The royal scoop: Documents from ‘mad’ King George III go online

Royal archive of 350,000 documents from the reigns of Britain's four King Georges to go online in project endorsed by Queen Elizabeth II.

A portrait of Britain's King George III painted in 1771 by German artist Johan Zoffany. Thousands of papers from the reign of King George III went online on January 28, 2017. Carl Court / AFP

LONDON // Thousands of papers from the reign of Britain’s King George III went online on Saturday, including an essay by the monarch on losing America and details of his spy network.

Some 33,000 pages were published by the Royal Archives, detailing the life and times of Britain’s longest-reigning king, who was on the throne from 1760 to 1820.

The papers bring new insights into a “complex, engaged polymath and highly informed monarch”, who is often labelled “mad King George” In fact, he suffered from a rare inherited blood disorder, porphyria. The symptoms — including insomnia, high blood pressure, confusion and sensitivity to sunlight. — were seen as signs of insanity in the 18th century.

Oliver Urquhart Irvine, the Royal Archives librarian, said the new database, which has the support of Queen Elizabeth II, would open up the historic papers to a global audience.

“Seeing original documents is utterly compelling,” he said. “You can feel the passion, personality, worries and triumphs of individuals who have shaped major events. It can change your perspective of history.”

George III was America’s last king. It was during his reign that Britain lost the Thirteen Colonies, which declared independence as the United States in 1776 — an event lamented by the sovereign in an essay which is part of the digitised collection.

“America is lost!” the king writes, in a text which archivists have said is a near verbatim extract from a longer essay published by a different author.

A turning point in the US independence campaign — the 1781 Battle of the Chesapeake — is captured in a paper written by naval officer Samuel Hood.

“The king takes his job very seriously. He is processing knowledge on a proto-industrial scale as a part of his role,” said Andrew Lambert, professor of naval history at King’s College London. “He’s the best-informed chief executive this country has ever had.”

One of the key documents is a handwritten draft letter of abdication that the king wrote in 1783. Heavily marked with corrections, the letter was written during a political crisis caused by the difficulties in forming a government.

Referring to his apparent inability to resolve the crisis, the king writes: “I am therefore resolved to resign my crowns and all the dominions appertaining to it to the Prince of Wales, my eldest son and lawful successor.”

The abdication letter was never used.

The archive of 350,000 documents also contains personal correspondence, including letters between King George and his wife, Queen Charlotte, notes by the king on the American war, a guide to “kingship” for his son and letters to relatives written during his bouts of illness. One of the most touching items is a letter sent by Queen Charlotte after the death of her young son, Prince Alfred, which included a lock of the toddler’s hair.

There are also instructions to the 18th-century explorer James Cook and details of King George’s spy network. In one document, a spy with the code name Aristarchus asks for payment for warning of a French assassination plot against the king.

Although George III was king until 1820, his eldest son reigned as regent from 1811 because of his father’s recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness.

An insight into the formal handover of power is given with two pages detailing the banquet for King George IV’s coronation, in 1821. The menu fit for the king includes “La Blanquette de Poulardes aux truffles de France” (chicken in white sauce with French truffles), served in Westminster Hall.

Publication of the royal papers is part of a five-year project covering the reigns of Britain’s four king Georges, from 1714 to 1830 and King William IV, son of George III and brother of George IV, who ruled from 1830-37.

The papers are accompanied by a BBC documentary, “George III — The Genius of the Mad King”.

* Agence France-Presse