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:{{Redirect|George III}}
{{Infobox British Royalty|majesty
| name =George III
| title =King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; King of Hanover; prev. King of Great Britain and Ireland; Elector of Hanover
| image =George III in Coronation Robes.jpg
| imgw =200
| caption =Portrait by [[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]], 1762
| reign =[[25 October]] [[1760]] - [[29 January]] [[1820]]
| coronation =[[22 September]] [[1761]]
| predecessor =[[George II of Great Britain|George II]]
| successor =[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]
| spouse =[[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]]
| issue =[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]<br />[[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Frederick, Duke of York]]<br />[[William IV of the United Kingdom|William IV]]<br> [[Charlotte, Princess Royal]]<br />[[Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn|Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent]]<br />[[Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom|Princess Augusta Sophia]]<br />[[Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom|Princess Elizabeth]]<br />[[Ernest Augustus I of Hanover]]<br />[[Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex|Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex]]<br />[[Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge|Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge]]<br />[[Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh|Princess Mary]]<br />[[Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom|Princess Sophia]]<br />[[Prince Octavius of Great Britain|Prince Octavius]]<br />[[Prince Alfred of Great Britain|Prince Alfred]]<br />[[Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom|Princess Amelia]]
| royal house =[[House of Hanover]]
| royal anthem =[[God Save the King]]
| full name =George William Frederick
| titles =''HM'' King George III of the United Kingdom<br />''HM'' King George III of Great Britain<br />''HRH'' The Prince of Wales<br />''HRH'' The Duke of Edinburgh<br />''HRH'' Prince George of Wales
| father =[[Frederick, Prince of Wales]]
| mother =[[Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha]]
| date of birth =[[24 May]]; [[4 June]] [[1738]] ([[Old Style and New Style dates]])
| place of birth =[[Norfolk House]], [[St James's Square]], [[London]]
| date of christening =[[24 May]]; [[4 June]] and [[21 June]]; [[4 July]] [[1738]] ([[Old Style and New Style dates]])
| place of christening =[[Norfolk House]], [[London]]
| date of death ={{euro death date and age|1820|1|29|1738|6|4}}
| place of death =[[Windsor Castle]], [[Berkshire]]
| date of burial =[[15 February]] [[1820]]
| place of burial =[[St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle|St George's Chapel]], [[Windsor Castle|Windsor]]
|}}
'''George III''' (George William Frederick; [[4 June]] [[1738]] – [[29 January]] [[1820]]) ([[Old Style and New Style dates|New Style dates]]) was [[List of British monarchs|King of Great Britain]] and [[King of Ireland]] from [[25 October]] [[1760]] until [[1 January]] [[1801]], and thereafter of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] until his death. He was concurrently [[Hanover (state)|Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], and thus Elector (and later King) of Hanover. The Electorate became the [[Kingdom of Hanover]] on [[12 October]] [[1814]]. He was the third British monarch of the [[House of Hanover]], and the first of Hanover to be born in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] and speak [[English language|English]] as his first language.<ref name="rh">{{cite web|author=The Royal Household|accessdate=2007-05-25|title=George III|work=Official website of the British Monarchy|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page111.asp}}</ref> In fact, he never visited [[Germany]].
{{TOCnestright}}
It was during George III's reign that Great Britain lost many of its colonies in [[North America]] in the wake of the [[American Revolution]]. These colonies would eventually become the [[United States]]. Also during his reign the realms of [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]] were joined together to form the [[United Kingdom]].
George III was however, a permanent thorn in the sides of his ministers, once being compared to [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]. He sacked [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne|Lord Newcastle]], [[George Grenville]], [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Lord Rockingham]], [[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Lord Shelburne]],[[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|Lord Portland]], and [[William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville|Lord Grenville]] because of his contempt for them or over minor titles.
Later in his reign George III suffered from recurrent and, eventually, permanent [[mental illness]]. This baffled medical science at the time, although it is now generally thought that he suffered from the blood disease [[porphyria]]. Recently, owing to studies showing high levels of the poison [[arsenic]] in King George's hair, arsenic is also thought to be a possible cause of King George's insanity and health problems. After a final relapse in 1810, George's eldest son, [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George, Prince of Wales]] ruled as [[Prince Regent]]. Upon George's death, the Prince of Wales succeeded his father as George IV.
==Early life==
''His Royal Highness'' '''Prince George of Wales''' was born in [[London]] at [[Norfolk House]] and was the son of [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], and the grandson of [[George II of Great Britain|George II]]. Prince George's mother was [[Augusta of Saxe-Gotha]]. As Prince George was born two months premature and was thought unlikely to survive, he was baptised the same day by the Rector of St James's.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hibbert|first=Christopher|authorlink=Christopher Hibbert|title=George III: A Personal History|year=1999|publisher=Penguin Books|___location=London|isbn=0140257373|pages=p.8}}</ref> He was publicly baptised by the [[Bishop of Oxford]], [[Thomas Secker]], at Norfolk House on [[4 July]] [[1738]] (New Style). His godparents were the [[Frederick I of Sweden|King of Sweden]] (for whom [[Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore|Lord Baltimore]] stood proxy), the [[Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Duke of Saxe-Gotha]] (for whom the [[James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos|Duke of Chandos]] stood proxy) and the [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Queen of Prussia]] (for whom Lady Charlotte Edwin, a daughter of the [[James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton]], stood proxy).
George grew into a healthy child but his grandfather George II disliked the Prince of Wales and took little interest in his grandchildren. However, in 1751 the Prince of Wales died unexpectedly from a lung injury, and Prince George became [[heir apparent]] to the throne. He inherited one of his father's titles and became the [[Duke of Edinburgh]]. Now more interested in his grandson, three weeks later the King created George [[Prince of Wales]].<ref>Hibbert, pp.3-15</ref> In the spring of 1756, as George approached his eighteenth birthday, the King offered him a grand establishment at [[St James's Palace]], but George refused the offer, guided by his mother and her confidante, [[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute|Lord Bute]], who would later serve as [[Prime Minister]].<ref>Hibbert, pp.24-25</ref> George's mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales, mistrusted her father-in-law and preferred to keep George separate from his company.
