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You are here: UK History > Royal History > House of Hanover > George IV | The Regency influencer
Unlike his father who was the longest serving king in English and British history until this point, George IV only reigned for ten years, but held an influential role in society, particularly after being made Prince Regent from 1811 because of his father’s poor health.
Born: 12th August 1762, at St James’ Palace, London
Died: 26th June 1830 (aged 67), Windsor Castle, Berkshire
Reign: 5th February 1811- 29th January 1820 (as Regent) and 29th January 1820-26th June 1830 (as King)
Parents: George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Predecessor: George III (father)
Successor: William IV (brother)
Spouse: Caroline of Brunswick (1795-1821)
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Unlike his father who was the longest serving king in English and British history until this point, George IV only reigned for ten years, but held an influential role in society, particularly after being made Prince Regent from 1811 because of his father’s poor health.
Born: 12th August 1762, at St James’ Palace, London
Died: 26th June 1830 (aged 67), Windsor Castle, Berkshire
Reign: 5th February 1811- 29th January 1820 (as Regent) and 29th January 1820-26th June 1830 (as King)
Parents: George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Predecessor: George III (father)
Successor: William IV (brother)
Spouse: Caroline of Brunswick (1795-1821)
Children: Princess Charlotte of Wales
Royal House: Hanover
George became King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover after his father died and reigned for a further ten years before succumbing to his own health problems. Throughout both his reign and his regency, he was known as the First Gentleman of England, which initially gained him popularity, but eventually earned him the contempt of the people because of his extravagant way of life.
George was born at St James Palace in London, the first child of King George III and his wife, Princess Charlotte. As such, he became Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester within days of birth. There is little known about his early childhood, George was the oldest of fifteen and was deemed a talented student, who was fluent in French, German, Italian and English.
When he turned 18, he was given his own residence and in contrast to his father, he threw himself into a life of indulgence, full of scandal and parties. His father, King George III was pious and reserved in comparison, which caused a growing animosity between the pair. Throughout his life, George was known to be a heavy drinker with numerous mistresses. After coming of age at 21, George received a grant from parliament and an annual income as a member of the royal family. This income was significantly higher than the average income at the time, but George claimed that it was too little for his wants. He moved to Carlton House where he continued his extravagant lifestyle, which frequently appeared in society pages.
While living at Carlton House, George secretly and illegally married Maria Fitzherbert. Though she had noble ancestors, Maria was a commoner, and not only that, she was 6 years older, twice widowed and a Catholic. However, under the Royal Marriages Act brought in by his father and the Act of Settlement, the marriage was prohibited. Despite this, George and Maria went ahead, tying the knot at her home in Mayfair. The marriage wasn’t considered legal and never received the king’s consent. In order to obtain enough money to pay off his debts, George had to keep the marriage secret from parliament. The king had already cut him off and forced him to leave Carlton House, resulting in him moving in with Fitzherbert. Because of the illegality of the union, he publicly, along with parliament, insisted that he and Maria were not married, simply cohabiting. Parliament paid off his debts, but his financial problems continued throughout the rest of his life.
George’s flamboyant style and appearance at society parties led to the creation of the Regency style and he is credited for the fashions and trends of the era.
Despite his difficult relationship with his father, when King George III became seriously ill, parliament turned to the Prince of Wales to oversee the running of the country. The Act of Regency was launched but the king recovered before George could take an active role as regent. Later, in 1810, when the King relapsed, following the death of his youngest daughter Amelia, he was unable to continue to make decisions, leaving Parliament little choice but to implement the Act of Regency. George became Prince Regent on 5th February 1811.
As Regent, George let the ministers of the government take full charge of political affairs and played a much smaller role than his father. It was this act that led to the modern principle that the prime minister was the state’s representative, being a person that had the majority support of the House of Commons, whether they were liked by the monarch or not.
One of the most important political conflicts facing the country at this time was the subject of catholic emancipation. The Tories led by prime minister Spencer Perceval was opposed to the emancipation whereas the opposing Whigs supported it. As George had spent his time as Prince of Wales being supportive of the Whigs, it was supposed that he would continue to do so, but he refrained from calling an election and putting them in office on the advice of his mother, who suggested that a sudden change in government would further exacerbate the king’s health.
