George III (1738–1820)

Caricature by James Gillray depicting George III as the king of Brobdignag scrutinizing Napoleon as Gulliver, based on a scene in Swift's Gulliver's Travels. This is an unusually favourable portrayal of the king.

The cartoon shows French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte playing chess with King George III of Great Britain and Ireland. The caption, A Game at Chess, is in English, and it can therefore be presumed that the cartoon has been drawn by an English artist. George III looks decidedly worried, and his king appears to be cornered as Napoleon moves forward. The inference may be that the Frenchman is too wily and clever for the British king.

A portrait of ‘Mad King George’, by Nathaniel Dance. The king suffered from an illness now thought to be porphyria, a rare genetic abnormality that causes various disorders, including mental disturbances.

A portrait of King George III in 1760, the year of his accession. He became heir to the British throne on the death of his father in 1751, and succeeded his grandfather George II. George III was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first to be born in England and use English as his first language.

King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760, when he succeeded his grandfather George II. His rule was marked by intransigence resulting in the loss of the American colonies, for which he shared the blame with his chief minister Lord North, and the emancipation of Catholics in England. Possibly suffering from porphyria, he was believed to be insane. His condition deteriorated dramatically after 1811. He was succeeded by his son George IV.

He was virtually blind in his later years, giving rise to suspicions and misunderstandings concerning documents and decrees for his signature.