg 280 lb 70 Attacks of breathlessness due to dropsy forced him to sleep upright in a chair and doctors frequently tapped his abdomen in order to drain excess fluid 67 Despite his obvious decline George was admired for clinging doggedly to life 71 His will to live and still prodigious appetite astonished observers in April 1830 the Duke of Wellington wrote that the King had consumed for breakfast a Pidgeon and Beef Steak Pye Three parts of a bottle of Mozelle a Glass of Dry Champagne two Glasses of Port and a Glass of Brandy followed by a large dose of laudanum 69 Writing to Maria Fitzherbert in June the King s doctor Sir Henry Halford noted His Majesty s constitution is a gigantic one and his elasticity under the most severe pressure exceeds what I have ever witnessed in thirty eight years experience 72 Though George had been under Halford s care since the time of the Regency the doctor s social ambitions and perceived lack of competence were strongly criticised with The Lancet labelling Halford s bulletins on the King s health as utterly and entirely destitute of information subsequently characterising Halford s treatment of George which involved administering both opium and laudanum as sedatives as appearing to lack sense or direction 73 George dictated his will in May and became very devout in his final months confessing to an archdeacon that he repented of his dissolute life but hoped mercy would be shown to him as he had always tried to do the best for his subjects 67 By June he was unable to lie down and received the Sacrament on 14 June in the presence of Lady Conyngham Halford and a clergyman 72 While Halford only informed the Cabinet on 24 June that the King s cough continues with considerable expectoration he privately told his wife that things are coming to a conclusion I shall be released about Monday 74 At about three in the morning of 26 June 1830 at Windsor Castle George awoke and passed a bowel movement a large evacuation mix d with blood 74 He then sent for Halford allegedly calling to his servants Sir Henry Sir Henry Fetch him this is death 74 Accounts of George s final moments and last words vary According to Halford following his arrival and that of Sir William Knighton the King s lips grew livid and he dropped his head on the page s shoulder I was up the stairs in five minutes and he died but eight minutes afterwards 74 Other accounts state the King placed his hands on his stomach and said Surely this must be death or that he called out Good God what is this clasped his page s hand and said my boy this is death 75 74 76 George died at 3 15 a m 74 An autopsy conducted by his physicians revealed George had died from upper gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from the rupture of a blood vessel in his stomach 77 A large tumour the size of an orange was found attached to his bladder his heart was enlarged had heavily calcified valves and was surrounded by a large fat deposit 77 The King was buried in St George s Chapel Windsor Castle on 15 July 78 Legacy EditSee also Cultural depictions of George IV A VOLUPTUARY under the horrors of Digestion 1792 caricature by James Gillray from George s time as Prince of Wales Statue of George IV in Trafalgar Square London George s only legitimate child Charlotte had died from post partum complications in 1817 after delivering a stillborn son George III s second son Frederick Duke of York and Albany had died childless in 1827 so the throne passed to the third son of George III William Duke of Clarence who reigned as William IV 79 An obelisk in Dun Laoghaire Ireland honouring George IV s 1823 visit George was described as the First Gentleman of England on account of his style and manners 80 He was bright clever and knowledgeable but his laziness and gluttony led him to squander much of his talent The Times wrote that he would always prefer a girl and a bottle to politics and a sermon 81 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 82 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 83 His visit to Scotland in 1822 led to the revival if not the creation of Scottish tartan dress as it is known today 84 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 85 However his eulogy delivered in the House of Lords called George the most accomplished man of his age and praised his knowledge and talent 86 Wellington s true feelings were probably 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 