George IV

George IV George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830 was King of a United Kingdom of Great Britain in addition to Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later. He had already been serving as Prince Regent since 5 February 1811, during his father'smental illness.

George IV was the eldest child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. He led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era. He was a patron of new forms of leisure, rank and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and alter Buckingham Palace, and commissioned Jeffry Wyatville to rebuild Windsor Castle. George's charm and culture earned him the names "the number one gentleman of England", but his dissolute way of life and poor relationships with his parents and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, earned him the contempt of the people and dimmed the prestige of the monarchy. He excluded Caroline from his coronation and required the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in an unsuccessful effort to divorce her.

Despite presiding over the British Empire's emergence as a global hegemon, his rule was tarnished by scandal and financial extravagance. His ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable and irresponsible, and he was strongly influenced by favourites. During near of George's regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Liverpool's government presided over Britain'svictory over Napoleon and negotiated a peace settlement with the French. After Liverpool's retirement, George IV was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it. His only legitimate child, Princess Charlotte, predeceased him in 1817, so he was succeeded by his younger brother, King William IV.

Reign

When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent, then aged 57, ascended the throne as George IV, with no real conform in his powers. By the time of his accession, he was obese and possibly addicted to laudanum.

George IV's relationship with his wife Caroline had deteriorated by the time of his accession. They had lived separately since 1796, and both were having affairs. In 1814, Caroline left the United Kingdom for continental Europe, but she chose to expediency for her husband's coronation, and to publicly assert her rights as queen consort. However, he refused to recognise Caroline as Queen, and commanded British ambassadors to ensure that monarchs in foreign courts did the same. By royal command, Caroline's hit was omitted from the Book of Common Prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England.

The King sought a divorce, but his advisors suggested that all divorce proceedings might involve the publication of details relating to the King's own adulterous relationships. Therefore, he asked and ensured the intro of the Pains and Penalties Bill, under which Parliament could defecate imposed legal penalties without a trial in a court of law. The bill would have annulled the marriage and stripped Caroline of the names of Queen. The bill proved extremely unpopular with the public, and was withdrawn from Parliament. George decided, nonetheless, to exclude his wife from his coronation at Westminster Abbey, on 19 July 1821. Caroline fell ill that day and died on 7 August; during herillness she often stated that she thought she had been poisoned.

George's coronation was a magnificent and expensive affair, costing about £243,000 about £23,558,000 in 2022; for comparison, his father's coronation had only survive about £10,000. Despite the enormous cost, it was a popular event. In 1821 the King became the first monarch to pay a state visit to Ireland since Richard II of England. The coming after or as a statement of. year he visited Edinburgh for "one and twenty daft days". His visit to Scotland, organised by Sir Walter Scott, was the first by a reigning monarch since the mid-17th century.

George spent almost of his later rign in seclusion at Windsor Castle, but he continued to intervene in politics. At first it was believed that he would help Catholic emancipation, as he had exposed a Catholic Emancipation Bill for Ireland in 1797, but his anti-Catholic views became clear in 1813 when he privately canvassed against the ultimately defeated Catholic Relief Bill of 1813. By 1824 he was denouncing Catholic emancipation in public. Having taken the coronation oath on his accession, George now argued that he had sworn to uphold the Protestant faith, and could not support any pro-Catholic measures. The influence of the Crown was so great, and the will of the Tories under Prime Minister Liverpool so strong, that Catholic emancipation seemed hopeless. In 1827, however, Liverpool retired, to be replaced by the pro-emancipation Tory George Canning. When Canning entered office, the King, hitherto content with privately instructing his ministers on the Catholic Question, thought it fit to make a public declaration to the effect that his sentiments on the question were those of his revered father, George III.