'Queen Charlotte': What Is Wrong With King George III?

Table Of Content

• Prince Louis, 6
• What is Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story about?
• Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? The Latest Updates On 'Yellowstone' Season 5, Part 2 Premiere Date
• Lord Cameron: Ukraine has right to defend itself with British weapons
• King George's Illness in "Queen Charlotte" and "Bridgerton"
• How did King George die?

Kate even admitted that she had a hard time keeping up with him, especially on his "little scooter" that kept him moving "very quick." That year, Louis also began attending preschool at Willcocks Nursery School, the same place his big sister Charlotte had once attended. "Children are really fascinated by faces, and your faces are all over your cooking books and he would say 'That's Mary Berry' ... so he would definitely recognize you if he saw you today," Kate shared with the chef during a holiday special. The following year, Charlotte was enrolled in Willcocks Nursery School, a different school than her brother had attended at that age. The family reportedly chose the church-based school because "they thought it would be an ideal first step for Charlotte's education and they were impressed by the team who work there."

Prince Louis, 6

One of the first signs we see of George’s illness is when Brimsley notices something is wrong with him when he goes down to the palace kitchen and sees him being inspected by someone other than the palace’s official physician. He demanded that all his kids begin their education at 7am each morning and was often left deeply frustrated when they made mistakes as adults, none more so on learning of his sons' extra-marital affairs. George was baptised on the same day he came into the world at London's Norfolk House in 1738. Born two months prematurely, he wasn't expected to survive beyond his first night. But the resilient royal made a miraculous recovery, growing up to be a smart but introverted child. The doctor then subjects his patient to several extreme forms of treatment, including bounding him to a leech-covered chair and nearly drowning him on multiple occasions in an ice bath, explicitly referring to George as an "animal in a cage".

What is Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story about?

The original suggestion was that he suffered from porphyria, a genetic disease that can cause mental changes, such as anxiety, hallucinations, or mental confusion. A 2005 study published in "The Lancet" found high levels of arsenic (from an unknown source) in a hair sample from George III's remains, which some scientists suggested could have triggered a disorder such as porphyria. Over the years, George also had hallucinations and felt physical pain as a result of his mental illness. Researchers found that the King's erratic behavior could have been tied to porphyria, which is a group of rare disorders that can cause toxicity to nerves in the brain, per the Mayo Clinic.

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As the couple's first child, he became the third in the line of succession to the British throne. George, who shares his first name with his great-great-grandfather King George VI, received congratulatory messages from around the world, including a note from former President Barack Obama. A spokesperson said that the monarch's cancer treatment will continue, but "doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress made so far that the King is now able to resume a number of public-facing duties." "Feeling truly blessed to have been asked by the Princess of Wales to take this birthday portrait of Princess Charlotte as she turns 8, and even more so that TRH the Prince and Princess of Wales have shared this with you all," Pilkington said. "She looks as happy as she does beautiful, as she cuddles their black working cocker spaniel, Orla in a garden at Windsor." The reasoning behind this racial integration, which the powers at court dub “the Great Experiment,” is that it showed support for Charlotte and reinforced the power of the crown in setting the tone and practices for its court and subjects.

On May 2, 2015, William and Kate welcomed their second child, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, at St. Mary's Hospital in London. Charlotte's name has special meaning for the royal couple, with her first name being the feminine version of her grandfather King Charles. Meanwhile, Charlotte's middle names reference her late grandmother Princess Diana and her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth. George is less of a rambunctious child, with a family friend telling PEOPLE he's "a jolly little person and inquisitive." He gets along well with his siblings, often spending time with his sister Charlotte, who attends the same school as him. George also shared a special bond with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, who Kate says he called "Gan-Gan" when he was little. She even shared that the Queen "always leaves a little gift or something" in George's room when the family comes to visit her.

In Queen Charlotte, an arranged marriage between the young German princess and the King of England turns into a tumultuous and then passionate meeting of the minds and a true love match. In real life, the actual Charlotte and George had by all accounts a truly loving marriage despite its having been arranged, one that was certainly viewed as successful at that time because of their many children. The couple was married for 57 years, with Charlotte holding the record for Britain’s longest-serving female consort and the second longest-serving consort in British history (Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is the first). The couple ran into challenges because of George’s mental health issues, which caused him to have episodes of mania, increasingly as he got older. Despite this, Charlotte remained a loving and loyal wife, advocating for the king, until his bouts grew so violent in the early 1800s, that that they were forced to live separate lives for her safety.

Given the state of medicine back then, it’s hard to determine his true diagnosis. His ailment was simply called “madness,” but it would be classified as a mental illness today. Historians know that George struggled with his mental health throughout his life, which is a nuanced and complicated topic. But it’s incredibly common for people to struggle with their mental health on some level. In fact, the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that more than one in five adults in the U.S. has some sort of mental illness. The prequel spinoff to the original Bridgerton series also takes viewers on a journey into King George's personal life, who, as everyone already knows from the original series, struggles with his mental health.

