| King George III who suffered from porphyria, a | | | | 1801 to 1804, but his condition worsened and he |
| maddening disease, was born in 1738 to Frederick, | | | | ceased to rule in 1811. |
| Prince of Wales and Augusta. In 1761 George married | | | | Ten years after the ending of war with France, |
| Charlotte of Mecklinburg-Strelitz and together | | | | England joined a continental coalition against French |
| produced fifteen children: nine sons and six daughters. | | | | revolutionary forces who sought total French |
| King George III came to the throne in 1760 and was | | | | supremacy throughout Europe. By 1797, most of |
| determined to recover the power lost to the | | | | Europe was under French control, with England going |
| ministerial council by the first two Georges by | | | | at it alone against the oppressive French Republic. |
| systematically weakening the Whig party through | | | | The British Navy again proved its worth by defeating |
| bribery, coercion and patronage. Prime Minister, | | | | French forces at Camperdown, Cape St. Vincent and |
| William Pitt the Elder was toppled by Whigs in 1763 | | | | the Battle of the Nile in 1797, and finally at |
| after the signing of the Peace of Paris, and men of | | | | Copenhagen in 1801. France sued for peace in 1802. |
| ordinary aptitude were then hand-picked by George | | | | Napoleon Bonaparte came to power and in 1803 |
| as Cabinet members to become little more than | | | | renewed attacks against England, which lasted until |
| yes-men. Bouts with madness and the handling of the | | | | 1814. Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, led the |
| American Revolution eroded his support and the | | | | army whilst Lord Horatio Nelson, who won the |
| power of the Crown was granted again to the Prime | | | | decisive battle off Cape Trafalgar, commanded the |
| Minister. | | | | British navy. In addition to the war with France, |
| In 1763 The Peace of Paris brought an end to the | | | | England was also at war again with the United States |
| Seven Years' War with France and Great Britain | | | | during the period 1812-14, over the British practice of |
| emerged from the conflict as the world's greatest | | | | conscripting American seamen into service in the |
| colonial power. England thrived but King George III's | | | | British Navy. |
| ongoing commitment to taxing the American colonies | | | | In 1814, both wars came to an end; Napoleon was |
| to pay for military protection led to conflict in 1775. | | | | defeated and England agreed not to press into |
| The colonists declared their independence from | | | | service anymore-American sailors. |
| England in 1776, but George stubbornly continued | | | | George's madness ultimately left the fate of the |
| with the war until the final American victory at | | | | crown in the hands of his eldest son George, Prince |
| Yorktown in 1781. The signing of The Peace of | | | | Regent. Prince George was put in the unenviable |
| Versailles in 1783 ensured British recognition of the | | | | position of attempting to govern according to the |
| United States of America. The stress of these | | | | increasingly erratic behaviour of his father. |
| events took their toll on George: his sanity was | | | | King George III died blind, deaf and mad at Windsor |
| stretched to the breaking point and his political power | | | | Castle on January 29, 1820. |
| decreased when William Pitt the Younger became | | | | I hope you have enjoyed reading about King George |
| Prime Minister in 1783. George clawed back some of | | | | III. |
| his powers, driving Pitt from office during the years | | | | |