11. "Mad" King George III's Psychological Problems Probably Contributed To His Death (1820)
King George III reigned on the British throne for 60 years (1760-1820) - yet for the final 10 years of his tenure his eldest son (also George) served as Prince Regent due to the monarch's ever-increasing fall into ill health. It has never been determined exactly what illness "mad King George" suffered from, although it is believed he may have have porphyria, which is a blood disease. He was already almost completely blind by the time his son became Prince regent in 1811, and he was placed in seclusion in Windsor Castle once he became completely insane later in his reign. As well as suffering from dementia, George III became completely blind and increasingly deaf. He did not even realise his wife had died in 1818, or that he had been declared King of Hanover in 1814. Having been unable to walk for the last few weeks of his life, King George III died on January 29, 1820, having become exhausted by his own mental illness.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
King George III reigned on the British throne for 60 years (1760-1820) - yet for the final 10 years of his tenure his eldest son (also George) served as Prince Regent due to the monarch's ever-increasing fall into ill health. It has never been determined exactly what illness "mad King George" suffered from, although it is believed he may have have porphyria, which is a blood disease. He was already almost completely blind by the time his son became Prince regent in 1811, and he was placed in seclusion in Windsor Castle once he became completely insane later in his reign. As well as suffering from dementia, George III became completely blind and increasingly deaf. He did not even realise his wife had died in 1818, or that he had been declared King of Hanover in 1814. Having been unable to walk for the last few weeks of his life, King George III died on January 29, 1820, having become exhausted by his own mental illness.