History UsefulNotes / TheHouseOfHanover

You know the mad King in ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'' or ''Film/TheMadnessOfKingGeorge'', or the hot King in ''Series/QueenCharlotteABridgertonStory''? Or the weirdo king singing show tunes in ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''? Yeah - that's ''this'' guy.

You know the mad King in ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'' or ''Film/TheMadnessOfKingGeorge'', or the hot King in ''Series/QueenCharlotteABridgertonStory''? Yeah - that's ''this'' guy.

* ''Series/TheCrown'': George V of Hanover's great-grandson [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Ernest_Augustus_of_Hanover_(born_1914) Ernst August]] (played by Daniel Betts) appears in Season 1 Episode 3 ("Windsor"), in which he attracts the mild distaste of his Windsor relatives by having attended a shooting feast at Dickie Mountbatten's estate at Broadlands shortly after the death of George VI in 1952--a distaste quickly overlooked when he informs Queen Mary that Prince Philip's Uncle Dickie had been toasting the "Royal House of Mountbatten" with champagne.

It was in William's reign that the Reform Act of 1832 was passed (extending the franchise to poor men and fundamentally weakening the power of the House of Lords, probably helping to avoid [[UsefulNotes/TheRevolutionsOfEighteenFortyEight the fireworks that broke out on the Continent a decade later]]). His reign also saw the enactment of laws against child labour (although not banning it entirely), the abolition of slavery, and the first state provisions for the poor were made.

It was in William's reign that the Reform Act of 1832 was passed (extending the franchise to poor men and fundamentally weakening the power of the House of Lords). His reign also saw the enactment of laws against child labour (although not banning it entirely), the abolition of slavery, and the first state provisions for the poor were made.

The House of Hanover, in the shape of Georg's grandson Ernst August, eventually made up with the House of Hohenzollern, the ruling dynasty of Prussia, which had meantime unified Germany, in 1913. Ernst August married Emperor Wilhelm II's only daughter Viktoria Luise and at the same time was made reigning Duke of Brunswick (the duchy had been administered by regents following the death of the last male heir of the elder line of the House of Brunswick). But during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917 stripped the House of Hanover of their titles of nobility in UK. In 1918 Ernst August was forced to abdicate in the course of the November Revolution, and the new Weimar Republic then abolished all German titles of nobility, including those of the House of Hanover. Some of the family members would go on to support the Nazis in 1930s, only to to turn against them in 1940s, as many German nationalists did, and wound up in concentration camps by the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII for their troubles.

You know the mad King in ''Bridgerton'' or ''The Madness of King George'', or the hot King in ''Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story''? Yeah - that's ''this'' guy.

Upon his death, ''The Times'' entirely subverted NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead and eulogized him with the line,"there never was an individual less regretted by his fellow-creatures than this deceased king...If he ever had a friend – a devoted friend in any rank of life – we protest that the name of him or her never reached us." (Continuing our theme of mutual dislike between Hanoverian monarchs and their parents, it should surprise nobody that before he lost his mind, George III found his son and heir a dissolute and thoroughly distasteful wastrel, and George IV thought his father a boring, pompous old git.)

->'''Nicknames''': ''Farmer George''; ''Mad King George''

You know the mad King in ''Bridgerton'', or the hot King in ''Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story''? Yeah - that's ''this'' guy.