preponderance of good that I ever saw in any character in my life 86 Upon George s death The Times captured elite opinion succinctly 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 87 There are many statues of George IV a large number of which were erected during his reign In the United Kingdom they include a bronze statue of him on horseback by Sir Francis Chantrey in Trafalgar Square 88 In Edinburgh George IV Bridge is a main street linking the Old Town High Street to the north 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 89 A square and a neighbouring park in St Luke s Islington are also named after George IV 90 Titles styles honours and arms EditTitles and styles Edit At birth George was entitled to the dignities Prince of Great Britain and Ireland Electoral Prince of Brunswick Luneburg and Duke of Rothesay 91 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 92 Honours Edit National honours Edit 26 December 1765 Royal Knight of the Garter 91 21 November 1783 Privy Counsellor 91 26 January 1789 Fellow of the Royal Society 91 2 May 1810 Doctor of Civil Law University of Oxford 91 28 April 1818 Founder of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George 93 Kingdom of Hanover 28 April 1815 Founder of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order 94 Foreign honours Edit Russian Empire 25 November 1813 Knight of St Andrew 91 20 April 1814 Knight of St Alexander Nevsky 91 Kingdom of Prussia 11 April 1814 Knight of the Black Eagle 95 Kingdom of France 20 April 1814 Knight of the Holy Spirit 91 Spain 5 July 1814 Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III 96 Kingdom of Portugal 7 April 1815 Grand Cross of the Sash of the Three Orders 97 Austrian Empire 8 June 1815 Knight of the Golden Fleece 97 1819 Grand Cross of St Stephen 98 Denmark 4 July 1815 Knight of the Elephant 99 Two Sicilies 1816 Knight of St Januarius 100 1816 Grand Cross of St Ferdinand and Merit 100 Netherlands 27 November 1818 Grand Cross of the Military William Order 101 Kingdom of Bavaria 1826 Knight of St Hubert 102 Military appointments Edit 1782 Colonel British Army 91 1796 1820 Colonel of the 10th Light Dragoons 91 Arms Edit Coats of arms of George IV As Prince of Wales 1763 1801 As Prince of Wales and Prince Regent 1801 1820 As King 1820 1830 As King in Scotland 1820 1830 George s coat of arms as the Prince of Wales was the royal arms with an inescutcheon of Gules plain in the Hanoverian quarter differenced by a label of three points Argent 103 The arms included the royal crest and supporters but with the single arched coronet of his rank all charged on the shoulder with a similar label His arms followed the change in the royal arms in 1801 when the Hanoverian quarter became an inescutcheon and the French quarter was dropped altogether 104 The 1816 alteration did not affect him as it only applied to the arms of the King 105 As king George s arms were those of his two kingdoms the United Kingdom and Hanover superimposed 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 in pall reversed for Hanover I Gules two lions passant guardant Or for Brunswick II Or a semy of hearts Gules a lion rampant Azure for Luneburg III Gules a horse courant Argent for Westphalia overall an inescutcheon Gules charged with the crown of Charlemagne Or the whole escutcheon surmounted by a crown 106 Ancestry EditAncestors of George IV 107 8 George II of Great Britain4 Frederick Prince of Wales9 Princess Caroline of Brandenburg Ansbach2 George III of the United Kingdom10 Frederick II Duke of Saxe Gotha Altenburg5 Princess Augusta of Saxe Gotha Altenburg11 Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt Zerbst1 George IV of the United Kingdom12 Adolphus Frederick II Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz6 Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg Strelitz13 Princess Christiane Emilie of Schwarzburg Sondershausen3 Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz14 Ernest Frederick I Duke of Saxe Hildburghausen7 Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe Hildburghausen15 Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach ErbachReferences Edit a b Baker Kenneth 2005 George IV a Sketch History Today 55 10 30 36 Smith 1999 p 1 Smith 1999 p 2 Hibbert 1972 p 2 a b c d e f Hibbert 2008 a b c d e f g h UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark Gregory 2017 The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain 