On August 2, 1786, a madwoman named Margaret Nicholson approached King George III with what she claimed was a petition (actually a blank piece of paper), then tried to stab him with a grapefruit knife.
POD: she uses a sharper,rustier knife instead. The wound is not deep, but it becomes infected. Bleedings, poultices, and mercury salts don't help, and a few weeks later, King George III dies of septicemia.
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That brings us to his son, George IV, who's secretly living in sin with his Catholic mistress Maria Fitzherbert; and who's also up to his eyeballs (several hundred thousand pounds) in debt.
- Is knowledge of the Fitzherbert affair more likely to become public, if he's not just heir, but about to be crowned?
- Would knowledge of the affair be enough to bar him from the throne? His mock-marriage the previous December wasn't valid under English law since George III didn't approve it -- otherwise he'd definitely be barred under the Settlement Act -- but it was a crime for him to partake in it.
- Assuming he does take the throne, he's broke, and Parliament probably won't lend him any money for coronation -- who can he borrow from? The Duke of Orleans, maybe?
- He will probably appoint Charles James Fox as PM ; how will that affect British policy when the French Revolution breaks out?
POD: she uses a sharper,rustier knife instead. The wound is not deep, but it becomes infected. Bleedings, poultices, and mercury salts don't help, and a few weeks later, King George III dies of septicemia.
- - -
That brings us to his son, George IV, who's secretly living in sin with his Catholic mistress Maria Fitzherbert; and who's also up to his eyeballs (several hundred thousand pounds) in debt.
- Is knowledge of the Fitzherbert affair more likely to become public, if he's not just heir, but about to be crowned?
- Would knowledge of the affair be enough to bar him from the throne? His mock-marriage the previous December wasn't valid under English law since George III didn't approve it -- otherwise he'd definitely be barred under the Settlement Act -- but it was a crime for him to partake in it.
- Assuming he does take the throne, he's broke, and Parliament probably won't lend him any money for coronation -- who can he borrow from? The Duke of Orleans, maybe?
- He will probably appoint Charles James Fox as PM ; how will that affect British policy when the French Revolution breaks out?