What if George Washington was declared King of America when the revolution was over?
1788 - 1814: George I the Reluctant (House of Washington) [1]
1814 - 1831: Samuel (House of Washington) [2]
1831 - 1867: George II “the Ready” (House of Washington) [3]
1867 - 1901: George III (House of Washington) [4]
1901 - 1931: George IV (House of Washington) [5]
1931 - 1946: Martha (House of Washington) [6]
1946 - 1981: Theodore (House of Washington) [5]
1981 - Present: George V (House of Washington) [6]
[1] As the American Revolution came to an end, the people and the continental congress already realized that there would be hardships. However the people would not stand for the absolute debacle that was the 14 year reign of the Articles of Confederation. They demanded that a strong hand be placed on the reigns of government. So, in 1788, the constitutional convention would ratify a new governing constitution that would place a king at the head of a senate, and house of representatives. This new kings power over the law would be limited, and far less than that of George III, but the convention knew that an honest and stable man must be placed on the throne. There was only one choice, the Savior of the nation, the hero of the revolution, George Washington. Every one wished for him to sit upon the throne, except the man himself. Dubbed the reluctant in later years, Washington had desired to retire to Mt.Vernon once the war was over. But his sense of duty to his new country was overwhelming, and so on October 3rd, 1788, George Washington would be crowned George I in Philadelphia's independence hall. For the first several years of his reign, peace was the order of the day. Washington presided over his government with minimal interference, and managed to establish a practice of meritorious, non party, representation in government. (no official parties, temp voting blocs, but no dem vs rep) In 1803 he even managed to purchase the french Louisiana territory for a mere fifteen million dollars. However that peace would be shattered in 1808 when (what would later be called) the 12 years war broke out between a Franco-Prussian alliance, and a coalition involving Britain, Spain and Austria, went to war over the Franco Prussian invasion of the HRE and Hanover. King Louis XVI pleaded with King George to intervene and assist France. However King George refused. He intended to keep America out of all things European. George would not see the end of the european war, as he would pass in his sleep in 1814, at the age of 82. He would be succeeded by his brothers grandson, Samuel Washington.
[2] Samuel, Duke of Virginia, was the son of the nephew (George Steptoe Washington) of King George by his younger brother (also called Samuel). In the absence of any legitimate heir (and King George had only a stepson) the crown would pass through his brothers, but Lawrence and Augustine had died in 1752 and 1762 without surviving issue, Samuel had died in 1781 with his son George dying in 1809 leaving Samuel to inherit the Duchy of Virginia and become heir presumptive and Crown Prince upon the death of his father five years prior to King George.
Samuel was born in 1797 and was sixteen when he became King - this meant that his uncle, Lawrence Augustine Washington, would act as Regent until he reached the age of majority in 1815. At the age of 26 in 1823 he married Abigail Adams (daughter of Thomas Boylston Adams and Ann Harrod) but she produced no children and subsequently died in the birth of their eighth child in 1830. Samuel went into mourning and on a hunger strike, only accepting weak vegetable broth - the King began to wither away and the court became concerned, whilst there was a possibility of his recovery it was deemed prudent for his successor to be brought into the fold - just in case. And it was definitely prudent as the King passed away in 1831 at the age of 34 at Jefferson Palace in Richmond (this timelines version of the IOTL Richmond State Capital), with his main contribution to American society being that he left his significant private fortune to found a medical research foundation devoted to problems in childbearing - this named the Queen Abigail Foundation. His successor was his cousin, George.
* - the Dukedom of Virginia was derived from the state of Virginia due to the location of Mount Vernon in Fairfax (the heir to the Duke being the Earl of Fairfax), the Washington family home. It was originally appointed to George Washington's nephew and heir presumptive, Samuel, being passed to his son and then absorbed into the crown.
[3] Prince George was born in December 1799, the last king born in the 18th century. The son of Prince Lawrence Augustine Washington (future Prince Regent)
He was fourteen when his Great-Uncle and name sake, King George I died and saw his cousin raise to the throne as a minor.
With his father acting as Regent, Prince George, would have a sneak glimpse into the working of this new style of politics.
His father was planning a life for George, where he would be either a cabinet minister or strong voice in the upper house of American Legislature, the Chamber of Peers, so began filling George’s education with the important studies of a politician.