The fifth son of George III, he was sent to Hanover in his youth for education, military training, and to get him away from the influence of the heir. By 1793 had received a lifelong facial scar on the front lines of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution The War of the First Coalition]], and was created Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale six years later. Of course his time on the continent helped develop his authoritarian-bordering-on-absolutist arch-conservative political views, which made both his family[[note]]On average, the sons of George III were actually more liberal than typical aristocrats of their day. George IV was an aesthete and man of the status quo who (weird thing about Catholic Emancipation aside) only cared about politics for petty personal reasons. William IV and Edward, Duke of Kent were both moderately sympathetic to reform, and both were noted for their modest lifestyles (well, modest for royals at any rate) and unassuming manners. Augustus, Duke of Sussex, was an out-an-out radical (and not just for a royal, [[FairForItsDay relative to the time]]), vocally supporting Parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery, and full political and legal equality for [[UsefulNotes/ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion Dissenters, Catholics, and Jews]], making him the liberal mirror image of his older brother Cumberland. However, Sussex's views were ''just'' within the range of "respectable" opinion (being commonly held by many members of the rising industrial middle classes, especially the fairly large chunk of them who were, er, Dissenters and Jews), and (unlike Cumberland's reaction) were seen as charmingly eccentric for a royal (this was certainly his conservative niece Victoria's opinion of him; she asked him to give her away at her wedding and even ennobled his common-law wife as Duchess of Inverness in her own right). Finally, Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, were largely apolitical Army officers; to the extent that either had serious political opinions, they were in favour of reform of the Army to improve its combat effectiveness. The Duke of York (yes, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Old_Duke_of_York that one]]) was particularly jazzed about Army reform after the poor performance of the Army in the Netherlands campaigns against the French--campaigns he had led personally, giving him something of a black eye he was eager to rectify. (These campaigns are the same ones that led UsefulNotes/TheEarlGrey to proclaim that "the British Army should be a projectile to be fired by the British Navy".) Ernest was the only true committed conservative of the lot. The political opinions of the daughters of George III are not well recorded, although given their personalities and behaviour it seems they were generally closer to George, William, Edward, and even Augustus than to Ernest.[[/note]] and the British public very uncomfortable. Add this to scandals up to and including actual interference in the elections for a seat in the House of Commons, and it's no surprise that he was the least popular of the seven sons of George III (''including'' George IV). He moved to Berlin with his new wife (twice widowed, the second time ''conveniently'' after meeting Ernest) in 1818, but being happily married upon the death of his only legitimate niece gave him a real chance at the British throne.

A number of early Creator/CharlesDickens works are actually set during this time, including ''Little Dorrit'' and ''The Pickwick Papers''. Also, he was a bit into studying birds and subscribed to Audubon's famous ''Birds of America'' series.

->'''Lived''': 13 August 1792 -- 2 December 1849
->'''Full Name''': Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline
->'''Parents''': ''Duke'' George of Saxe-Meiningen and ''Princess'' Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
->'''Spouse''': ''King'' William IV
->'''Title''': Her Majesty ''Queen'' Adelaide
->'''Nickname''': ''''

With George IV's death, the Crown befall William, with Adelaide becoming Queen.

!!'''[[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Victoria of the United Kingdom]]'''
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/queen_victoria_facts_victorian_era_princess_alice_royal_family_william_harry_latest_1127554_3.jpg]]
->'''Lived''': 24 May 1819 -- 22 January 1901
->'''Reigned''': 20 June 1837 -- 22 January 1901
->'''Full Name''': Alexandrina Victoria [[note]]Her [[MiddleNameBasis first name wasn't Victoria]]; she wasn't originally supposed to be Victoria at all. She was named Alexandrina after her godfather Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Her parents ''had'' planned to also name her Charlotte for her cousin, as well as Georgiana for the dynasty, but her DramaQueen uncle the future George IV turned up at the christening, and then flatly refused to allow "Charlotte", or to let his name follow the Tsar's (the only way it would have been acceptable). At this point, her mother was sobbing. Her uncle the Regent finally offhandedly said "Give her the mother's name", and thus an age was born. She was sometimes nicknamed Drina as a child, but known to the public as Princess Victoria of Kent, and always preferred Victoria.[[/note]]
->'''Parents''': ''Prince'' Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and ''Princess'' Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
->'''Consort''': ''Prince'' Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
->'''Nicknames''': ''The Grandmother of Europe''; ''The Widow of Windsor''; ''Mrs. Brown'' [[note]]due to her unusually close relationship with servant John Brown[[/note]]

Having no legitimate children of his own, he was quite fond of his heir, Edward's only child Victoria, as was Adelaide. Victoria's mother, the widowed Duchess of Kent, didn't appreciate this affection, and repeatedly snubbed William and Adelaide socially, overtly due to the household of illegitimate children she refused to let Victoria have contact with; she also refused to allow Victoria to attend William's coronation. William was offended by these insults to himself, his family, and his wife, and towards the end of his life infamously told the Duchess of Kent in front of an entire banquet hall full of people at Windsor Castle that his main goal now was only to live long enough to see his niece's 18th birthday, as he thought her mother "[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech surrounded by evil advisers and (...) incompetent to act with propriety]]" in the case of a regency government. He managed this by a few weeks.

* In works surrounding UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, you can expect George III to be [[TheGhost mentioned frequently, but remain unseen]]. Since such works almost invariably side with the Patriots, this basically amounts to playing him as a GreaterScopeVillain. ''Film/ThePatriot'' is a typical example. However, there are examples in which he does appear:

* George II was played by Creator/RichardHarris 1990 film adaptation of Literature/KingOfTheWind

** He has three songs in ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', which are all basically breakup songs with the colonies. He's the only prominant character in the play who is portrayed by a white actor. In the original Broadway production, George is portrayed by Creator/JonathanGroff.

