To build your own Itinerary, click to add an item to your Itinerary basket.
Already saved an Itinerary?
You are here: UK History > Royal History > House of Hanover > George II | Like father, like son
George II, also known as George Augustus was the oldest son of George I and ascended the throne of Great Britain and Ireland and the Electorship of Hanover at the age of 43, following the death of his father.
Born: 30th October 1638, Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover
Died: 25th October 1760 (aged 76), Kensington Palace, London
Reign: 11th June 1727 – 25th October 1760
Parents: George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle
Predecessor: George I (father)
Successor: George III (grandson)
Spouse: Caroline Ansbach (married between 1705-1737)
Children: Frederick, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess of Orange; Princess Amelia; Princess Caroline; Prince George William; William, Duke of Cumberland; Mary, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel; and Louisa Queen of Denmark and Norway.
Royal House: Hanover
As much as he would hate it, George II was similar to his father, especially when it came to his relationships wth his sons. Famously, while Prince of Wales, George was banished from the royal residence by his father and had his children taken from him, which led to him becoming a supporter of anyone who opposed his father's reign. History would go on to repeat itself, George II found himself in the same situation with his eldest son, Frederick.
George was born and brought up in Northern Germany in his father’s territory of Hanover, making him the most recent British monarch to have been born outside Great Britain. His parents, George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle, had a difficult marriage and were estranged. By the time George's younger sister was born, his parents had given up any pretence of a united front and were living completely separate lives. Both continued to have extra maritial affairs and his father's mistress became the official host at the family's British residences.
His mother’s lover, a Swedish Count was murdered, probably with the knowledge of his father. His parents’ marriage was dissolved, with Sophia accused of abandoning her husband. She was imprisoned in Ahiden House and denied access to her children. George and his sister never saw their mother again.
Until the age of four, George exclusively spoke French, which at the time was the language of diplomacy and court life. After this age, he was taught German, English and Italian and spent time studying genealogy, military history and battle tactics. Because of the way the English succession was settled by parliament, George’s grandmother had been named the next in line for the throne following the death of Queen Anne. The crown eventually went to his father and George and his sister were both naturalised as English subjects, allowing them to live and work in the country. Prior to his father’s coronation, George was given the titles of Duke and Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Midford Haven, Viscount Northallerton and Baron Tewkesbury, as well as being made a Knight of the Garter.
Unlike many noble born individuals, George was given the choice of bride. His father, who had been subjected to an arranged marriage, didn’t want his children to enter into a loveless union and so, allowed young George to travel around Europe meeting prospective brides before any negotiations were made. George met with several eligible ladies and eventually settled on Caroline of Ansbach, the pair married in early September 1705.
He and Caroline would go on to have a long and stable marriage and George was said to have been devoted to her, though many historians have since criticised him for relying too heavily on her advice during his reign. Once he was wed, George was keen to put his military training to good use and planned to participate in the war against France, but his father refused to allow it until George had a son and heir.
Two years after their marriage, they welcomed their first son, Frederick. Not long after Frederick’s birth, Caroline caught smallpox and George acted as her nurse, spending hours at her bedside, eventually catching the disease himself. Following his recovery, he finally got the chance to see battle, his horse was killed in the conflict, but George returned home unharmed. In the years after, George and Caroline had three more children, Anne, Amelia and Caroline Jnr.
George was one of the nobles that accompanied his father to England for the coronation and received the title of Prince of Wales at the same ceremony. Caroline and their daughters followed a few weeks later, but Frederick was left in Hanover where he was to be raised by a group of tutors.
The birth of their second son, named George William, caused the tension between George and his father, the King, to bubble over. George I decided to follow British tradition and appointed the Lord Chamberlain as the baby’s sponsor, unfortunately, Prince George and the Lord Chamberlain were rivals and George insulted him during the ceremony. George was banished from the king’s residence as a result, Caroline was allowed to accompany him, but their children had to remain under the care of the king.