However with Queen Abigail’s death and no living heir, it soon became apparent that, George’s future would change.
In 1821, he would be the first American monarch to marry a foreign bride. Marry Princess Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte of Spain, strengthened America’s alliance not only with the Kingdom of Spain, but linked the Americans to their oldest allies, Napoléon of France.
As well as diplomatically successful, it also produced twelve children, securing this George’s lineage; there were rumours that the American crowned had been cursed to bare no off-springs.
George because King at the ripe age of 31, with his experience and knowledge, his nickname, not only differentiate him from his Great-Uncle, in name only but his whole personality.
A peaceful king, he would ease tension with Habsburg-Mexico and Jacobinian-Canada by diplomatic and trade deals, which eased the disputes regarding Territory in Texas and Columbia.
His death at the age of 66, came at a time where tension was growing not with foreign nations but within his own.
With his eldest son Crown Prince George having his succession questioned by his second son, Samuel, Duke of Virginia (First Duke, Second Creation), who claimed he had the support of his so called “Southern Lords”
[4] Prince George, the Crown Prince of America, found his succession to the throne questioned by his brother, the Duke of Virginia, who had the support of some members of the gentry. It hinged upon a rumour that George was illegitimate with Samuel being the eldest legitimate issue, that George was actually the son of his father's younger brother Prince John - this was what the newspapers of the period called the Birther Conspiracy. And it had zero foundation - it would later be revealed that John was likely sterile from an STD contracted in his youth and couldn't have been George's father.
At any rate, this attempt to move George off the throne was somewhat of a false start - it sounded great on paper, but outside of a vocal minority in the South it never got the momentum to dethrone the Crown Prince. Suitably cowed, the Duke of Virginia (likely sterile himself) vanished until his body was found in a Paris brothel, dead of alcohol and drugs. That was more of a scandal than the Birther Conspiracy but the monarchy rode out the challenge and celebrated with the birth of George's first child - a son, the new Crown Prince.
He was 45 when he became monarch, 46 when he married and 47 when his first child was born - until that point the monarchy had been steamrolling towards a dead end much like the British monarchy when the children of George III failed to produce issue until late in life. He coincidentally married Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, born 1846, twenty six years younger than her husband and the third daughter of Queen Alexandrina of the United Kingdom (Victoria uses her birth name as her regnal one and Helena doesn't get shuffled off to marry Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, being the saviour of the American monarchy trumps marrying a German princeling) who provides George with eight children, only one of whom dies in infancy, and the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha fertility saved a third European monarchy.
George streamlined the monarchy - with only the heir and the spare receiving titles distinct from prince - with George's second son being made Duke of Virginia after his uncle died in Paris, and his eldest being Crown Prince. This calculated management of title also kept the royal purse at a more manageable level - helping the economy fundamentally which furthered industrial development and allowed the attempt to establish a settlement in the Pacific with the marriage of his third son, Lawrence, into the Hawaiian monarchy leading to an ongoing friendship that lasts to the present and the establishment of Port Helena (the ITTL version of Pearl Harbor) near Honolulu.
George died in 1901 of cancer with his wife surviving him by 22 years.
[4] Born in 1870, Prince George Albert Washington, known as Bertie, would inherit a lot of his features from his mother's side and his love of European style, such as the extravigant clothing and facial hair, to proud tradition and military power.
Being nearly 50 years younger than his father, the pair rarely enjoyed each other's company, with Bertie, seeing the elderly figure more as a grandparent then a parent, his bond with his vibrant and youthful mother would grow stronger.
At the age of 18, when the royal family was looking for his bride-to-be, his mother, had suggested to his father, her niece, Sophia of Prussia, daughter of her older sister, Alexandria Victoria, Princess Royal and Frederick III, German Emperor, although many in his father's court preferred a native match such as Lady Edith Bolling, daughter of Virginia Judge, Lord William Holcombe Bolling and his wife Sarah "Sallie" Spears. Edith was a descendant of the earliest English settler colonials to Virginia Colony and through her father, she was also a direct descendant of Pocahontas.
However this came of nothing and Bertie and Sophia were married in the same year.