George I (German: ''Georg'') did not become King of Great Britain and Ireland until the age of 54, and had possibly less interest in ruling the country than any other actual monarch before or since. During his early life, he'd served in the wars against Louis XIV of France, for which he was made a prince-elector[[note]] Theoretically his father had already been made an elector in 1692, but that promotion was only ratified by the Imperial Diet during the course of the War of Spanish Succession, by which time Ernestus Augustus had long dead.[[/note]] and the hereditary (and purely ceremonial) arch-treasurer[[note]]The arms of that office - the golden imperial crown on red - are on the central shield of the dynastic arms seen at the top of this page.[[/note]] of the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire. George married his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle, for [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail her huge tracts of land]] (to wit, the adjoining duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle) and an accompanying income of 1,000 ''thaler'' per year; this marriage was [[ArrangedMarriage engineered by George's mother]], who was famously shrewd at arranging strategic marriages for her children and other relatives, even if both bride and groom had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the marriage. As it happened, George and Sophia Dorothea was chief among Sophia of Hannover's arrangements where the couple were all but frog-marched down the aisle. Thus (to nobody's surprise, except perhaps George's mother), the marriage was a bad one, and Sophia Dorothea was suspected of cheating on George. Her supposed lover was murdered, possibly with George's knowledge, and after the ensuing divorce she was placed in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for the ''rest of her life''. [[ReallyGetsAround He never remarried, but had numerous mistresses,]] two of whom became known to the British people as [[EmbarrassingNickname "the ugly one" and "the fat one".]] He is Britain's only monarch between Elizabeth I and Edward VIII to not take a consort throughout his reign.

In the civilian world William was notorious for his casual manners, including his preference for walking as opposed to being driven in a royal carriage. He shocked society by openly living with his mistress (who was--shock horror!--an actress and--double shock horror!--(Protestant) ''Irish'' to boot) and acknowledging their ''[[MassiveNumberedSiblings ten]]'' children - one of whom was the maternal ancestor of future Prime Minister UsefulNotes/DavidCameron. He also sparked controversy with his political activities, first forcing his father to raise him to a dukedom by threatening to run for the House of Commons,[[note]]Under British law, any person who is not the monarch nor the monarch's spouse nor a sitting member of the House of Lords may seek election to the Commons. As Prince of the United Kingdom, William had a title, but not one that entitled him to sit in the Lords, and thus was permitted to seek election to the Commons. It's important to note that "Commons" does not mean "Commoners" but rather "Communes," i.e. "Communities"--[=MPs=] are elected to represent particular local communities of people.[[/note]] then as the Duke of Clarence attacking government policies in the House of Lords. While no-one could have predicted he would become King years later, none of this seemed appropriate for a royal. Funnily enough, all of this--except for the political stuff--would be seen as preferable or at least not particularly objectionable in a monarch today (even the openly living with the mistress bit, although today we would simply expect the monarch to marry her and not some random foreign princess and have done with it), but at the time it was not universally agreed he was an improvement on his brother (many opted for "both awful").