By 1812, it seemed unlikely that the king would recover, and George’s role of Regent became much bigger. It was at this point that he attempted to new government with a Whig majority, by asking Whig politicians to join the existing government under Perceval. The Whigs refused to cooperate because of the issue of Catholic emancipation, grudgingly, he had no choice but to keep the ministers he already had. In the May of that year, Perceval was assassinated and was replaced by Lord Liverpool.
Even before becoming king, George’s debts continued to grow and his father refused to help unless he agreed to marry his cousin, Princess Caroline of Brunswick. Being already married, this was somewhat of a problem and George had to concede that his relationship with Maria was not legally binding. He agreed to marry his cousin and the pair were married on 8th April 1795.
It was a disaster from the beginning, Caroline and George were hugely incompatible, with very different tastes and personalities. From the beginning, the pair were constantly unfaithful and separated shortly after the birth of their only child, the Princess Charlotte. They never reconciled, with George even banning her from his coronation. In 1804, a dispute arose between the two over custody of the princess, which led to her being placed under the care of George’s father. The incident led to a parliamentary enquiry into Caroline’s conduct after she was accused of baring another man’s child. The investigation cleared her but did find that both she and George had behaved indiscreetly, something that was frowned upon by the King George III.
Despite being legally married to Caroline, George remained attached to Maria Fitzherbert for the rest of his life. The pair did have long periods of estrangement but always reconciled. Unlike his father who was noted to not have any mistresses, George was known to have several, many of whom were notable ladies of the day. His mistresses included the actress Mary Robinson and society women such as Grace Eliot, Frances Villiers and members of the aristocracy. Historians have debated whether George fathered any illegitimate children, which is suspected, however their identities have never been confirmed.
His relationship with Caroline was all but over by the time King George III died. The pair had lived separately since 1796, with her moving abroad. When news reached her of George’s succession, she returned to England, hoping that she could assert her right as Queen Consort. George refused to recognise her as such, banning her from his coronation and commanding his ambassadors across Europe to do the same. By royal command, her name was omitted from the Book of Common Prayer which had included the names of every monarch and their spouse since its introduction. With Caroline’s return, George began to seek a divorce, but his advisors considered this a bad idea, as it would have to go to trial and his own behaviour would be called into question – not ideal when he was set to become king. To get around this, George requested and ensured the introduction of the Pains and Penalties Bill, under which parliament could impose legal penalties without trial, allowing him to divorce Caroline without the need for a trial. The bill would have annulled the marriage and stripped her of her titles and was hugely unpopular, so much so that parliament chose to withdraw it from debate. George insisted that she could not attend the coronation, but he needn’t have worried, she was taken ill the same day and died just a month later. Some speculate that the suddenness of her illness and death indicated that she had been poisoned.
George became King at the age of 57 and was coronated shortly after his father’s funeral. Having been serving as Regent, there was no real change in power and for the majority of his reign, he worked with Lord Liverpool, who was the prime minister, and who presided over Britain’s victory in the Napoleonic War.
At the time of his accession, George was considered to be obese, had his own numerous health problems likely connected to his lavish lifestyle and was rumoured to be seriously addicted to laudanum, which was a common medicine at the time. Unlike his father, who chose to have a lowkey coronation, George’s was a magnificent and expensive affair, which would have cost over £22 million in modern money. Despite the cost, it was a popular event for the whole nation.
His popularity at the time increased when he became the first monarch to pay a state visit to Ireland since Richard II. The following year, he visited Edinburgh on a trip organised by Sir Walter Scott, the first reigning monarch to visit Scotland since the 17th century.