1209 to Present New Series MeasuringWorth Retrieved 11 June 2022 Smith 1999 pp 25 28 Smith 1999 p 48 Smith 1999 p 33 Parissien 2001 p 64 Smith 1999 pp 36 38 David 2000 pp 57 91 a b c d Innes 1914 pp 396 397 De la Noy 1998 p 31 a b Marilyn Morris 2004 Princely Debt Public Credit and Commercial Values in Late Georgian Britain Journal of British Studies 43 3 339 365 doi 10 1086 383599 S2CID 145614284 Rohl J C G Warren M Hunt D 1998 Purple Secret Bantam Press Peters T J Wilkinson D 2010 King George III and porphyria a clinical re examination of the historical evidence History of Psychiatry 21 81 Pt 1 3 19 doi 10 1177 0957154X09102616 PMID 21877427 S2CID 22391207 a b c d David pp 92 119 Smith 1999 p 54 Derry 1963 p 71 Derry 1963 p 91 a b May Thomas Erskine 1896 Chapter III The Prerogatives of the Crown During the Minority or Incapacity of the Sovereign The Constitutional History of England Since the Accession of George the Third 1760 1860 11th ed London Longmans Green and Co pp 184 195 Derry 1963 p 181 a b Derry 1963 p 109 Smith 1999 p 70 a b David pp 150 205 Carroll Leslie 2008 George IV and Mary Robinson 1757 1800 Royal Affairs A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures That Rocked the British Monarchy ISBN 978 0 451 22398 2 Major Joanne Murden Sarah 2016 An infamous mistress the life loves and family of the celebrated Grace Dalrymple Elliott Pen amp Sword History ISBN 1473844835 Hibbert 1972 p 18 Hibbert 1973 p 214 David 2000 pp 76 78 David 2000 p 78 David 2000 p 80 Camp Anthony J 2007 Royal Mistresses and Bastards Fact and Fiction 1714 1936 ISBN 978 0 9503308 2 2 De la Noy 1998 p 55 Smith 1999 p 97 Ashley Mike 1998 The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens London Robinson p 684 ISBN 1 84119 096 9 Innes 1915 p 50 No 16451 The London Gazette 5 February 1811 p 227 Bagehot Walter 1872 The English constitution p 247 Parissien 2001 p 185 Smith 1999 pp 141 142 Smith 1999 p 144 Smith 1999 p 145 Smith 1999 p 146 Parissien 2001 pp 264 281 Rutherford Jessica M F 1995 The Royal Pavilion The Palace of George IV Brighton Borough Council p 81 ISBN 0 948723 21 1 Innes 1915 p 81 Parissien 2001 pp 209 224 Innes 1915 p 82 De la Noy 1998 p 95 Prebble 1988 Parissien 2001 pp 316 323 King George IV Official website of the British monarchy Retrieved 18 April 2016 Parissien 2001 p 189 Smith 1999 p 238 Hibbert 1973 p 292 Smith 1999 pp 231 234 Parissien 2001 p 190 Smith 1999 p 237 Parissien 2001 p 381 King Henry IV Metropolitan Museum of Art Retrieved 4 February 2021 Parissien 2001 p 355 De la Noy 1998 p 43 Parissien 2001 p 171 a b Smith 1999 pp 266 267 a b c Smith 1999 p 269 Parissien 2001 p 4 a b Parissien 2001 p 3 Baker Kenneth 2005 George IV a life in caricature Hudson and Thames p 202 ISBN 978 0 500 25127 0 Smith 1999 p 270 a b Parissien 2001 p 6 Parissien 2001 pp 5 6 a b c d e f Parissien 2001 pp 7 8 De la Noy 1998 p 103 Smith 1999 p 271 a b Smith 1999 p 275 Hibbert 1973 p 336 Innes 1915 p 105 The Diary of Prince Puckler Muskau May 1828 Quoted in Parissien 2001 p 420 Clarke John 1975 George IV The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England Knopf 225 Parissien 2001 p 112 Parissien 2001 p 114 Parissien 2001 pp 324 326 Hibbert 1973 p 310 a b Hibbert 1973 p 344 The Times London 15 July 1830 quoted in Hibbert George IV Regent and King 1811 1830 p 342 Parissien 2001 pp 14 162 163 201 277 Camden s history Camden Council Archived from the original on 6 March 2007 Retrieved 5 March 2007 History St Clement s Church King Square Archived from the original on 24 February 2015 Retrieved 3 April 2015 a b c d e f g h i j Cokayne G E 1910 Gibbs Vicary ed The complete peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom Vol 4 London St Catherine s Press pp 450 451 Hibbert 1972 p 280 Duckers Peter 2009 2004 British Orders and Decorations Oxford Shire Publications pp 26 27 ISBN 978 0 7478 0580 9 OCLC 55587484 Robertson Megan C 2 April 2007 United Kingdom The Royal Guelphic Order Medals of the World Liste der Ritter des Koniglich Preussischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler 1851 Von Seiner Majestat dem Konige Friedrich Wilhelm III ernannte Ritter p 17 Caballeros Grandes cruces existentes en la Real y distinguida Orden Espanola de Carlos Tercero Calendario manual y guia de forasteros en Madrid in Spanish 1826 p 46 Retrieved 8 October 2020 a b Braganca Jose Vicente de 2011 A Evolucao da Banda das Tres Ordens Militares 1789 1826 The Evolution