George IV Biography

As Prince Regent, he had many mistresses and he secretly married his first wife, Maria Fitzherbert, in 1785. The marriage was declared illegal at his father's behest, as Maria was a Catholic, and George would have been ineligible to reign with a Catholic wife.

In 1795, he married his cousin Caroline of Brunswick. Their marriage was not a happy one. The couple had one daughter, Charlotte, born in 1796, but Caroline took the child and moved to Italy. She returned to claim the rights of Queen when George succeeded to the throne, but George had her barred from his coronation.

In constant opposition to his father, George associated closely with the Whigs, particularly Charles James Fox. He broke his connection with them once he came to power in 1820, however.

George seems to have been generally more concerned with keeping mistresses and spending lavishly, than with politics. His extravagances came at a time of social distress and general suffering, following the Napoleonic Wars, and the colossal changes brought by the industrial revolution, and he was popularly hated for his dissolute lifestyle.

However, he had his father's immense book collection donated as the foundation of the British Museum Library and his liking for building projects inspired the "Regency" style of architecture.

George seems to have been a contradictory personality. The Duke of Wellington described him as "... the most extraordinary compound of talent, wit, buffoonery, obstinacy, and good feelings, 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."

He died on 26 June 1830 after a series of strokes caused a haemorrhage in his stomach.