==Marriage==
In 1759 George was smitten with [[Lady Sarah Lennox]],<ref name="dnb">{{citation|first=John |last=Cannon|title=George III (1738–1820)|journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2007 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10540|accessdate=2007-05-25}}</ref> daughter of the [[Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond|Duke of Richmond]], but Lord Bute advised against the match and George abandoned his thoughts of marriage. "I am born for the happiness and misery of a great nation," he wrote, "and consequently must often act contrary to my passion." Nevertheless, attempts by the King to marry George to Princess [[Sophia Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]] were resisted by him and his mother.<ref>Hibbert, p.31</ref><ref>George was falsely said to have married a [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakeress]] named [[Hannah Lightfoot]] on [[17 April]] [[1759]], prior to his marriage to Charlotte. If such a marriage had existed, then his marriage to Charlotte would have been bigamous and all of George's successors would have been usurpers. But no legal marriage to Lightfoot could have occurred: she had married [[Isaac Axford]] in 1753 and had died in or before 1759, and therefore could not have produced legitimate children from a marriage in April that year. George's marriage to Charlotte was therefore not bigamous. The "marriage" to Hannah Lightfoot was mentioned in the 1866 trial of the daughter of imposter Olive Wilmot, who claimed to be "[[Princess Olive]]". A forged marriage certificate produced at her trial was impounded in 1866 and studied by the [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney General]]. It is now in the [[Royal Archives]] in [[Windsor Castle]].</ref>
The following year, George inherited the Crown when his grandfather, George II, died suddenly on [[25 October]] [[1760]]. The search for a suitable wife intensified. On [[8 September]], [[1761]], the King married in the [[Chapel Royal]], St James's Palace, [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], whom he met on their wedding day. A fortnight later, both were crowned at [[Westminster Abbey]]. George remarkably never took a mistress (in contrast with both his Hanoverian predecessors and his sons), and the couple enjoyed a genuinely happy marriage.<ref name="rh" /><ref name="dnb" /> They had 15 children — nine sons and six daughters.
==Early reign==
The first few years of George's reign were marked by political instability, largely generated as a result of disagreements over the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref>Hibbert, p.86</ref> The favouritism which George initially showed towards [[Tory]] ministers led to his denunciation by the [[British Whig Party|Whigs]] as an autocrat in the manner of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]].<ref name="rh" />. In May 1762, George replaced the incumbent Whig ministry of [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|the Duke of Newcastle]] with one led by the Tory Lord Bute. The following year, after concluding the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Peace of Paris]] ending the war, Lord Bute resigned, allowing the Whigs under [[George Grenville]] to return to power. Later that year, the British government under George III issued the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]] that placed a boundary upon the westward expansion of the American colonies. The Proclamation's goal was to force colonists to negotiate with the Native Americans for the lawful purchase of the land and, therefore, to reduce the costly frontier warfare that had erupted over land conflicts. The Proclamation Line, as it came to be known, was extremely unpopular with the Americans and ultimately became another wedge between the colonists and the British government that would eventually lead to war. With the American colonists generally unburdened by British taxes, the government found it increasingly difficult to pay for the defence of the colonies against native uprisings and the possibility of French incursions.<ref>An American taxpayer would pay a maximum of sixpence a year, compared to an average of twenty-five shillings (50 times as much) in England. (Hibbert, p.122)</ref> In 1765, Grenville introduced the [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]], which levied a [[stamp duty]] on all documents in the British colonies in North America. Meanwhile, the King had become exasperated at Grenville's attempts to reduce the King's prerogatives, and tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade [[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham|William Pitt the Elder]] to accept the office of Prime Minister.<ref>Hibbert, pp.107-109</ref> After a brief illness, which may have presaged his illnesses to come, George settled on [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Lord Rockingham]] to form a ministry, and dismissed Grenville.<ref>Hibbert, p.111-113</ref>
Lord Rockingham, with the support of Pitt, repealed Grenville's unpopular Stamp Act, but his government was weak and he was replaced in 1766 by Pitt, whom George created [[Earl of Chatham]]. The actions of Lord Chatham and George III in repealing the Act were so popular in America that statues of them both were erected in [[History of New York City (1665-1783)|New York City]].<ref>Hibbert, p.124</ref> Lord Chatham fell ill in 1767, allowing the [[Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton|Duke of Grafton]] to take over government, although he did not formally become Prime Minister until 1768. His government disintegrated in 1770, allowing the Tories to return to power.<ref>Hibbert, p.140</ref>
The government of the new Prime Minister, [[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]], was chiefly concerned with discontent in America. To assuage American opinion most of the custom duties were withdrawn, with the exception of the tea duty, which in George's words was "one tax to keep up the right [to levy taxes]".<ref>Hibbert, p.141</ref> In 1773, a [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] mob threw 342 crates of [[tea]], costing approximately £10,000, into Boston Harbour as a political protest, an event that became known as the [[Boston tea party]]. In Britain, opinion hardened against the colonists, with Chatham now agreeing with North that the destruction of the tea was "certainly criminal".<ref>Hibbert, p.143</ref> Lord North introduced the [[Intolerable Acts|Punitive Acts]], known as the Coercive Acts or the Intolerable Acts by the colonists: the Port of Boston was shut down and legislative elections in the [[Massachusetts|Colony of Massachusetts Bay]] were suspended. Up to this point, in the words of Professor Peter Thomas, George's "hopes were centred on a political solution, and he always bowed to his cabinet's opinions even when sceptical of their success. The detailed evidence of the years from 1763 to 1775 tends to exonerate George III from any real responsibility for the [[American Revolution]]."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Peter D. G.|authorlink= |title=George III and the American Revolution|journal=History|volume=70|issue=228|pages=31|publisher=|date=1985}}
</ref>
{{House of Hanover|george3}}
==American Revolutionary War==
The [[American Revolutionary War]] began when armed conflict between British regulars and colonial militiamen broke out in New England in April 1775. A month later, [[Second Continental Congress|delegates of the thirteen British colonies]] drafted a peace proposal known as the [[Olive Branch Petition]]. The proposal was quickly rejected in London because fighting had already erupted. A year later, on [[July 4]] [[1776]] ([[American Independence Day]]), the colonies declared their independence from the Crown and became a new nation, the "United States of America". The [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration]] was a long list of grievances against the British King, legislature, and populace. Amongst George's other offences, the Declaration charged, "He has abdicated Government here... He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people." George was indignant when he learned of the opinions of the colonists. In the war the British captured New York City in 1776, but the grand strategic plan of invading from [[Canada]] failed with the surrender of the British Lieutenant-General [[John Burgoyne]] at the [[Battle of Saratoga]]. In 1778, [[France]] (Great Britain's chief rival) signed a treaty of friendship with the new United States. Lord North asked to transfer power to Lord Chatham, whom he thought more capable. George, however, would hear nothing of such suggestions; he suggested that Chatham serve as a subordinate minister in Lord North's administration. Chatham refused to cooperate, and died later in the same year.<ref>Hibbert, pp.156-15</ref> Great Britain was then at war with France, and in 1779 it was also at war with [[Spain]].
