George IV appears as a character in Rodney Stone by Arthur Conan Doyle (1896), where he is shown as an irresponsible spendthrift, wildly self-indulgent and given to self-delusion, but not without some kindly impulses.
In Bernard Cornwell's novel Sharpe's Regiment, which is set during the Regency period, he is portrayed as fat, extravagant and possibly suffering from the same insanity which had afflicted his father. He is an enthusiastic fan of Richard Sharpe's military exploits, and claims to have been present at the Battle of Talavera and to have helped Sharpe capture a French Imperial Eagle (an event depicted in Cornwell's earlier novel Sharpe's Eagle). In the novel's afterword, Cornwell said he based the remark on an historical incident when George, during a dinner party at which the Duke of Wellington was present, claimed to have led a charge at the Battle of Waterloo.[1]
George IV appears as a character in The Regency, Volume 13 of The Morland Dynasty, a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. The fictional Lucy Morland, Countess of Aylesbury, is one of his 'set' and his reign and regency provide the backdrop to the novel.
Bernard Bastable's Dead, Mr. Mozart (1995) is a detective novel whose main character is an alternate version of Wolfgang Mozart who survives in the 1820s and has settled in England. The story's main crisis is that odd circumstances have drawn Mozart into damage control duty to prevent further eruption of the enmity between King George IV and Caroline of Brunswick immediately following the old king's death.
Hugh Laurie in the BBC TV comedy series Blackadder the Third (1987), in which his absurd lifestyle as Prince Regent is the focus of much malice by other characters, particular his butler Mr. Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson), who repeatedly makes sarcastic references to the Prince's stupidity and incompetence and takes advantage of it. The concluding episode of the series depicts the Prince being unwittingly gunned down by the Duke of Wellington (Stephen Fry), and Blackadder assuming his identity, eventually becoming George IV. The Prince's personality was passed on to Laurie's character in Blackadder Goes Forth, World War ILieutenant George.
1Overlord of Britain. 2Also ruler of Ireland. 3Also ruler of Scotland and Ireland. 4Lord Protector. 5Also ruler of England and Ireland. Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.
Footnotes
↑According to The private letters of Princess Lieven to Prince Metternich, 1820–1826 edited by Quennell (1937) the King merely pretended to have fought at Waterloo disguised as General Bock to annoy the Duke of Wellington.
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