of the Band of the Three Military Orders 1789 1826 Lusiada Historia in Portuguese 2 8 276 278 ISSN 0873 1330 Retrieved 17 March 2020 A Szent Istvan Rend tagjai Archived from the original on 22 December 2010 Jorgen Pedersen 2009 Riddere af Elefantordenen 1559 2009 in Danish Syddansk Universitetsforlag p 207 ISBN 978 87 7674 434 2 a b Capitolo XIV Ordini cavallereschi Almanacco Reale del Regno Delle Due Sicilie in Italian 1829 pp 416 421 Retrieved 8 October 2020 Militaire Willems Orde Wales George Augustus Frederick Prince of Military William Order Wales George Augustus Frederick Prince of Ministerie van Defensie in Dutch 27 November 1818 Retrieved 12 March 2016 Hof und Staatshandbuch des Konigreichs Bayern 1827 Landesamt 1827 p 7 Velde Francois R Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family Heraldica Retrieved 11 May 2013 No 15324 The London Gazette 30 December 1800 p 2 Pinches John Harvey Pinches Rosemary 1974 The Royal Heraldry of England Heraldry Today Slough Buckinghamshire Hollen Street Press pp 228 229 ISBN 0 900455 25 X No 17149 The London Gazette 29 June 1816 p 1237 Genealogie ascendante jusqu au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l Europe actuellement vivans Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living in French Bourdeaux Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel 1768 p 5 Sources and further reading EditBaker Kenneth 2005 George IV a Sketch History Today 55 10 30 36 Baker Kenneth 2005 George IV A Life in Caricature London Thames amp Hudson ISBN 0 500 25127 4 David Saul 2000 Prince of Pleasure The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency Grove Press ISBN 0 8021 3703 2 De la Noy Michael 1998 George IV Stroud Gloucestershire Sutton Publishing ISBN 0 7509 1821 7 Derry John W 1963 The Regency Crisis and the Whigs Cambridge University Press Hibbert Christopher 1972 George IV Prince of Wales 1762 1811 London Longman ISBN 0 582 12675 4 Hibbert Christopher 1973 George IV Regent and King 1811 1830 London Allen Lane ISBN 0 7139 0487 9 Hibbert Christopher 2008 2004 George IV 1762 1830 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 10541 Subscription or UK public library membership required Innes Arthur Donald 1914 A History of England and the British Empire Vol 3 The MacMillan Company Innes Arthur Donald 1915 A History of England and the British Empire Vol 4 The MacMillan Company Machin G I T 1964 The Catholic Question in English Politics 1820 to 1830 Oxford Oxford University Press Parissien Steven 2001 George IV The Grand Entertainment London John Murray ISBN 0 7195 5652 X Prebble John 1988 The King s Jaunt George IV in Scotland 1822 London Collins ISBN 9 780002 154048 Priestley J B 1969 The Prince of Pleasure and His Regency 1811 20 London Heinemann ISBN 978 0 434 60357 2 Raymond John 1962 King George IV A Reappraisal History Today 12 8 9 538 547 614 621 Smith E A 1999 George IV Yale University Press ISBN 0 300 07685 1 External links Edit Media related to George IV of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons George IV at the official website of the British monarchy George IV at the official website of the Royal Collection Trust George IV at BBC History Portraits of King George IV at the National Portrait Gallery London George IVHouse of HanoverCadet branch of the House of WelfBorn 12 August 1762 Died 26 June 1830Regnal titlesPreceded byGeorge III King of the United Kingdom and Hanover29 January 1820 26 June 1830 Succeeded byWilliam IVBritish royaltyVacantTitle last held byGeorge III Prince of Wales1762 1820 VacantTitle next held byAlbert EdwardVacantTitle last held byFrederick Duke of CornwallDuke of Rothesay1762 1820Military officesPreceded bySir William Augustus Pitt Colonel of the 10th The Prince of Wales s Own Royal Regiment of Light Dragoons Hussars 1796 1820 Succeeded byThe Lord StewartMasonic officesPreceded byThe Duke of Cumberland Grand Master of the PremierGrand Lodge of England1790 1813 Succeeded byThe Duke of SussexOther officesPreceded byThe Duke of Portland President of the Foundling Hospital1809 1820 Succeeded byThe Duke of York and AlbanyPrevious Caroline of Ansbachas Regent of Great Britain Regent of the United Kingdom5 February 1811 29 January 1820Became King Most recent Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title George IV amp oldid 1155670365, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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