Succeeding to the throne at the age of 31, he would continue his father's economy policy, however didn't have to worry much as it was the foreign policy that would be the driving force, especially in 13 years time, when in 1914, he would aid his cousin and brother-in-law, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, in what would become known as the Great War. The Allies made up of United Kingdom of American France (Napoleon IV married to Princess Dagmar of Denmark) United British Empire (George V) and the German Empire, against the Austria Empire, Russia Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Swedish Empire and the Second Roman Republic. This war would rage on for three years, with the Allies victorious, and America richer by war trade and sales.
He is remembered for his large international presence, especially during the Treaty of London as well as his larger physical presence, standing at 6 feet 2 inches tall and his weight peaking at 27 stone and 6 pounds, although this weight would seem like nothing compared to King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, who was 32 stone and 8 pounds.
He died, aged 61, unsurprisingly from a heart attack during extramarital sex, with one of his many mistresses, although papers reported, he was found working in his study. He was succeeded by his eldest legitimate heir, Martha, Princess Royal, from his wife, Queen Sophia.
[5] Princess Martha, the Princess Royal, eldest surviving child of King George IV, born in 1890 as her father's third child and first daughter. Her eldest brother, the Crown Prince, died of the Spanish Flu in 1918 aged 31, after her second eldest brother, the Duke of Carolina, had been lost to an opium overdose in 1908. With Martha now the eldest and in the absence of any legitimate male heir, she became the Heir Presumptive at the age of 28 before being crowned Queen thirteen years later at the age of 41.
When the Duke of Carolina had died in 1908 and with the Crown Prince unwed, it became clear that she might inherit the crown - so a suitable spouse was sought, eventually finding a candidate in her cousin, Prince Samuel, the younger brother of Prince Lawrence, the Duke of Virginia (2nd Duke, 3rd Creation) and therefore also a member of the House of Washington. They married in 1911 whereupon Lawrence was created Earl of New York (non hereditary), and Martha gave birth to their first child, a son, in 1921, by this point it was clear that Martha would be the first Queen of America and her son would be the Crown Prince - several more followed, by the time she was crowned in 1931, she would be a mother of five (the eldest son created as Crown Prince, the second son as Duke of Carolina (1st Duke, 2nd Creation), the eldest daughter made Princess Royal, with the others merely with Prince or Princess as title) yet would hold the record for the shortest reign of any American monarch, clocking in at just over fifteen years - a year shorter than King Samuel over a hundred years previously.
Her reign was remarkably boring after the turbulent military activity of her childhood and her father's reign with the peace in Europe lasting after the establishment of the North Atlantic Union was formed and conflicts solved through mediation and diplomatic solutions.
Martha made a state visit in 1946 to the settlement of Port Helena in Hawaii where she stayed with her relative, Prince Kekoa, (the grandson of George IV youngest brother, Prince Lawrence), whom she created as Baron Washington of Port Helena. It was whilst visiting Queen Kai'iulani (fifteen years older than Martha) at the 'Iolani Palace that she first complained of feeling unwell that was put down to stress and exhaustion, being flown back to Port Helena for medical attention, the Queen was pronounced dead on arrival at the medical facilities at Port Helena Naval Base. Medical diagnosis was a weakened cardiac system following her recovery from Spanish Flu in 1918 had caused her to be more susceptible to the heat and dehydration, aggravated by stress and exhaustion.
Her body was flown back to (the) Jefferson Palace in Richmond with her state funeral occurring a fortnight later after her coffin lay in state at Richmond Cathedral.
The Earl of New York survived his wife by six years, passing away in 1952 from cancer due to excessive smoking (and his title being returned to the crown). He saw Theodore, his son, take the throne after his wife.
