Biography

August 12, 1762 · Westminster, London, England, UK

June 26, 1830 · Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK (upper gastrointestinal bleeding)

George Augustus Frederick

He had a famously hostile relationship with his wife Caroline of Brunswick. They separated after the birth of their daughter, Charlotte, and Caroline settled in Italy and was paid an annuity to stay out of England. George desired a divorce but the government would not allow it, and he had her publicly investigated for adultery. After George ascended the throne, Caroline nominally became queen and traveled to England for the coronation but was refused entry to Westminster Abbey on George's order.

King of the United Kingdom from January 29, 1820 to June 26, 1830. His reign effectively began in 1811, when he was named Prince Regent for his father George III, who suffered from mental illness, and was given all of the powers of the monarch.

In 1817, his only child, Princess Charlotte, died from childbirth complications after giving birth to a stillborn son. This caused a succession crisis because Charlotte was the only legitimate child of George and his siblings. This led to his unmarried brothers to take wives and his niece and the eventual heir, Queen Victoria, was born in 1819.

In 1785, he conducted a secret marriage ceremony with his lover Maria Fitzherbert, but the marriage was not legally valid because he did not have the permission of his father, George III, nor was a license ever obtained. Fitzherbert was also Catholic, and marriage to a Catholic would have disqualified George from inheriting the British throne. In a will written in 1796, George bequeathed all of his possessions to her, referring to her as "my wife, the wife of my heart and soul". Their relationship ended shortly after George became king in 1820.

[on seeing his future wife for the first time] I am not well. Pray get me a glass of brandy.