The Royal Malady of King George III | From the Stacks

In 1789, King George III of Great Britain began displaying symptoms of mental illness. This quickly led to a power struggle known as the Regency Crisis. Amidst this political turmoil, a former courtier to king, Philip Withers, wrote a pamphlet aiming to malign the king's son and presumed successor, Prince George of Wales. Join Mütter Museum staff member Charlie Dawson to learn more about this historic event and explore this fascinating book from our Library collection!
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Video by Jonah Stern
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[@damonroberts7372]

Because of George III's remission from porphyria in 1789, female prisoners of the Crown then awaiting execution had their sentences commuted to penal transportation to Australia. That included two fourteen year old girls, Mary Wade and Jane Whiting, who had been sentenced to hang on a trumped-up charge of "highway robbery". Mary Wade has literally _tens of thousands_ of descendants now, including one of Australia's former Prime Ministers. Some of the pivots of history are truly bizarre.

[@ilhuicatlamatini]

I had no idea the “illness receded” ! I’ll be googling this story for more information lol, thanks 🤴

[@lezafullerton5941]

The poor King of Prussia mistaken for a tree lol

[@joannawarrens5117]

Wait the illness receded? That’s weird. Poison, virus????

[@damonroberts7372]

Remission from porphyria.

[@joannawarrens5117]

@@damonroberts7372 oh. Thanks!

[@mamatulie6591]

The illness came back. There was a regency for the last 10 years of his reign.

[@Lucius1958]

Yes: Byron wrote in 1819: *"An old, mad, blind, despised and dying King..."*

[@megthomas580]

@@Lucius1958 I definitely wouldn’t say he was despised. Certainly not in Britain.

[@phinhnanthasone1231]

Since Elizabeth II was loved by most, nobody tried to smear her in such a way (I believe)

[@southerncharm8211]

The Madness of King George is s one of my favorite movies for a long time now. Pretty much completely inaccurate historically speaking, it's still entertaining.

[@themcgeefamily7514]

💙💚