George III obstinately tried to keep Great Britain at war with the rebels in America, despite the opinions of his own ministers. [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford|Lord Gower]] and [[Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath|Lord Weymouth]] both resigned rather than suffer the indignity of being associated with the war. Lord North advised George III that his (North's) opinion matched that of his ministerial colleagues, but stayed in office. Eventually, George gave up hope of subduing America by more armies. "It was a joke," he said, "to think of keeping Pennsylvania". There was no hope of ever recovering New England. But the King was determined "never to acknowledge the independence of the Americans, and to punish their contumacy by the indefinite prolongation of a war which promised to be eternal."<ref>{{cite book|first=George|last=Trevelyan|authorlink= Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet|title=George the Third and Charles Fox: The Concluding Part of the American Revolution|year=1912|pages=vol.1 p.4}}</ref> His plan was to keep the 30,000 men garrisoned in New York, Rhode Island, in Canada, and in Florida; other forces would attack the French and Spanish in the West Indies. To punish the Americans the King planned to destroy their coasting-trade, bombard their ports, sack and burn towns along the coast (like [[New London, Connecticut]]), and turn loose the Indians to attack civilians in frontier settlements. These operations, the King felt, would inspire the Loyalists; would splinter the Congress; and "would keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse" and they would beg to return to his authority.<ref>Trevelyan, vol.1 p.5</ref> The plan meant destruction for the Loyalists and loyal Indians, and indefinite prolongation of a costly war, as well as the risk of disaster as the French and Spanish were assembling an armada to invade the British isles and seize London.
In 1781, the news of [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis's]] surrender at the [[Siege of Yorktown]] reached London; Lord North's parliamentary support ebbed away and he subsequently resigned in 1782. After Lord North persuaded the king against abdicating,<ref>Hillenbrad, William. ''[http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1890642177&id=ryybAscQEpsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22born+in+battle%22 Born in Battle: A History of the American Revolution].'' Troubadour Interactive, 2001. ISBN 1890642177</ref> George III finally accepted the defeat in North America, and authorised the negotiation of a peace. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] and the associated Treaty of Versailles were ratified in 1783. The former treaty provided for the recognition of the United States by Great Britain. The latter required Great Britain to give up [[Florida]] to Spain and to grant access to the waters of [[Newfoundland]] to France. When [[John Adams]] was appointed American Minister to Britain in 1785, George had become resigned to the new relationship between his country and the United States, "I was the last to consent to the separation; but" he told Adams, "I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power."<ref>Hibbert, p.165</ref>
==Constitutional struggle==
With the collapse of Lord North's ministry in 1782, the Whig Lord Rockingham became Prime Minister for the second time, but died within months. The King then appointed [[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Lord Shelburne]] to replace him. [[Charles James Fox]], however, refused to serve under Shelburne, and demanded the appointment of the [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|Duke of Portland]]. In 1783, the House of Commons forced Lord Shelburne from office and his government was replaced by the [[Fox-North Coalition]]. The Duke of Portland became Prime Minister; Fox and Lord North, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary respectively, really held power, with Portland acting as a figurehead.<ref name="dnb" />
George III was distressed by the attempts to force him to appoint ministers not of his liking, but the Portland ministry quickly built up a majority in the House of Commons, and could not easily be displaced. He was, however, extremely dissatisfied when the government introduced the India Bill, which proposed to reform the government of India by transferring political power from the [[Honourable East India Company]] to Parliamentary commissioners.<ref>Hibbert, p.243</ref> Immediately after the House of Commons passed it, George authorised [[George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham|Lord Temple]] to inform the House of Lords that he would regard any peer who voted for the bill as his enemy. The bill was rejected by the Lords; three days later, the Portland ministry was dismissed, and [[William Pitt the Younger]] was appointed Prime Minister, with Temple as his Secretary of State. On [[17 December]] [[1783]], Parliament voted in favour of a motion condemning the influence of the monarch in parliamentary voting as a "high crime" and Temple was forced to resign. Temple's departure destabilised the government, and three months later the government lost its majority and Parliament was dissolved; the subsequent [[British general election, 1784|election]] gave Pitt a firm mandate.<ref name="dnb" />
==William Pitt==
[[Image:GeorgeIIIGuinea.jpg|right|thumb|Gold guinea of George III, dated 1789]]
For George III, Pitt's appointment was a great victory. The King felt that the scenario proved that he still had the power to appoint Prime Ministers without having to rely on any parliamentary group. Throughout Pitt's ministry, George eagerly supported many of his political aims. To aid Pitt, George created new peers at an unprecedented rate. The new peers flooded the House of Lords and allowed Pitt to maintain a firm majority. During Pitt's ministry, George III was extremely popular. The public supported the exploratory voyages to the [[Pacific Ocean]] that he sanctioned. George also aided the [[Royal Academy]] with large grants from his private funds. The British people admired their King for remaining faithful to his wife, unlike the two previous Hanoverian monarchs. Great advances were made in fields such as in [[science]] and [[industry]].