Eventually the king relented and allowed them weekly visits, which enabled George to be present when the new baby passed away in the following February.
In September 1714, George’s father was declared King of Great Britain and Ireland and the pair sailed to England, formally entering London via a ceremonial parade in which they both received their new titles.
The King returned to Hanover for six months in 1716 and although George was the Prince of Wales, he wasn’t made regent and allowed to rule in his father’s absence. Instead, his powers were limited, something that caused tension between the two. Once his father was abroad, George decided to go on a Royal Progress throughout the South of England and opened up Hampton Court Palace to allow his subjects to come and watch him dine.
This coupled with an unsuccessful assassination attempt led to an elevated public persona. The assassination attempt took place while he was watching a performance at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, London. One audience member was shot dead before the assailant was brought under control. The king was said to have been distrustful and jealous of his son’s mounting popularity which did nothing to smooth over their relationship.
Following the christening of his son and the banishment from the palace, George began to entertain opposition politicians at his new home, Leicester House, which became synonymous with politics. In retaliation, when he next went to Hanover, the king passed over George completely, appointing a council to act as Regent instead.
By the 1720s, the relationship between George and his father was so bad that Robert Walpole, one of the more prominent politicians in the king’s government, encouraged a reconciliation for the sake of public unity. It was a half-hearted reconciliation, George’s daughters had to remain under the king’s care and he was still not allowed to be Regent, even after they had publicly united. It led George to distrust Walpole, which he would carry into his own reign. Over the next few years, Caroline and George lived quietly and avoided public life, they had three more children, William, Mary and Louisa, who were brought up with their parents, living between Leicester House and Richmond Lodge.
George I died in June 1727 during a visit to Hanover, George succeeded him as George II and also took control of his lands in Hanover. He was 43 years old.
Despite his father’s funeral taking place in Germany where he had died, George decided not to travel to the continent, though this might provoke a feeling of disloyalty today, the British public decided that this was proof of his commitment to Britain and praised him for remaining in England.
George was crowned at Westminster Abbey in the October and commissioned the composer Handel to write four new pieces of music for the ceremony. It was widely believed that George’s first act as king would be to dismiss Walpole. Caroline stepped in and advised George to keep Walpole in his role, as to get rid of him at this stage could cause political instability. In the end, George allowed Walpole to take control of Britain’s domestic policy and from 1730 onwards, control of foreign policy too, leaving George’s role to be mostly honorific. George had an interest in foreign policy and was advocating for a war in Europe, which was rejected by parliament until they couldn’t resist any longer.
Much like his own relationship with his father, George experienced difficulties with his sons, particularly Frederick. This relationship worsened in the 1730s, exacerbated by Frederick’s resentment at being left in Germany when the family moved to England. Frederick didn’t see his parents for 14 years, not coming to England until 1728 where he immediately began campaigning for his father’s opponents. In another act of history repeating itself, George refused to give Frederick the Regency when travelling to Hanover, instead leaving the running of the country to Caroline.
During the course of George’s reign, Frederick applied to parliament for an increase in his allowance, which led to open quarrelling between father and son. George had a reputation for meanness and offered Frederick a much lower payment, which was rejected. Eventually, Walpole intervened, as he had done during George I's reign and convinced the king to increase Frederick’s allowance. The matter wasn’t resolved however, as Frederick then excluded George and Caroline from the birth of his daughter, choosing instead to remove his wife from the palace in the middle of the night. George retaliated by banishing him from court, though unlike his father, did allow him to keep custody of his children. George II would also come to blows with another son, William, who was the Duke of Cumberland, though they would reconcile towards the end of George’s reign.
George’s familial issues wasn’t limited to his sons, there were also tensions with his cousin, who was ruling Prussia. The pair had an intense rivalry and George attempted to marry Frederick to his cousin’s daughter, however they never came to an agreement and Frederick married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha instead.