( George, Duke of Virginia i and Samuel, Duke of Virginia ii, indicate the creation of the title with the third creation for George IVs younger brother being the first to pass down to a second son - similarly the Duke of Carolina has been created twice, first for George IVs second son, and second for Queen Martha's second son. Each is accompanied by a subsidiary title for the heir of the Duke - the Earl of Fairfax for the Duke of Virginia, and the Earl of Monroe for the Duke of Carolina [though this title was not used in its first creation]. The creation of the lifetime peerage of Earl of New York and subsequent lifetime peerage of Baron Washington of Port Helena were exceptions to the rule )
[6] As first born son of Queen Martha, one might expect that he would have been the obvious choice as heir. However, when he was born, Theodore was a sickly child whom many did not believe would survive. Though he survived infancy, his survival was in question until his early teens. Yet Theodore's conditions never brought him down. A studious boy with a love of sports and taxonomy, Theodore would fight his way through illness after illness to become an amazing hunter, athlete, and soldier. Taking his first commission in 1942, the young crown prince would see action in the oft forgotten war of Panamanian Independence that took place between 1943-44. (in which, after the Kingdom of Colombia forcefully annexed the american owned panama canal, American forces would invade Colombia and establish american puppet states in panama and Colombia) the young Colonel Washington was the first of his house since its progenitor to serve in the military, and he distinguished himself. Leading the 3rd Royal Dragoons (nicknamed the Red Riders), Prince Theodore would take part in the battles of Colon, Panama City, Bogota, and San Salvador hill (the battle that would make him truly famous and inspire French-American artist Jean-Baptiste LeClerc to paint the now famous "Charge of the Red Riders.") Upon the death of his mother and father, Theodore was coronated as the most popular member of the Royal Family since George I. Having married Lady Alice Roosevelt (daughter of Baron Roosevelt of Oyster bay) in 1941, He would be struck by tragedy when his wife died in childbirth to their stillborn son in 1945. To overcome his melancholy in his traditional fashion of working to avoid it, he threw himself into his work. It started nearly immediately with Theodore slowly but surely gathering more power to the throne, then in 1949, he would unleash a massive program of conservationist environmental policies, and progressive, economic policies. His actions would spawn a new Progressive Party that would overthrow the decades long grip of the whig party. In 1951 some semblance of joy would return to the White Palace when King Theodore (30) would marry Edith Roosevelt (alices cousin, daughter of Baron Roosevelt of Hyde Park.) and they would sire 6 children. Yet Tumult would strike the country when the Second Great War would break out in 1954. (The Kingdom of America, The German Empire, The British Empire, and France, Facing The Turkish Peoples Republic, The Soviet Union, and The Roman Peoples Republic.) Communard forces swept easily over the balkans and into southern france. British middle eastern forces would be annihilated, and Russian troops would swarm eastern germany. it would take the combined might of britains overseas empire, and american industrial and military strength to push the communards back by 1957. it would not be until 1961 that the last communards armies surrendered and their nations dissolved. From then on his reign would be fairly peaceful. His policies would show good results, and he would go on several major hunting trips across north america, south america, and africa. Alas, at the age of 60, his hard lived life and poor eating habits would lead to his death of a Pulmonary Embolism. He was succeeded by his son, George.
[6] George was the second child of King Theodore, his first son. (Princess Martha, named after her grandmother, was the first child.) George was born March 19, 1955, during the Second Great War and was nurtured on an anti-Communard mentality from birth. He would often recount seeing a Time Magazine cover in the summer of 1960 where the premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, was hung in effigy. As a five year old boy he had a strong sense that Khrushchev was the main 'bad guy' but no sense of what it meant to symbolically hang a dummy in effigy. He would recount that in his childhood world of TV westerns and film swashbucklers he sincerely believed that if you got and killed the main 'bad guy' that would end the conflict. He grabbed the magazine and rushed into his father's office- the guards didn't have the nerve to stop the little prince.
"They got him! They got him! Dad! You've won! They got him!" He showed the king the magazine. King Theodore took him on his knee behind his big desk and carefully explained to the little prince what hanging in effigy meant.
"I grew up that day," King George would explain. "I not only realized that it was a dummy, but I somehow realized that even if it had been Khrushchev that it wouldn't have meant the war was won. I realized the world was more complicated. I've been learning more about that ever since."
By the time he took the throne at age 26 in 1981, he'd not only learned how complicated the world was, he'd moved on from his anti-communard heritage, instead moving forward with his progressive one. Although the Second Great War had been won, a Cold War had immediately begun as the only Communard nation left, the People's Republic of Communard China (PRCC), became a nuclear power. Through the last two decades of his father's reign, a nuclear arms race and a space race grew and grew. George sought to undo that, reaching out to the Chinese and welcoming President Deng Xiaopeng to his palace for negotiations and eventually a peace treaty that included an immediate nuclear freeze and then mutual de-escalation.
