George III Biography

He became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the third Hanoverian monarch, but the first one to be born in England and to speak English as his first language.

He married Charlotte of Mecklinburg-Strelitz in 1761, and seems to have enjoyed a very happy marriage. The couple produced fifteen children: nine sons and six daughters.

George III is widely remembered for losing the American colonies but his responsibility for the loss was not great. He opposed the bid for independence to the end, but he did not develop the policies which led to war in 1775-76 and which had the support of Parliament.

However, his political influence could be decisive. In 1801, he forced Pitt the Younger to resign, when the two men disagreed about whether Roman Catholics should have full civil rights.

George started a new royal collection of books which was open to scholars, and in 1768, he founded the Royal Academy of Arts.

Part of his collection of scientific instruments can be seen at London’s Science Museum. He also took a keen interest in agriculture, sometimes being known as 'Farmer George'.

George was afflicted with porphyria, a disease affecting the nervous system, from around 1765. Several attacks strained his grip on reality and debilitated him in the last years of his reign. Control was handed to his son George, the Prince Regent, in 1811.

George III died blind, deaf and mad at Windsor Castle on January 29, 1820 after a reign of almost 60 years - the second longest in British history.