Facts

George III

"Farmer George"
Born in 1738 
Ascended in 1760
Died in 1820, aged 81
Reigned for 59 years
Married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz bearing 9 sons and 6 daughters.

George III, grandson of George II, was one of the longest reigning monarchs Britain has seen. His father had died before having chance to ascend, and George served from 1760 until 1820 seeing many great changes in the English Empire.

He was happy and started off as a popular monarch with a steady relationship with his family. He was known for being hard working and very religious, without being dogmatic to others. His great interest in farming gave him the nickname Farmer George. 

Unfortunately his ministers were incompetent: during the parliament of the Earl of Bute there was the American war of Independence and the subsequent loss of America from the English Empire. The full ramifications of this were not fully appreciated at the time. 

In 1788 George III started to become ill with a rare hereditary disease called porphyria. This caused ever-increasing madness in him, until in later life he was taken away from affairs of state. He was even straitjacketed at times and there were rumours that the King had been found talking to a tree one day.
 
His despairing wife, Charlotte Sophia, eventually allowed any self-claimed healer to experiment on George with the aim of making him better, but it was impossible. George III died in 1820, leaving the crown to a wild and rebellious George IV who was known more for his drinking than his kingly qualities.

Hostilities with France had been building up since before the king's illness and in 1793, while the king was ill, devastating wars between England and France started. These were the famous Napoleonic wars and Napoleon was finally defeated at the battle of Waterloo, when Prussian forces, under Blucher, aided the Duke of Wellington.

It was partly due to George's madness that the government began to take much more control away from the monarchy in the running of the country. A process of parliamentary reform started, leading to the present system. William Pitt the Younger (1759 - 1806) was responsible for many of these reforms.