More Madness of King George Posting

My comments last evening reminded me of this print by James Gillray, a prominant London political caricaturist of the period. Issued in 1791 and entitled "Wierd-Sisters; Ministers of Darkness; Minions of the Moon.� It is based on a famous contemporary depiction of the three witches from Macbeth, and illustrates George's principal ministers (Henry Dundas, Sec. of State for Home Affairs; William Pitt, Prime Minister; and Edward Thurlow, Lord Chancellor) pondering the waxing influence of Queen Charlotte as the King slumbers. (Charlotte was extremely protective of George during his illness and often worked in alliance with Pitt.)

I've always found this print to be a particularly good and visually effective piece of political commentary.

UPDATE: Our pal Rae drops a comment looking for period references. Delighted to oblige, Ma'am. Two books that I just pulled off my shelf are George III by Christopher Hibbert, and Prince of Pleasure by Saul David. The first is a straight-forward, well writted biography of the Farmer King and the latter is pretty honest about what an unpleasant character the Prince of Wales was, giving a great deal of information about his shabby treatment of Mrs. Fitzherbert.

All in all, I'd say Madness is fairly faithful to history, although it punches things up for dramatic purposes. Certainly Dr. Willis was a critical figure in dealing with George's symptoms - the business with the bounding and gagging is quite accurate. My only grumble would be that George tends to get short-changed by history, particularly among Americans. He was, in fact, quite intelligent and very engaged in his Crown duties. If George had a character flaw, it was his stubborness, a trait that drove the policies that led to the loss of the Colonies. However, he certainly can't be blamed or belittled (or lampooned) in any way for suffering from a condition that was hereditary and therefore quite out of his control.