George III

Meanwhile, George III is notable as the king who was mad, as immortalized in the film “The Madness of King George III“. He suffered from a kind of psychosis – possibly porphyria- which may have been related to the inbreeding common amongst the royal families of Europe at the time. It was also possibly triggered by the death of his youngest and favorite daughter, Princess Amelia. He was declared unfit to rule in 1810 and so his son (later George IV) took over as Prince Regent. George III reigned from 1760 to 1820, so had an impressive reign of 59 years and 96 days but was only actively ruling for a part of that. His reign had a mixed military record, with his armies defeating Napoleon but losing to the colonists in America who wanted independence for their new nation. He was a popular king at the time, but ultimately is remembered for the insanity that overtook him towards the end of his life.