The fifth son of George III, he was sent to Hanover in his youth for education, military training, and to get him away from the influence of the heir. By 1793 had received a lifelong facial scar on the front lines of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution The War of the First Coalition]], and was created Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale six years later. Of course his time on the continent helped develop his authoritarian-bordering-on-absolutist arch-conservative political views, which made both his family[[note]]On average, the sons of George III were actually more liberal than typical aristocrats of their day. George IV was an aesthete and man of the status quo who (weird thing about Catholic Emancipation aside) only cared about politics for petty personal reasons. William IV and Edward, Duke of Kent were both moderately sympathetic to reform, and both were noted for their modest lifestyles (well, modest for royals at any rate) and unassuming manners. Augustus, Duke of Sussex, was an out-an-out radical (and not just for a royal, [[FairForItsDay relative to the time]]), vocally supporting Parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery, and full political and legal equality for [[UsefulNotes/ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion Dissenters, Catholics, and Jews]], making him the liberal mirror image of his older brother Cumberland. However, Sussex's views were ''just'' within the range of "respectable" opinion (being commonly held by many members of the rising industrial middle classes, especially the fairly large chunk of them who were, er, Dissenters and Jews), and (unlike Cumberland's reaction) were seen as charmingly eccentric for a royal (this was certainly his conservative niece Victoria's opinion of him; she asked him to give her away at her wedding and even ennobled his common-law wife as Duchess of Inverness in her own right). Finally, Frederick, Duke of York, and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, were largely apolitical Army officers; to the extent that either had serious political opinions, they were in favour of reform of the Army to improve its combat effectiveness. The Duke of York (yes, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Old_Duke_of_York that one]]) was particularly jazzed about Army reform after the poor performance of the Army in the Netherlands campaigns against the French--campaigns he had led personally, giving him something of a black eye he was eager to rectify. (These campaigns are the same ones that led UsefulNotes/TheEarlGrey to proclaim that "the British Army should be a projectile to be fired by the British Navy".) Ernest was the only true committed conservative of the lot. The political opinions of the daughters of George III are not well recorded, although given their personalities and behaviour it seems they were generally closer to George, William, Edward, and even Augustus than to Ernest.[[/note]] and the British public very uncomfortable. Add this to scandals up to and including actual interference in the elections for a seat in the House of Commons, and it's no surprise that he was the least popular of the seven sons of George III (''including'' George IV). He moved to Berlin with his new wife (twice widowed, the second time ''conveniently'' after meeting Ernest) in 1818, but being happily married upon the death of his only legitimate niece gave him a real chance at the British throne.

Having no legitimate children of his own he was quite fond of Victoria, as was Adelaide. Victoria's mother the widowed Duchess of Kent didn't appreciate this affection, and repeatedly snubbed William and Adelaide socially, overtly due to the household of illegitimate children she refused to let Victoria have contact with. William was offended by these insults to himself, his family, and his wife, and towards the end of his life infamously told the Duchess of Kent in front of an entire banquet hall full of people at Windsor Castle that his main goal now was only to live long enough to see his niece's 18th birthday, as he thought her mother "[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech surrounded by evil advisers and (...) incompetent to act with propriety]]" in the case of a regency government. He managed this by a few weeks.

->'''Full Name''': Alexandrina Victoria [[note]]Her [[MiddleNameBasis first name wasn't Victoria]]; she wasn't originally supposed to be Victoria at all. She was named Alexandrina after her godfather Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Her parents ''had'' planned to also name her Charlotte for her cousin, as well as Georgiana for the dynasty, but her DramaQueen uncle George IV turned up at the christening, and then flatly refused to allow "Charlotte", or to let his name follow the Tsar's (the only way it would have been acceptable). At this point, her mother was sobbing. Her uncle the King finally offhandedly said "Give her the mother's name", and thus an age was born. She was sometimes nicknamed Drina as a child, but known to the public as Princess Victoria of Kent, and always preferred Victoria.[[/note]]

Having no legitimate children of his own he was quite fond of Victoria, as was Adelaide. Victoria's mother didn't appreciate this affection, and repeatedly snubbed Adelaide socially. William was offended by these insults to his house and his wife, and towards the end of his life (after one particularly horrible snub to his Queen) infamously told Victoria's mother publicly and to her face that his main goal now was only to live long enough to see his niece's 18th birthday, as he thought her mother "[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech surrounded by evil advisers and (...) incompetent to act with propriety]]" in the case of a regency government. He managed this by a few weeks.

->'''Full Name''': Alexandrina Victoria [[note]]Her [[MiddleNameBasis first name wasn't Victoria]]. She was named Alexandrina after her godfather Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Her parents ''had'' actually planned to name her Charlotte for her cousin, as well as Georgiana for the dynasty, but her DramaQueen uncle George IV turned up at the christening, and then flatly refused to allow "Charlotte", or to let his name follow the Tsar's (the only way it would have been acceptable). At this point, her mother was sobbing. Her uncle finally offhandedly said "Give her the mother's name", and thus an age was born. She was sometimes nicknamed Drina as a child, but known to the public as Princess Victoria of Kent, and always preferred Victoria.[[/note]]

->'''Nicknames''': ''The Grandmother of Europe''; ''The Widow of Windsor''; ''Mrs. Brown'' [[note]]due to her rumoured relationship with servant John Brown[[/note]]