He moved the kingdom to the left in the 90s when a prosperous economy buoyed the kingdom with budget surpluses. He saw the establishment of LGBT equal rights, the establishment of a woman's right to an abortion in private, and legalization of medical marijuana.
Then on April 3, 2002, the unthinkable happened, when radical Hindu terrorists from Southeast Asia and Indonesia attacked the United States by crashing airliners into the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in New York City and the Capitol Building in the Capital City. The entire kingdom took a turn to the conservative side on foreign affairs and so did King George. He formed an alliance that even included the PRCC and invaded Greater Cambodia (which includes what in OTL is southern Laos, southern Vietnam, and parts of eastern Thailand.) This has turned out to be the longest war in the history of the kingdom. Meanwhile King George has moved on to using drone warfare against terrorists in the Republic of Bali, Ceylon, and the Maldives.
King George at 63 remains popular and a strong king, continuing to combine a progressive social liberal policy on domestic affairs, now championing medicare for all, free public college, and a $20 minimum wage, while pursuing a strong conservative policy on foreign affairs, including a new cold war with the Neo-Russian Empire as the latest Czar seeks a stronger Russia to counter America.
(As finisher I'll start a new line.)
1788 - 1814: George I the Reluctant (House of Washington) [1]
1814 - 1831: Samuel (House of Washington) [2]
1831 - 1867: George II “the Ready” (House of Washington) [3]
1867 - 1901: George III (House of Washington) [4]
1901 - 1931: George IV (House of Washington) [5]
1931 - 1946: Martha (House of Washington) [6]
1946 - 1981: Theodore (House of Washington) [5]
1981 - Present: George V (House of Washington) [6]
[1] As the American Revolution came to an end, the people and the continental congress already realized that there would be hardships. However the people would not stand for the absolute debacle that was the 14 year reign of the Articles of Confederation. They demanded that a strong hand be placed on the reigns of government. So, in 1788, the constitutional convention would ratify a new governing constitution that would place a king at the head of a senate, and house of representatives. This new kings power over the law would be limited, and far less than that of George III, but the convention knew that an honest and stable man must be placed on the throne. There was only one choice, the Savior of the nation, the hero of the revolution, George Washington. Every one wished for him to sit upon the throne, except the man himself. Dubbed the reluctant in later years, Washington had desired to retire to Mt.Vernon once the war was over. But his sense of duty to his new country was overwhelming, and so on October 3rd, 1788, George Washington would be crowned George I in Philadelphia's independence hall. For the first several years of his reign, peace was the order of the day. Washington presided over his government with minimal interference, and managed to establish a practice of meritorious, non party, representation in government. (no official parties, temp voting blocs, but no dem vs rep) In 1803 he even managed to purchase the french Louisiana territory for a mere fifteen million dollars. However that peace would be shattered in 1808 when (what would later be called) the 12 years war broke out between a Franco-Prussian alliance, and a coalition involving Britain, Spain and Austria, went to war over the Franco Prussian invasion of the HRE and Hanover. King Louis XVI pleaded with King George to intervene and assist France. However King George refused. He intended to keep America out of all things European. George would not see the end of the european war, as he would pass in his sleep in 1814, at the age of 82. He would be succeeded by his brothers grandson, Samuel Washington.
[2] Samuel, Duke of Virginia, was the son of the nephew (George Steptoe Washington) of King George by his younger brother (also called Samuel). In the absence of any legitimate heir (and King George had only a stepson) the crown would pass through his brothers, but Lawrence and Augustine had died in 1752 and 1762 without surviving issue, Samuel had died in 1781 with his son George dying in 1809 leaving Samuel to inherit the Duchy of Virginia and become heir presumptive and Crown Prince upon the death of his father five years prior to King George.