What's Wrong With King George in "Queen Charlotte"? Historians Debate His Diagnosis - Best Life

What's Wrong With King George in "Queen Charlotte"? Historians Debate His Diagnosis.

Posted: Fri, 26 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Golda Rosheuvel told Insider in 2020 that the writers of "Bridgerton" season one didn't narrow down a diagnosis either.

In Queen Charlotte, the early years of Queen Charlotte and King George's marriage are fictionalized, showing how a young Charlotte (India Amarteifio) and young George (Corey Mylchreest) fall for each other, and overcome the challenges of George's mental illness. Of course, in 2023, mental health issues can be properly diagnosed and treated—but that wasn’t the case when Queen Charlotte and King George were coming along. While George was initially excited to attend school full time, it didn't take long for him to grow tired of spending the day at school. But by the time he turned six, he got the hang of things, thriving in subjects like math, English, French, science, history, geography, religious studies and ballet. William and Kate's eldest son George Alexander Louis was born on July 22, 2013, at St. Mary's Hospital in London.

Queen Charlotte: What Was Wrong With King George (And Why He's Hidden) - Screen Rant

Queen Charlotte: What Was Wrong With King George (And Why He's Hidden).

Posted: Sat, 04 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"He was brilliant with the children when he met them," Prince William told the BBC at the time. "He brought out his fossil collection and showed the children that, which, I think, George at the time absolutely adored - he's got loads of dinosaur fossils." It's no secret that the King's eldest grandchildren are fans of dinosaurs. Prince William previously revealed that Prince George's love for all things prehistoric was inspired by his exchange with David Attenborough. "Finding gifts for the man who really does have everything might be tricky, but, since his accession, his family have given the King several new ties.

Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what else is on. George and Charlotte vow to take on any challenge that comes their way together. In their later years, George’s condition has worsened, but Charlotte loves him all the same. George tries to push her away and doesn’t believe that he’s deserving of Charlotte’s love.

Ahead, find everything we know about King George's mental health in real life and how it pans out in the Bridgerton universe. Over the years, historians have debated the nature of the king's illness. According to Elle, a 1960s study conducted by psychiatrists Ida Macalpine and Richard Hunter claimed that George had acute porphyria, which impacts the nervous system. Years later, researcher Timothy Peters claimed their diagnosis was incorrect in an issue of Clinical Medicine. In 2013, Peter Garrard, a researcher at St. George’s University of London, agreed with Peters, telling the BBC that the porphyria theory is “completely dead in the water.” Instead, he argues that King George endured a psychiatric illness.

Just a month later, he was ready to run and keep up with the other children, with Kate sharing that the little boy was definitely keeping the family on their toes. In late 2017, it was announced that William and Kate were expecting their third child, and on April 23, 2018, they welcomed their son Louis Arthur Charles. Like his older siblings, his name has special meaning to the family, likely a tribute to Prince Philip's grandfather Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg and King Charles' great-uncle and mentor, Earl Louis Mountbatten. In honor of Charlotte's eighth birthday, William and Kate shared a new portrait of their daughter on Instagram. The young royal was also seen in a black hat with a bow at the Westminster Abbey service. Wearing a hat is a custom for British women when attending formal events, and this marked Charlotte's first time participating in the tradition.

At the time, as we see in Netflix’s Bridgerton prequel, the king’s illness is diagnosed as “madness”, which was a catch-all term during that time in history for a wide range of mental disorders. Some of the symptoms he exhibited across the show’s six episodes include episodes of mania, depression, delusions, and agitation were also suffered by the real King George III and likely used as inspiration within the show. Over the course of Bridgerton's first two seasons, we see that Queen Charlotte runs the monarchy as the King gets treated for his mental illness, and in the prequel series, we see where and how it originated.

Truly, if there was anything “wrong” with the situation, it was that George lived in a time that stigmatized mental illness and didn’t quite know how to treat it. "What a fantastic weekend of celebrations. Seeing people across the nation coming together with family, friends and loved ones has been extremely special…We all had an incredible time, especially Louis," William and Kate wrote, adding the eyes emoji. Meanwhile, he's also developed quite the "cheeky" personality, making headlines for his dramatic faces and gestures at recent Platinum Jubilee events. Thankfully, the royal family didn't seem to mind and even poked fun at Louis' antics in a social media post.

There are moments of joy — a Season 1 scene where he has a few hours of lucidity and invites her for an affectionate dinner — and heartbreaking one (said dinner ends badly when George believes their deceased daughter is still alive). In the second season, Edwina Sharma earns the Queen's trust and respect when she smooths over an awkward moment when George escapes his caretakers and barges in, giddily believing it to be his and Charlotte's wedding day. Throughout his reign, it's been documented that King George had struggles with mental illness. One time, he foamed at the mouth and was unable to speak coherently for hours. There were also rumours that George once mistook a tree for the King of Prussia and tried to shake hands with it.