George III was born in 1738 in England. He was a grandson of King George II, and the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. He was born prematurely, and everyone thought it was likely he would die any moment, but he proved everyone wrong. Like all royal children of the time, he was educated by private tutors. (I found it interesting to note that he was the first monarch in British history up to that point to be able to study science properly.) George III became heir to the throne after his father, the Prince of Wales, died from a lung issue. Despite the fact that King George II disliked his son and didn't really have much to do with his grandchildren, he decided he better get interested and start preparing George III for his role as King. He gave him the title formerly held by his father, Prince of Wales. He attained the throne at age 22, and shortly married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, having only met her at the wedding. They went on to have fifteen children together, which is an excessive amount in my opinion.

As far as policies go, he did some pretty unpopular things. There were disagreements over the Seven Years War. He placed a limit on expansion in the American colonies, which really caused tremendous issues. Of course, the Revolutionary War certainly did not help his cause any. He was accused of favoring one political party over the other, and rewarding certain people with money. Another unpopular thing was the Royal Marriages Act, which caused some issues later on down the line for Princess Margaret. One of his most notable policies was the abolishment of slavery. He never bought or sold a slave, and he never invested in any companies that supported the slave trade or used slave labor. (Unless there has been something uncovered that I am not aware of.)

There were a few things that stood out to me. One was the fact that he did not have a mistress. Most royals had mistresses, and it is more uncommon to find one that did not. By all accounts, he and his wife really had a decent relationship up until the point where he began to act unstable. Religion was a huge thing back in those days, and George III was exceptionally devout. He spent HOURS every day praying. I had read several times that he probably suffered from porphyria, a genetic disease that affects the skin and nervous systems. Arsenic poisoning can cause liver issues that could result in porphyria, and arsenic was used in cosmetics and clothes making at that time. It is quite possible that he had this, but it is also highly probably that he had an actual mental illness, such as bipolar disorder.

I thought this book was really interesting. I learned quite a bit about George III, especially about his relationship with his wife. I do not think that he was the worst monarch that Britain ever had by any stretch. The thing with monarchs and politicians is that they are human. They are not experts in everything, despite what they may think or people may believe. The purpose is to make the best decisions that give the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people. You cannot please everyone all the time, and you are going to have bad policies and make mistakes. Another thing that you will have are enemies. If you are looking to learn more about George III, this is a great place to start.