However, by this time George III's health was deteriorating. He suffered from a mental illness, now widely believed to be a symptom of [[porphyria]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Röhl|first=John C. G.|authorlink=John C. G. Röhl|coauthors=Martin Warren, and David Hunt|title=Purple Secret: Genes, "Madness" and the Royal Houses of Europe|year=1998|publisher=Bantam Press|___location=London|id=ISBN 0-593-04148-8}}</ref> A study of the King's hair samples reveal high levels of [[arsenic]], a possible trigger for the disease.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3889903.stm|title=King George III: Mad or misunderstood|publisher=BBC|date=[[13 July]] [[2004]]|accessdate=2007-06-08}}</ref> The King may have previously suffered a brief episode of the disease in 1765, but a longer episode began in the summer of 1788. George was sufficiently sane to [[prorogation|prorogue]] Parliament on [[25 September]] [[1788]], but his condition worsened and in November he became seriously deranged, sometimes speaking for many hours without pause. With his doctors largely at a loss to explain his illness, spurious stories about his condition spread, such as the claim that he shook hands with a tree in the mistaken belief that it was the King of Prussia.<ref>Hibbert, pp.262-267</ref> When Parliament reconvened in November, the King could not, as was customary, communicate to them the agenda for the upcoming legislative session. According to long-established practice, Parliament could not begin the transaction of business until the King had made the [[Speech from the Throne]]. Parliament, however, ignored the custom and began to debate provisions for a regency.
Charles James Fox and William Pitt wrangled over the terms of which individual was entitled to take over government during the illness of the Sovereign. Although both parties agreed that it would be most reasonable for George III's eldest son and heir-apparent, the Prince of Wales, to act as Regent, they disagreed over the basis of a regency. Fox suggested that it was the Prince of Wales's absolute right to act on his ill father's behalf; Pitt argued that it was for Parliament to nominate a Regent.<ref>Hibbert, p.273</ref> Proceedings were further delayed as the authority for Parliament to merely meet was questioned, as the session had not been formally opened by the Sovereign. Pitt proposed a remedy based on an obscure [[legal fiction]]. As was well-established at the time, the Sovereign could delegate many of his functions to Lords Commissioners by [[letters patent]], which were validated by the attachment of the [[Great Seal of the Realm|Great Seal]]. It was proposed that the custodian of the Great Seal, the [[Lord Chancellor]], affix the Seal without the consent of the Sovereign. Although such an action would be unlawful, it would not be possible to question the validity of the letters patent, as the presence of the Great Seal would be deemed conclusive in court. George III's second son, the [[Prince Frederick, Duke of York]], denounced Pitt's proposal as "unconstitutional and illegal". Nonetheless, the Lords Commissioners were appointed and then opened Parliament. In February 1789, the Regency Bill, authorising the Prince of Wales to act as Prince Regent, was introduced and passed in the House of Commons. But before the House of Lords could pass the bill, George III recovered from his illness under the treatment of Dr [[Francis Willis]]. He confirmed the actions of the Lords Commissioners as valid, but resumed full control of government.
==French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars==
After George recovered from his illness, his popularity, and that of Pitt, greatly increased at the expense of Fox and the Prince of Wales.<ref>Hibbert, pp.301-302</ref> The [[French Revolution]], in which the [[French monarchy]] had been overthrown, worried many British landowners. [[France]] subsequently declared war on Great Britain in 1793, and George soon represented the British resistance. George allowed Pitt to increase taxes, raise armies, and suspend the privilege of the writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' in the war attempt.
As well-prepared as Great Britain may have been, France was stronger. The [[first coalition|First Coalition]] (which included [[Austria]], [[Prussia]], and [[Spain]]) was defeated in 1798. The [[Second Coalition]] (which included Austria, [[Russia]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]) was defeated in 1800. Only Great Britain was left fighting [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]], the [[First Consul]] of the [[French First Republic|French Republic]]. Perhaps surprisingly, a failed [[assassination]] attempt of [[May 15]], [[1800]] was not political in origin but motivated by the [[religion|religious]] [[delusion]]s of his assailant, [[James Hadfield]], who shot at the King in the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane Theatre]] during the playing of the [[national anthem]].
Soon after 1800, a brief lull in hostilities allowed Pitt to concentrate on [[Ireland]], where there had been an uprising in 1798. Parliament then passed the [[Act of Union 1800]], which, on [[1 January]] [[1801]], united Great Britain and Ireland into a single nation, known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. George used the opportunity to drop [[English claims to the French throne|the claim to the Throne of France]], which English and British Sovereigns had maintained since the reign of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]. It was suggested that George adopt the title "[[Emperor of the British and Hanoverian Dominions]]", but he refused. [[A. G. Stapleton]] writes that George III "felt that his true dignity consisted in his being known to Europe and the world by the appropriated and undisputed style belonging to the British Crown."