Having come to the crown in his fifties, George’s health and age were against him from the beginning. He spent much of his reign in seclusion at Windsor Castle, though he continued to intervene in politics and meet with his ministers. One of the biggest policies of the reign was the issue of Catholic Emancipation. At first, it was believed he would support the motion as he had proposed something similar for Ireland before becoming Regent. However, as his reign went on, his anti-catholic views became public knowledge, especially from 1813 onwards, when he began canvassing against the bill and denouncing it in public. George, much like his predecessors, stated that his coronation oath swore to uphold the protestant faith, which meant he could not support pro-catholic policies. The issue returned when Liverpool retired and was replaced by Canning, who was pro catholic. When Canning entered office, George began to discuss policy in public for the first time since his reign began. Canning was unpopular, partly because he was leading a coalition and died early in his government, this paved the way for Wellington to take the premiership. It was Wellington who finally got the king to agree to the bill, which came into effect in April.
Though initially popular, George’s rule was tarnished by scandal and financial extravagance. His ministers described him as being selfish, unreliable and irresponsible and the public became increasingly more annoyed at his spending during the Napoleonic Wars. Despite this, much of George’s spending and indulgent behaviour did contribute to the creation of the Regency period. He was a patron to various new forms of leisure, style and taste, including the building of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. He also commissioned the remodelling of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
George was known for being a heavy drinker and his lifestyle began to take his toll by the 1820s at the early start of his reign. Even before becoming Prince Regent, George was described as being obese, something that made him the target of ridicule and caused him to shy away from public events. His huge weight gain has been put down to the numerous banquets he hosted and lavish parties which would see him easily outdrink his guests. By 1797, it was said that he was around 17 stone and had begun to have custom clothing made to fit his expanding waist. In later life, he began to suffer quite seriously with a range of ailments that were a direct result of his lifestyle, including gout, arteriosclerosis, dropsy and possibly porphyria, which was also believed to have affected his father. Towards the end of his reign, George would spend whole days in bed suffering from breathlessness.
His physical and mental health would rapidly deteriorate in the final years of his reign, despite this, he continued to be admired for clinging to life. Like his father, he would be almost blind from cataracts by 1828 and by this time was suffering so badly with gout in his arm, that he was unable to sign documents.
Even before his many health problems were public knowledge, he was known to be a frequent user of laudanum, a common medication at the time, which he took in increasing amounts as he got older. Records have shown that he would take so much that he would be left in a drugged state for several days. By 1829, he was known to be regularly taking over 100 drops of laudanum before state occasions, even prior to having surgery to remove a cataract.
His ministers and staff were aware that his life was coming to an end by the spring of 1830. By this point, George was mostly bedridden and because of his lack of vision, was forced to sign official documents using a stamp in the presence of witnesses. His weight was recorded to be over 20 stone. His attacks of breathlessness due to dropsy caused him to have to sleep upright and doctors would be frequently called to tap his abdomen to drain excess fluid. Convinced that his days were numbered, George became very devout and began repenting on his lifestyle. He dictated his will in May and passed away the following months. An autopsy conducted by royal physicians showed that he had suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his stomach, which was likely the cause of death. They also discovered a tumour on his bladder and an enlarged heart. He was buried at Windsor Castle.
The fashions and trends of the Regency period have all been credited to George and this legacy continues to this day. After political opponents put a tax on wig powder, he abandoned them for natural hair and started wearing darker colours to hide his size. He oversaw the change from breeches to long trousers and popularised a high collar and neck cloth. His influence even spread north of the border, his visit to Scotland led to the revival of Scottish tartan as we know it today.
George’s only legitimate child, the Princess Charlotte, sadly died before him from postpartum complications in 1817, leaving a question as to who would ascend the throne. George’s younger brother had also died leaving no children, so the throne past to his next brother, Prince William, who reigned as William IV.
Brunswick Square, London
Named for George's wife, Caroline of Brunswick.
Buckingham Palace, London
George converted what was Buckingham House into a palace in 1761.
Floris, 89 Jermyn Street, London
The oldest perfumer in London, their first warrant was granted by George, who aslo gave them then coat of arms you can see on the outside.
Gordon Street, London
A blue plaque can be seen marking the site of the Hospital for Tropical Siseases, a hospital patronised by George and focusing on providing care for seamen.
Guildhall, London
The semi state rooms were created for George.
Northington Grange, Hampshire
Trafalgar Square, London
There is a statue of George there.
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