His coronation took place during what we Americans know as the French and Indian War its name in England - the Seven Years’ War - more accurately reflects the conflict’s complicated global nature. (For those tracking popular-cultural references, this would be the queen in the Netflix series “Bridgerton” Roberts does not agree with the assertion by some historians that she was biracial.)

Fortunately, an arranged marriage with Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he met for the first time on their wedding day, was a happy one. He had no friends his age and strongly disapproved of the pleasure-seeking shenanigans that characterized upper-class society. At just 22, he ascended to the throne - well educated by a private tutor, devoutly religious, rule-bound, and fiscally conservative. Although mental illness incapacitated him, especially in the last 10 years of his life, he is Britain’s longest-serving king, surpassed only by Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II. George III was born in 1738, became king in 1760, and died in 1820.

He depicts instead a thoughtful, serious ruler who, as the subtitle suggests, was misunderstood not only by his former subjects in the colonies, but also by just about everyone else around him. Of course, given that warning, anyone who has seen the production immediately conjures up a silly, sputtering ruler who embodied all that our Founding Fathers revolted against.Īided by the opening of the Georgian Papers in Britain’s Royal Archives, Roberts states a primary aim of his massive and meticulous The Last King of America is to dispel this image for American readers. Historian Andrew Roberts urges us not to think of actor Jonathan Groff’s exaggerated portrayal of George III in the musical “Hamilton” when judging the monarch who was, indeed, America’s last king.

Andrew roberts the last king of america