Samuel was born in 1797 and was sixteen when he became King - this meant that his uncle, Lawrence Augustine Washington, would act as Regent until he reached the age of majority in 1815. At the age of 26 in 1823 he married Abigail Adams (daughter of Thomas Boylston Adams and Ann Harrod) but she produced no children and subsequently died in the birth of their eighth child in 1830. Samuel went into mourning and on a hunger strike, only accepting weak vegetable broth - the King began to wither away and the court became concerned, whilst there was a possibility of his recovery it was deemed prudent for his successor to be brought into the fold - just in case. And it was definitely prudent as the King passed away in 1831 at the age of 34 at Jefferson Palace in Richmond (this timelines version of the IOTL Richmond State Capital), with his main contribution to American society being that he left his significant private fortune to found a medical research foundation devoted to problems in childbearing - this named the Queen Abigail Foundation. His successor was his cousin, George.
* - the Dukedom of Virginia was derived from the state of Virginia due to the location of Mount Vernon in Fairfax (the heir to the Duke being the Earl of Fairfax), the Washington family home. It was originally appointed to George Washington's nephew and heir presumptive, Samuel, being passed to his son and then absorbed into the crown.
[3] Prince George was born in December 1799, the last king born in the 18th century. The son of Prince Lawrence Augustine Washington (future Prince Regent)
He was fourteen when his Great-Uncle and name sake, King George I died and saw his cousin raise to the throne as a minor.
With his father acting as Regent, Prince George, would have a sneak glimpse into the working of this new style of politics.
His father was planning a life for George, where he would be either a cabinet minister or strong voice in the upper house of American Legislature, the Chamber of Peers, so began filling George’s education with the important studies of a politician.
However with Queen Abigail’s death and no living heir, it soon became apparent that, George’s future would change.
In 1821, he would be the first American monarch to marry a foreign bride. Marry Princess Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte of Spain, strengthened America’s alliance not only with the Kingdom of Spain, but linked the Americans to their oldest allies, Napoléon of France.
As well as diplomatically successful, it also produced twelve children, securing this George’s lineage; there were rumours that the American crowned had been cursed to bare no off-springs.
George because King at the ripe age of 31, with his experience and knowledge, his nickname, not only differentiate him from his Great-Uncle, in name only but his whole personality.
A peaceful king, he would ease tension with Habsburg-Mexico and Jacobinian-Canada by diplomatic and trade deals, which eased the disputes regarding Territory in Texas and Columbia.
His death at the age of 66, came at a time where tension was growing not with foreign nations but within his own.
With his eldest son Crown Prince George having his succession questioned by his second son, Samuel, Duke of Virginia (First Duke, Second Creation), who claimed he had the support of his so called “Southern Lords”
[4] Prince George, the Crown Prince of America, found his succession to the throne questioned by his brother, the Duke of Virginia, who had the support of some members of the gentry. It hinged upon a rumour that George was illegitimate with Samuel being the eldest legitimate issue, that George was actually the son of his father's younger brother Prince John - this was what the newspapers of the period called the Birther Conspiracy. And it had zero foundation - it would later be revealed that John was likely sterile from an STD contracted in his youth and couldn't have been George's father.
At any rate, this attempt to move George off the throne was somewhat of a false start - it sounded great on paper, but outside of a vocal minority in the South it never got the momentum to dethrone the Crown Prince. Suitably cowed, the Duke of Virginia (likely sterile himself) vanished until his body was found in a Paris brothel, dead of alcohol and drugs. That was more of a scandal than the Birther Conspiracy but the monarchy rode out the challenge and celebrated with the birth of George's first child - a son, the new Crown Prince.
He was 45 when he became monarch, 46 when he married and 47 when his first child was born - until that point the monarchy had been steamrolling towards a dead end much like the British monarchy when the children of George III failed to produce issue until late in life. He coincidentally married Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, born 1846, twenty six years younger than her husband and the third daughter of Queen Alexandrina of the United Kingdom (Victoria uses her birth name as her regnal one and Helena doesn't get shuffled off to marry Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, being the saviour of the American monarchy trumps marrying a German princeling) who provides George with eight children, only one of whom dies in infancy, and the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha fertility saved a third European monarchy.
George streamlined the monarchy - with only the heir and the spare receiving titles distinct from prince - with George's second son being made Duke of Virginia after his uncle died in Paris, and his eldest being Crown Prince. This calculated management of title also kept the royal purse at a more manageable level - helping the economy fundamentally which furthered industrial development and allowed the attempt to establish a settlement in the Pacific with the marriage of his third son, Lawrence, into the Hawaiian monarchy leading to an ongoing friendship that lasts to the present and the establishment of Port Helena (the ITTL version of Pearl Harbor) near Honolulu.