Prinny officially got the job in 1820. Once known as the First Gentleman of Europe (mainly because he dressed well and bathed regularly: his devotion to the dress and hygiene habits of [[TheDandy Beau Brummell]] are responsible for popularising Brummell's understated, clean-cut look and fixed the essential standards of taste for men's fashion--good fabric, a simple, elegant cut, dark colours--to this day), he had largely degenerated into an [[AdiposeRex obese]] DirtyOldMan (one of his less uncomplimentary nicknames before he became King was the "Prince of Whales") whose main preoccupation was [[UnwantedSpouse depriving his wife]], Caroline of Brunswick, of her rights as queen. He barred her from his lavish coronation and she died just a few weeks later. She is the last British Queen to date to predecease her husband. His only legitimate child and heir, Charlotte, had died in childbirth in 1817, so he spent the next couple of years watching his brothers scramble to marry and produce a viable heir of the next generation. He himself never remarried after he was widowed in 1821, though he was free to do so and (as King) could theoretically marry any (Protestant) woman he wished[[note]] Though Parliament would almost certainly have objected to any ''particularly'' unpalatable choice, as they did with Edward VIII over a century later[[/note]], because by that point the succession had been secured with the births of a number of nieces and nephews, including the future UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria.

->'''Nickname''': ''Farmer George''

The Americans [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution have a more complex perspective]], but even then most historians believe him to be MisBlamed--he only had a significant role in the American crisis after the Boston Tea Party (which was beginning of the revolt's [[PointOfNoReturn turn toward anti-monarchical sentiment]]), at which point his support for a military response was just one of several trump cards the hawks in Parliament had over the doves. It's worth noting that after the USA achieved independence, he commented that "I was the last person to consent to the separation [of America and Britain], but I will be the first to accept the friendship of the United States as an independent power." (We should also note that until ''very'' shortly before the beginning of the War of Independence, many Americans liked him too--and they liked his wife even more: both Charlotte, North Carolina and Mecklenburg County in which it sits are named for her. Ironically, the city became known as a "hornet's nest of rebellion" during the War of Independence.) He opposed Catholic Emancipation, but only because he believed it would violate the coronation oath he took to 'defend the [Protestant] faith'. Alas, he is also remembered for going periodically and eventually, permanently insane (the most likely speculations have been either from a medical condition known as porphyria or from bipolar disorder, but more than two centuries later, it's still a RiddleForTheAges), leading to...

In the civilian world William was notorious for his casual manners, including his preference for walking as opposed to being driven in a royal carriage. He shocked society by openly living with his mistress (who was--shock horror!--an actress and--double shock horror!--(Protestant) ''Irish'' to boot) and acknowledging their ''[[MassiveNumberedSiblings eleven]]'' children - one of whom was the maternal ancestor of future Prime Minister UsefulNotes/DavidCameron. He also sparked controversy with his political activities, first forcing his father to raise him to a dukedom by threatening to run for the House of Commons,[[note]]Under British law, any person who is not the monarch nor the monarch's spouse nor a sitting member of the House of Lords may seek election to the Commons. As Prince of the United Kingdom, William had a title, but not one that entitled him to sit in the Lords, and thus was permitted to seek election to the Commons. It's important to note that "Commons" does not mean "Commoners" but rather "Communes," i.e. "Communities"--[=MPs=] are elected to represent particular local communities of people.[[/note]] then as the Duke of Clarence attacking government policies in the House of Lords. While no-one could have predicted he would become King years later, none of this seemed appropriate for a royal. Funnily enough, all of this--except for the political stuff--would be seen as preferable or at least not particularly objectionable in a monarch today (even the openly living with the mistress bit, although today we would simply expect the monarch to marry her and not some random foreign princess and have done with it), but at the time it was not universally agreed he was an improvement on his brother (many opted for "both awful").

After Princess Charlotte's death, he married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in a double ceremony with his brother Prince Edward, who married Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (the mother of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria). It was a happy marriage, though Adelaide couldn't produce the coveted heir, giving birth to two daughters, one who died shortly after birth and one who lived only four months, and two stillborn boys. Although there were no further confirmed pregnancies after 1822, Adelaide became something of the Creator/JenniferAniston of her day, with rumours swirling that she was with child well into her husband's reign, which the King always dismissed as "damned stuff". Because of her tragic history of childbirth and personal piety and modesty (and for taming her husband), Adelaide was very popular with the British people; when the new colony of [[UsefulNotes/AustralianStatesAndTerritories South Australia]] was established in 1836, they named its capital city [[UsefulNotes/OtherAustralianTownsAndCities Adelaide]] after her.