As part of his Irish policy, Pitt planned to remove certain legal disabilities that applied to [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholics]] after the Union. George III claimed that to emancipate Catholics would be to violate his coronation oath, in which Sovereigns promise to maintain Protestantism.<ref name="rh" /> The King declared, "Where is the power on Earth to absolve me from the observance of every sentence of that oath, particularly the one requiring me to maintain the Protestant Reformed Religion? … No, no, I had rather beg my bread from door to door throughout Europe, than consent to any such measure. I can give up my crown and retire from power. I can quit my palace and live in a cottage. I can lay my head on a block and lose my life, but I cannot break my oath." Faced with opposition to his religious reform policies from both the King and the British public, Pitt threatened to resign.<ref>Hibbert, p.313</ref> At about the same time, the King suffered a relapse of his previous illness, which he blamed on worry over the Catholic question.<ref>Hibbert, p.315</ref> On [[14 March]] [[1801]], Pitt was formally replaced by the [[Speaker of the British House of Commons|Speaker of the House of Commons]], [[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth|Henry Addington]]. As Addington was his close friend, Pitt remained as a private advisor. Addington's ministry was particularly unremarkable, as almost no reforms were made or measures passed. In fact, the nation was strongly against the very idea of reform, having just witnessed the bloody French Revolution. Although they called for passive behaviour in the United Kingdom, the public wanted strong action in Europe, but Addington failed to deliver. In October 1801, he made peace with the French, and in 1802 signed the Treaty of Amiens.
George did not consider the peace with France as "real"; in his view it was an "experiment". In 1803, the two nations once again declared war on each other. In 1804, George was again affected by his recurrent illness; on his recovery, he discovered that public opinion distrusted Addington to lead the nation in war, and instead favoured Pitt. Pitt sought to appoint Fox to his ministry, but George III refused as the King disliked Fox, who had encouraged the Prince of Wales to lead an extravagant and expensive life. [[William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville|Lord Grenville]] perceived an injustice to Fox, and refused to join the new ministry.<ref name="dnb" />
Pitt concentrated on forming a coalition with Austria, Russia, and [[Sweden]]. The [[Third Coalition]], however, met the same fate as the First and Second Coalitions, collapsing in 1805. An invasion by Napoleon seemed imminent, but the possibility was extinguished after [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Admiral Lord Nelson]]'s famous victory at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]].
The setbacks in Europe took a toll on William Pitt's health. Pitt died in 1806, once again reopening the question of who should serve in the ministry. Lord Grenville became Prime Minister, and his "[[Ministry of All the Talents]]" included Charles James Fox. The King was conciliatory towards Fox, after being forced to capitulate over his appointment. After Fox's death in September 1806, the King and ministry were in open conflict. The ministry had proposed a measure whereby Roman Catholics would be allowed to serve in all ranks of the Armed Forces. George not only instructed them to drop the measure, but also to make an agreement to never set up such a measure again. The ministers agreed to drop the measure then pending, but refused to bind themselves in the future. In 1807, they were dismissed and replaced by the Duke of Portland as the nominal Prime Minister, with actual power being held by the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Spencer Perceval]]. Parliament was dissolved; the [[United Kingdom general election, 1807|subsequent election]] gave the ministry a strong majority in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]. George III made no further major political decisions during his reign; the replacement of the Duke of Portland by Perceval in 1809 was of little actual significance.
==Later life==
[[Image:George iv england.jpg|thumb|right|180px|George, Prince of Wales, acted as Prince-Regent from 1811 to 1820]]
In 1810, already virtually blind with cataracts and in pain from rheumatism, George III became dangerously ill. In his view the malady had been triggered by the stress he suffered at the death of his youngest and favourite daughter, [[Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom|Princess Amelia]].<ref>Hibbert, p.396</ref> As the Princess's nurse reported, "the scenes of distress and crying every day…were melancholy beyond description."<ref>Hibbert, p.394</ref> By 1811, George III had become permanently insane and lived in seclusion at Windsor Castle until his death. He accepted the need for the [[Regency Act 1811]],<ref>Hibbert, pp.397-398</ref> to which the [[Royal Assent]] was granted by the Lords Commissioners, appointed under the same irregular procedure as was adopted in 1788. The Prince of Wales acted as Regent for the remainder of George III's life.
[[Spencer Perceval]] was [[assassination|assassinated]] in 1812 (the only British Prime Minister to have suffered such a fate) and was replaced by [[Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Lord Liverpool]]. Liverpool oversaw British victory in the Napoleonic Wars. The subsequent [[Congress of Vienna]] led to significant territorial gains for Hanover, which was upgraded from an electorate to a kingdom.
[[Image:george3coin.jpg|thumb|left|Half-Crown coin of George III, 1816. Click for notes.]]
Meanwhile, George's health deteriorated, eventually he became completely blind and increasingly deaf. He never knew that he was declared King of Hanover in 1814, or of the death of his wife in 1818. Over [[Christmas]] 1819, he spoke nonsense for 58 hours, and for the last few weeks of his life was unable to walk. On [[29 January]], [[1820]], he died at [[Windsor Castle]]. His favourite son, Frederick, Duke of York, was with him.<ref>Hibbert, p.408</ref> His death came six days after that of his fourth son, the [[Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn|Duke of Kent]]. George III was buried on [[15 February]] in [[St. George's Chapel, Windsor]].
George was succeeded by two of his sons [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[William IV of the United Kingdom|William IV]], who both died without surviving legitimate children, leaving the throne to their niece, [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]], the last monarch of the House of Hanover and the only legitimate child of the Duke of Kent.
==Legacy==
[[Image:George III signature.jpg|right|frame|Signature of George III, c. 1790]]
George lived for 81 years and 239 days and reigned for 59 years and 96 days — in each case, more than any other English or British monarch until that point. This record has been surpassed only once, by George's granddaughter [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]. His longevity is being approached by [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]], who is also 81 years old as of 2007 and will have lived longer as of mid-December of this year. George III's reign was longer than the reigns of all three of his immediate predecessors ([[Anne of Great Britain|Queen Anne]], [[George I of Great Britain|King George I]] and [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]]) combined.