In 1736, George went on one of his regular visits to Hanover, leading to resentment among the public. Some were so annoyed that they even left missing notices on the gates of St James’ Palace appealing for information on their missing monarch. The scheduled visit ended up being extended as bad weather delayed his return. Rumours broke out that he had drowned, which was exacerbated by George returning late and unwell, taking to his bed. Frederick started telling notable people that his father was dying, though historians are unsure whether this was just part of their ongoing feud or an attempt to seize the throne himself. To dispel the rumours, George, still ill, insisted on attending several social events.
The next General Election took place in 1741 with Frederick campaigning actively for the opposition, stopping Walpole from securing a majority. Walpole tried to buy off the prince, offering to pay off his debts and increase his allowance, but Frederick refused, leading to Walpole retiring from public life, he had been in politics for over 20 years. His vacancy was filled by Spencer Compton, a favourite of George’s, but Compton ended up being nothing more than a figurehead, he died two years later and was replaced by Henry Pelham.
Caroline died on 20th November 1737, ten years into George’s reign. George was deeply affected by her death and to the surprise of many, considering how many mistresses he openly had at court, publicly showed his devastation. On her deathbed, Caroline told him to remarry but he famously replied with: “no, I shall have only mistresses!”
These days, this would be seen as a mark of disrespect, but at the time, was seen as a romantic declaration – it was interpreted as no other woman could possibly be as worthy of being queen as Caroline had.
George dealt with several wars and rebellions during his time as king. In 1739, against the wishes of Walpole, Britain entered a conflict with Spain as part of the War of Austrian Succession, which broke out on the death of the Holy Roman Emperor and centred around his daughter’s right to succeed his titles and lands. George stationed himself in Hanover over the next two summers where he was able to better intervene. While he regularly visited his lands in Hanover and this was not seen as unusual, he caused problems with parliament by stationing mercenaries around the borders without consulting them. He also wanted to reform the British Army, which had not fought for over 20 years and had not been well maintained. Using his military knowledge, George pushed for promotions to be granted by merit rather than social standing and wanted a higher professional standard but was overruled.
It was during this war that George personally accompanied troops into battle, fighting alongside them at the Battle of Dettingen that June. Though his actions were admired, the war as a whole was unpopular with the British public. It would be the last time a sitting monarch would actively take part in battle.
Even after Walpole’s retirement, tensions continued to grow between the king and his parliament, especially after Pelham took the Prime Minister role. George took advice from other ministers and rejected pressure to appoint William Pitt the Elder to the cabinet, which would have broadened the government’s appeal and put a fresh set of eyes on the continuing war. The king however disliked Pitt and refused to promote him, leading to Pelham resigning. George was unable to find anyone else to get enough support to form a government. In order to solve the issue, he was forced to appoint Pitt and Pelham returned to parliament triumphant. The War of Austrian Succession continued until 1748 when the Emperor’s daughter was finally recognised as the Archduchess of Austria. George had the composer Handel create composition to celebrate and a fete was held at Green Park, London.
It wasn’t just foreign wars that George had to deal with during his reign. A Jacobite Rebellion took place in July of 1745. Charles Edward Stuart, the grandson of the former King James II, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, or the Young Pretender, landed in Scotland where support for the Stuarts was strongest. The Jacobites, supported by the French, defeated British forces in September and tried to move into England, but failed to win support south of the border, the French withdrew their support and the rebels returned to Scotland. George was in Hanover at the time, so his son William, the Duke of Cumberland, led forces to meet Charles Stuart at the Battle of Culloden, the last battle of its kind to be fought on British soil. The Jacobites were defeated, and Charles escaped to France, many of his supporters were caught and executed, leading to Jacobitism being all but crushed, it was the last attempt to restore the House of Stuart.
In 1745, Pelham died, and his older brother took over his role, though he didn’t last long, resigning after the outbreak of the Seven Year’s War. Hostility between France and Britain had been growing over the continuing colonisation of North America and the French invasion of the island of Minorca, which at the time was a British territory, leading to conflict.
