Most of them were German, one didn’t speak English, one secretly married a Catholic, and two had Oscar-winning movies made about them. Meet England’s six King Georges.
George certainly sounds like a traditional English name for a king, but the first King George was crowned relatively recently, in the 18th century. And he was German. It gets worse from there: in 1682 while he was still just a Hanoverian duke, he married his first cousin for her money. Not surprisingly, the relationship didn’t last and Sophia was imprisoned in a German castle until she died more than 30 years later. Amid wrangling over who should become the next British king, he was given the nod after defeating the French in battle. He never even bothered to learn English.
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Can you guess what George I called his son? Yes, George II became king after his father’s death in 1727. He was also born in Germany before moving to Britain with his father. He hated politics, leaving legendary politicians like Sir Robert Walpole and Pitt the Elder to run the country even though he didn’t like either of them very much. He did love fighting, however. He led Britain into battle and drilled the army every day during the Battle of Dettingen. He was the last British king to fight on the battlefield.
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Yes, alright, he was another German. Unlike his grandfather George II, he was born in England though, and English was his first language. That’s where the good news ends. The latter years of his reign became the focus of the Oscar-winning 1994 movie The Madness of King George. His long-suffering wife was played by Helen Mirren. It is thought a blood disorder caused his illness at first but it spiraled out of control amid the draconian mental-health treatments available at the time. And, of course, he was the king during the American Revolution.
They didn’t have much in the way of imagination, these Germans. As sure as George follows George, George IV was crowned after the death of his crazed father. He didn’t last long, dying just 10 years later, but his flamboyant lifestyle and lavish tastes was hugely influential on what became known as the Regency era. As a patron of the arts he was crucial in the foundation of the National Gallery and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton as well as remodeling Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. He secretly (and illegally) married a Roman Catholic, which is considered a no-go for the head of the Church of England. Thankfully, he had no children or grandchildren named George.
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There was an 80-year gap before the next King George. But he was another German. In fact, he had a pronounced German accent that he tried to hide, you know, given the emergence of Hitler and all that, but which he was said to slip into when overexcited. He did manage to change the family name to Windsor in the wake of anti-German feeling after World War I. Welcoming in the radio era, he started the annual Christmas broadcast, which would go on to cause no end of hassle for his son.
You may recall from the 2011 movie-award season that George VI had a stutter. With a little artistic license, Colin Firth documented his battle to master public speaking in The King's Speech. What the film failed to convey was this George’s love of partying. He was said to have many girlfriends and admirers whom he entertained at huge elegant parties at Buckingham Palace during the postwar era of austerity. His daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II, is said to have adopted her sober style in response to her father’s wild side.
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