While tremendously popular in Britain, George was hated by rebellious American colonists (approximately one-third of the population in the colonies). The grievances in the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] were presented as "repeated injuries and usurpations" that he had committed to establish "an absolute Tyranny" over the colonies. The Declaration's wording has contributed to the American public's perception of George as a tyrant. Another factor that exacerbated American resentment was the King's failure to intercede personally on the colonists' behalf after the [[Olive Branch Petition]]. George was hated in Ireland for the atrocities carried out in his name during the suppression of the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 rebellion]]. British historians of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as [[Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet|Trevelyan]], promoted hostile interpretations of George III's life, however, scholars of the later twentieth century, such as [[Herbert Butterfield|Butterfield]] and Pares, and Macalpine and Hunter, are more inclined to be sympathetic, seeing him as a victim of circumstance and illness. Today, the long reign of George III is perceived as a continuation of the reduction in the political power of monarchy, and its growth as the embodiment of national morality.<ref name="dnb" />
There are many cities and towns in former British colonies named ''[[Georgetown]]''. These may be named either after George III or his son, [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]. Statues of George III can be seen today in places such as the courtyard of Somerset House in London and in Weymouth, Dorset, which he popularised as a seaside resort (one of the first in England). A statue of George III was pulled down in New York at the beginning of the War of Independence in 1776 and two engravings of its destruction still exist (though one is wholly inaccurate).
The [[British Agricultural Revolution]] reached its peak under George III. The period provided for unprecedented growth in the rural population, which in turn provided much of the workforce for the concurrent [[Industrial Revolution]]. George III has been [[nickname]]d ''Farmer George'', for "his plain, homely, thrifty manners and tastes" and because of his passionate interest in agriculture.<ref>http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/heritage/timeline/1773to1820_farmer.html</ref>
===George III in popular culture===
George's insanity is the subject of the film ''[[The Madness of King George]]'' (1994), based on the play ''The Madness of George III'' by [[Alan Bennett]]. He was portrayed by [[Nigel Hawthorne]], who received the [[Laurence Olivier Awards|Laurence Olivier Award]] and was nominated for an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for his role. The film concerns George's second bout of insanity in late 1788 and early 1789, while those in the royal court, including his own son (played by [[Rupert Everett]]) use this unfortunate situation as a way to sidestep regal authority.
The popular 1970s children's educational series ''[[Schoolhouse Rock]]'' features a song entitled "No More Kings" which paints George III as a tyrant reluctant to allow the colonies out from under his boot. King George III appears in the novel ''[[Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell]]'' by [[Susanna Clarke]], and the last episode of the [[BBC]] [[Comedy]] ''[[Blackadder|Blackadder the Third]]''. In [[Douglas Adams]]'s book, ''[[Life, the Universe and Everything]]'', the character [[Arthur Dent]] refers to trees as 'those things people think you're mad if you talk to? Like George the Third.'<ref>{{cite book|last=Adams|first=Douglas|authorlink=Douglas Adams|title=Life, the Universe and Everything|publisher=Pan Books Ltd|___location=London|year=1982|pages=p.14|isbn=0330267388}}</ref> In an [[X-Files]] episode the character of assistant director [[Alvin Kersh]] (portrayed by [[James Pickens, Jr.]]) quotes George III's diary for [[July 4]], [[1776]]: "Nothing important happened today".
==Titles, styles, honours and arms==
===Titles===
{|align=right
|{{Infobox_UKkingstyles|
royal name=King George III of the United Kingdom|
dipstyle=[[Majesty|His Majesty]]|
offstyle=Your Majesty|
altstyle=Sir|}}
|}
*'''[[4 June]] [[1738]] – [[31 March]] [[1751]]''': ''His Royal Highness'' Prince George of Wales
*'''[[31 March]] [[1751]] – [[20 April]] [[1751]]''': ''His Royal Highness'' The Duke of Edinburgh
*'''[[20 April]] [[1751]] – [[25 October]] [[1760]]''': ''His Royal Highness'' The Prince of Wales
*'''[[25 October]] [[1760]] – [[29 January]] [[1820]]''': ''His Majesty'' The King
===Styles===
In Great Britain, George III used the official [[Style (manner of address)|style]] "George the Third, by the Grace of God, [[List of British monarchs|King of Great Britain]], [[English Kings of France|France]] and [[King of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Fidei defensor|Defender of the Faith]], etc." In 1801, when [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] united with [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], he took the opportunity to drop his claim to the French Throne. He also dispensed with the phrase "etc.," which had been added during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]. His style became, "George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith."
===Arms===
Whilst he was King of Great Britain, George's [[heraldry|arms]] were: ''Quarterly, I Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for [[England]]) impaling Or a lion rampant within a double-tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for [[Scotland]]); II Azure three fleurs-de-lys Or (for [[France]]); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for [[Ireland]]); IV tierced per pale and per chevron (for [[Hanover]]), I Gules two lions passant guardant Or (for [[Brunswick (city)|Brunswick]]), II Or a semy of hearts Gules a lion rampant Azure (for [[Lüneburg]]), III Gules a horse courant Argent (for [[Westfalen]]), overall an escutcheon Gules charged with the crown of [[Charlemagne]] Or (for the dignity of Arch[[treasurer]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]])''.
When he became King of the United Kingdom, his arms were amended, dropping the French quartering. They became: ''Quarterly, I and IV Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England); II Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland); overall an escutcheon tierced per pale and per chevron (for Hanover), I Gules two lions passant guardant Or (for Brunswick), II Or a semy of hearts Gules a lion rampant Azure (for Lunenburg), III Gules a horse courant Argent (for Westfalen), the whole inescutcheon surmounted by an electoral bonnet.'' In 1816, two years after the [[Hanover (state)|Electorate of Hanover]] became a Kingdom, the electoral bonnet was changed to a crown.