The new Prime Minister resigned over his handling of the war, and was replaced by William Cavendish, with William Pitt becoming Secretary of State, allowing him to guide policy relating to the war effort. George attempted to create a parliament that was more aligned with his priorities and dismissed Pitt, but it caused so much instability in parliament that he had no choice by to bring him back.
During the conflict, William the Duke of Cumberland commanded the troops stationed in Europe and was given full power to conclude a separate peace after the invasion of Hanover, however George was furious with the deal William had negotiated, publicly declaring that William had “ruined me and disgraced himself.” William resigned from military duty and George revoked the treaty.
As the Prince of Wales, Frederick was considered to be the Heir Presumptive, however, he died unexpectedly in 1751. George was said to have commiserated with Frederick’s widow, Augusta, and wept with her. Rather than naming another of his children as the heir, George passed over his other sons and named his grandson, the Prince George as heir. As the younger George wouldn’t be of age until 1756, a new Regency Act was passed, which made his mother Augusta Regent, assisted by William, the Duke of Cumberland, in case the king died before this date. George also changed his will, naming William as the Regent in Hanover.
The same year, George’s daughter Louisa also passed away and records show George lamenting: “This has been a fatal year for my family. I lost my eldest son but I am glad of it. Now Louisa is gone. I know I did not love my children when they were young, I hated to have them running into my rooms but now I love them as well as most fathers.”
George didn’t need to invoke his new Regency Act, he died in 1760 at the age of 77. At the time, he was the longest living monarch, living much longer than his predecessors. Records from the day show that he rose as usual on 25th October, had his customary cup of hot chocolate and then went to his personal bathroom alone. A few moments later, his staff heard a bang and found him on the floor, he was lifted into his bed and his staff sent for his daughter, Amelia, but he died before she arrived. It has since been revealed that the king died as a result of aortic dissection, which resulted in a lack of blood flow to his heart. It was the first case of this condition to have been reported in Britain.
George’s legacy is one that is mostly looked on with disdain, but modern historians have concluded that he was very influential, mostly in foreign policy and military matters. He also donated the Royal Library to the British Museum, as he had no interest in reading, arts or science, instead preferring to spend his leisure time hunting or playing cards. Despite this, he founded Hanover’s first university and was Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin and issued the charter for King’s College in New York City, which is now known as Columbia University. In 1902, an asteroid discovered at the university in Hanover was named in his honour. His legacy also lives on in America, the province of Georgia was named for him and founded by royal charter.
Although he is often viewed as being a weak buffoon, governed by his wife and ministers, it has been proven that he actually had a good grasp of policy, especially foreign policy and British interests expanded throughout the world under his leadership.
Downing Street, London
George was the first monarch to offer 1o Downing Street as a residence for the prime minister.
Fort George, Scottish Highlands
Fort named for King George II
Golden Square, London
A statue of George can be found here to commemorate that he one lived in the square.
Gunnersbury Park, London
The Paladian style manor bui;t here was built for Princess Amelia, George's daughter as a summer house.
Hampton Court, London
George opened up the palace and invited people to come and watch him dine.
Kensington Palace, London
George II was the last monarch to reside at Kensington Palace, after George, it ceased to be a royal palace used by the reigning monarch, instead becoming a residence for members of the extended family. Queen Caroline's Temple was created here for George's wife.
Kew Gardens, London
Leicester House, London
George's residence.
Marble Hill House, London
George's mistress, Henrietta Howard, the Countess of Suffolk lived here.
The King's Head, Mayfair, London
The head of George II can be seen on one side of the pub.
Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London
An assassination attempt on George took place here.
Westminster Abbey, London
George was the final monarch to be buried in the abbey. He cna be found in the vault under the central aisle and insited that a side be removed from both his and his wife's coffins sothat their remains could mingle.
© Visit Heritage 2024. All Rights Reserved