Key People- King George III

• George III was king of Britain from 1760 to 1820 (his eldest son, George, became regent king in 1811) 
• Whilst he lived as king in a constitutional monarchy, and therefore had very limited power over the happenings of the country, he used his powers of patronage to have an significant impact on the issues of Parliament. However, he only did so on issues that he cared or was passionate about
• The king was still bound by oath that Parliament was supreme as of the Bill of Rights
• King George III was king at the time of the loss of the American Colonies (officially finished with in 1782) which induced a national debt in Britain
• During the pivotal 1784 election he backed William Pitt the younger (a Tory- believer in divine right to rule) as he despised Pitt's rival Charles James Fox (a Whig- believer in Constitutional Monarchy). The King denied the idea of a coalition, demanding Pitt creates his own government. Subsequently Pitt became Prime Minister and implemented Britain's first income tax to help with the national debt  
• In 1801 the King ordered Pitt to resign as PM due to disagreements over the rights of Roman Catholics. George was against this because his coronation oath was to keep the Church of England's rights and privileges
• In 1804, Pitt returned as PM as per the request of King George in response to the struggle England faced caused by the Napoleonic Wars. Pitt managed to unite the two countries initially, however the Third Coalition Pitt used collapsed and eventually he died
• From 1788 onward, King George suffered multiple spells of illness, eventually becoming permanently deranged (officially in 1810). He was then deemed unfit to complete his rule, and so from 1811 his eldest son George (who later became George IV) became the Regent King  
• George III died in January 1820 after a 60 year long reign- the third longest in British history