==Ancestors==
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''George's ancestors in three generations'''
|-
|-
| rowspan="8" align="center"| '''George III of United Kingdom'''
| rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Father:'''<br>[[Frederick, Prince of Wales]]
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal grandfather:'''<br>[[George II of Great Britain]]
| align="center"| '''Paternal great-grandfather:'''<br>[[George I of Great Britain]]
|-
| align="center"| '''Paternal great-grandmother:'''<br>[[Sophia Dorothea of Celle]]
|-
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Paternal grandmother:'''<br>[[Caroline of Ansbach]]
| align="center"| '''Paternal great-grandfather:'''<br>[[Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach]]
|-
| align="center"| '''Paternal great-grandmother:'''<br>[[Eleanor Erdmuthe Louise of Saxe-Eisenach]]
|-
| rowspan="4" align="center"| '''Mother:'''<br>[[Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha]]
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal grandfather:'''<br>[[Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg]]
| align="center"| '''Maternal great-grandfather:'''<br>[[Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg]]
|-
| align="center"| '''Maternal great-grandmother:'''<br>[[Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels]]
|-
| rowspan="2" align="center"| '''Maternal grandmother:'''<br>[[Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst]]
| align="center"| '''Maternal great-grandfather:'''<br>[[Karl of Anhalt-Zerbst]]
|-
| align="center"| '''Maternal great-grandmother:'''<br>[[Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels]]
|}
==Children==
{| border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|- bgcolor=cccccc
! width="20%"|Name!! width="15%"|Birth!! width="15%"|Death!! width="50%"|Notes<ref>{{cite book|last=Weir|first=Alison|authorlink=Alison Weir|title=Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition|publisher=Random House|year=1996|isbn=0712674489}}</ref>
|-
|[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]||[[12 August]] [[1762]]||[[26 June]] [[1830]]||married 1795, [[Caroline of Brunswick|Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]]; had issue
|-
|[[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Frederick, Duke of York]]||[[16 August]] [[1763]]||[[5 January]] [[1827]]||married 1791, [[Princess Frederica of Prussia]]; no issue
|-
|[[William IV of the United Kingdom|William IV]]||[[21 August]] [[1765]]||[[20 June]] [[1837]]||married 1818, [[Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen]]; no legitimate surviving issue
|-
|[[Charlotte, Princess Royal]]||[[29 September]] [[1766]]||[[6 October]] [[1828]]||married 1797, [[Frederick I of Württemberg|Frederick, King of Württemberg]]; no issue
|-
|[[Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn|Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent]]||[[2 November]] [[1767]]||[[23 January]] [[1820]]||married 1818, [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]]; had issue ([[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]])
|-
|[[Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom|Princess Augusta Sophia]]||[[8 November]] [[1768]]||[[22 September]] [[1840]]||
|-
|[[Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom|Princess Elizabeth]]||[[22 May]] [[1770]]||[[10 January]] [[1840]]||married 1818, Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg; no issue
|-
|[[Ernest Augustus I of Hanover]]||[[5 June]] [[1771]]||[[18 November]] [[1851]]||married 1815, [[Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Princess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]]; had issue
|-
|[[Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex|Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex]]||[[27 January]] [[1773]]||[[22 April]] [[1843]]||married in contravention of the [[Royal Marriages Act 1772]], (1) 1793 [[Lady Augusta Murray|The Lady Augusta Murray]]; had issue; marriage declared void 1794; (2) 1831, [[Cecilia Underwood, Duchess of Inverness|The Lady Cecilia Buggins]] (later [[Duchess of Inverness|1st Duchess of Inverness]]); no issue
|-
|[[Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge|Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge]]||[[24 February]] [[1774]]||[[8 July]] [[1850]]||married 1818, [[Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel]]; had issue
|-
|[[Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh|Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester]]||[[25 April]] [[1776]]||[[30 April]] [[1857]]||married 1816, [[Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh|Prince William, Duke of Gloucester]]; no issue
|-
|[[Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom|Princess Sophia]]||[[3 November]] [[1777]]||[[27 May]] [[1848]]||had issue
|-
|[[Prince Octavius of Great Britain|Prince Octavius]]||[[23 February]] [[1779]]||[[3 May]] [[1783]]||
|-
|[[Prince Alfred of Great Britain|Prince Alfred]]||[[22 September]] [[1780]]||[[20 August]] [[1782]]||
|-
|[[Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom|Princess Amelia]]||[[7 August]] [[1783]]||[[2 November]][[1810]]||Possibly married Sir Charles Fitzroy; had issue
|}
==See also==
*[[List of British monarchs]]
*[[American Revolutionary War]]
*[[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
*[[Peerages according to reign]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
*{{citation|first=John |last=Cannon|title=George III (1738–1820)|journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2007 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10540|accessdate=2007-05-25}}
*{{cite book|last=Hibbert|first=Christopher|authorlink=Christopher Hibbert|title=George III: A Personal History|year=1999|publisher=Penguin Books|___location=London|isbn=0140257373}}
*{{cite book|last=Röhl|first=John C. G.|authorlink=John C. G. Röhl|coauthors=Martin Warren, and David Hunt|title=Purple Secret: Genes, "Madness" and the Royal Houses of Europe|year=1998|publisher=Bantam Press|___location=London|id=ISBN 0-593-04148-8}}
*{{cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Peter D. G.|authorlink= |title=George III and the American Revolution|journal=History|volume=70|issue=228|pages=16-31|publisher=|date=1985}}
*{{cite book|first=George|last=Trevelyan|authorlink= Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet|title=George the Third and Charles Fox: The Concluding Part of the American Revolution|year=1912}}
*{{cite book|last=Weir|first=Alison|authorlink=Alison Weir|title=Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition|publisher=Random House|year=1996|isbn=0712674489}}
==Further reading==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource author}}
{{wikicommons}}
* Black, Jeremy. ''George III: America’s Last King''. New Heaven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0300117329).
* {{cite book|last=Bryant|first=Mark|title=Private Lives: Curious Facts About the Famous and Infamous|year=2001|origyear=1996|publisher=Cassell|___location=London|isbn=0-304-35758-8}}
* Herbert Butterfield; ''George III and the Historians'' (1959) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=15596315 online edition]
* G. M. Ditchfield. ''George III: An Essay in Monarchy'' (2003)
*{{cite journal|last=Macalpine|first=Ida|authorlink= |coauthors=Hunter, Richard|title=The 'insanity' of King George III: a classic case of porphyria|journal=Brit. Med. J.|volume=1|issue= |pages=65–71|publisher= |date=1966}}
* {{cite book|last=May|first=Thomas Erskine|authorlink=Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough|title=The Constitutional History of England Since the Accession of George the Third, 1760-1860|year=1896|edition=11th ed.|publisher=Longmans, Green and Co|___location=London}}
* Richard Pares; ''King George III and the Politicians'' (1953) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=7861542 online edition]
* Earl Aaron Reitan, ed. ''George III, Tyrant Or Constitutional Monarch?'' (1964) - 106 pages
* J. Steven Watson; ''The Reign of George III, 1760-1815,'' 1960, the standard scholarly history [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22810171 online edition]
==External links==
*[http://kinggeorgeiii.com Biography and signed documents]
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Hanover]]|4 June|1738|29 January|1820|[[House of Welf]]}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[George II of Great Britain|George II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of British monarchs|King of Great Britain]] [[King of Ireland|and Ireland]]|years=[[25 October]] [[1760]]–[[31 December]] [[1800]]}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=End of title<br><br><hr>Temporary war loss, </b>see<br />[[Confederation of the Rhine]]<br />and below the <b>[[Hanover (state)|King of Hanover]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Hanover (state)|Elector of Hanover]]|years=[[25 October]] [[1760]]–[[6 August]] [[1806]]}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=Self </b>as King of [[Ireland]] and King of [[Great Britain]], became '''New title 1801: <br><br><hr>Self ''' as above [[Elector of Hanover]] became a War loss in 1806, through 1814<br />See [[Confederation of the Rhine]]<br /><b>Rule resumed as: [[Hanover (state)|King of Hanover]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of British monarchs|King of the United Kingdom]]|years=[[1 January]] [[1801]]–[[29 January]] [[1820]]}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Hanover (state)|King of Hanover]]|years=[[1 October]] [[1814]]–[[29 January]] [[1820]]}}
{{s-roy|uk}}
{{succession box|title=Heir to the Thrones'''<br />''as [[heir apparent]]''|before=[[Frederick, Prince of Wales]]|after=[[Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany|Prince Edward, Duke of York]]|years='''[[1751]]-[[1760]]}}
{{s-reg|gb}}
{{succession box one to two|title1=[[Duke of Edinburgh]]'''<br />''2nd Duke, 1st creation''|title2=[[Prince of Wales]]|before=[[Frederick, Prince of Wales]]|after1=Merged in Crown|after2=[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George, Prince of Wales]]|years1='''[[1751]]–[[1760]]|years2=[[1751]]–[[1760]]}}
{{end}}
{{British Monarchs}}
{{Princes of Wales}}
{{Dukes of Edinburgh}}
{{featured article}}
{{Persondata
|NAME=George III of the United Kingdom
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= George William Frederick
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= King of the United Kingdom
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[June 4]], [[1738]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Norfolk House]], [[London]], [[England]]
|DATE OF DEATH= [[January 29]], [[1820]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Windsor Castle]], [[Berkshire]], [[England]]
}}
[[Category:Monarchs of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Monarchs of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Pretenders to the throne of the kingdom of France (Plantagenet)]]
[[Category:Princes of Wales]]
[[Category:House of Hanover]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:English Regency]]
[[Category:Protestant monarchs]]
[[Category:Dukes of Edinburgh|102]]
[[Category:People from Westminster]]
[[Category:Deafblind people]]
[[Category:1738 births]]
[[Category:1820 deaths]]
[[ar:جورج الثالث من المملكة المتحدة]]
[[bs:George III]]
[[bg:Джордж III (Обединено кралство)]]
[[ca:Jordi III del Regne Unit]]
[[cs:Jiří III.]]
[[cy:Siôr III, brenin y Deyrnas Unedig]]
[[da:George 3. af Storbritannien]]
[[de:Georg III. (Vereinigtes Königreich)]]
[[et:George III]]
[[es:Jorge III del Reino Unido]]
[[fr:George III du Royaume-Uni]]
[[ko:영국의 조지 3세]]
[[id:George III dari Britania Raya]]
[[it:Giorgio III di Gran Bretagna]]
[[he:ג'ורג' השלישי מלך בריטניה]]
[[ka:ჯორჯ III]]
[[la:Georgius III (rex Britanniarum)]]
[[hu:III. György brit király]]
[[nl:George III van het Verenigd Koninkrijk]]
[[ja:ジョージ3世 (イギリス王)]]
[[no:Georg III av Storbritannia]]
[[nn:Georg III av Storbritannia]]
[[nrm:George III du Rouoyaume Unni]]
[[pl:Jerzy III Hanowerski]]
[[pt:Jorge III do Reino Unido]]
[[ru:Георг III (король Великобритании)]]
[[simple:George III of Great Britain]]
[[sl:Jurij III. Angleški]]
[[sr:Џорџ III]]
[[fi:Yrjö III (Iso-Britannia)]]
[[sv:Georg III av Storbritannien]]
[[zh:乔治三世]]
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