George died in 1901 of cancer with his wife surviving him by 22 years.
[4] Born in 1870, Prince George Albert Washington, known as Bertie, would inherit a lot of his features from his mother's side and his love of European style, such as the extravigant clothing and facial hair, to proud tradition and military power.
Being nearly 50 years younger than his father, the pair rarely enjoyed each other's company, with Bertie, seeing the elderly figure more as a grandparent then a parent, his bond with his vibrant and youthful mother would grow stronger.
At the age of 18, when the royal family was looking for his bride-to-be, his mother, had suggested to his father, her niece, Sophia of Prussia, daughter of her older sister, Alexandria Victoria, Princess Royal and Frederick III, German Emperor, although many in his father's court preferred a native match such as Lady Edith Bolling, daughter of Virginia Judge, Lord William Holcombe Bolling and his wife Sarah "Sallie" Spears. Edith was a descendant of the earliest English settler colonials to Virginia Colony and through her father, she was also a direct descendant of Pocahontas.
However this came of nothing and Bertie and Sophia were married in the same year.
Succeeding to the throne at the age of 31, he would continue his father's economy policy, however didn't have to worry much as it was the foreign policy that would be the driving force, especially in 13 years time, when in 1914, he would aid his cousin and brother-in-law, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, in what would become known as the Great War. The Allies made up of United Kingdom of American France (Napoleon IV married to Princess Dagmar of Denmark) United British Empire (George V) and the German Empire, against the Austria Empire, Russia Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Swedish Empire and the Second Roman Republic. This war would rage on for three years, with the Allies victorious, and America richer by war trade and sales.
He is remembered for his large international presence, especially during the Treaty of London as well as his larger physical presence, standing at 6 feet 2 inches tall and his weight peaking at 27 stone and 6 pounds, although this weight would seem like nothing compared to King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, who was 32 stone and 8 pounds.
He died, aged 61, unsurprisingly from a heart attack during extramarital sex, with one of his many mistresses, although papers reported, he was found working in his study. He was succeeded by his eldest legitimate heir, Martha, Princess Royal, from his wife, Queen Sophia.
[5] Princess Martha, the Princess Royal, eldest surviving child of King George IV, born in 1890 as her father's third child and first daughter. Her eldest brother, the Crown Prince, died of the Spanish Flu in 1918 aged 31, after her second eldest brother, the Duke of Carolina, had been lost to an opium overdose in 1908. With Martha now the eldest and in the absence of any legitimate male heir, she became the Heir Presumptive at the age of 28 before being crowned Queen thirteen years later at the age of 41.
When the Duke of Carolina had died in 1908 and with the Crown Prince unwed, it became clear that she might inherit the crown - so a suitable spouse was sought, eventually finding a candidate in her cousin, Prince Samuel, the younger brother of Prince Lawrence, the Duke of Virginia (2nd Duke, 3rd Creation) and therefore also a member of the House of Washington. They married in 1911 whereupon Lawrence was created Earl of New York (non hereditary), and Martha gave birth to their first child, a son, in 1921, by this point it was clear that Martha would be the first Queen of America and her son would be the Crown Prince - several more followed, by the time she was crowned in 1931, she would be a mother of five (the eldest son created as Crown Prince, the second son as Duke of Carolina (1st Duke, 2nd Creation), the eldest daughter made Princess Royal, with the others merely with Prince or Princess as title) yet would hold the record for the shortest reign of any American monarch, clocking in at just over fifteen years - a year shorter than King Samuel over a hundred years previously.
Her reign was remarkably boring after the turbulent military activity of her childhood and her father's reign with the peace in Europe lasting after the establishment of the North Atlantic Union was formed and conflicts solved through mediation and diplomatic solutions.
Martha made a state visit in 1946 to the settlement of Port Helena in Hawaii where she stayed with her relative, Prince Kekoa, (the grandson of George IV youngest brother, Prince Lawrence), whom she created as Baron Washington of Port Helena. It was whilst visiting Queen Kai'iulani (fifteen years older than Martha) at the 'Iolani Palace that she first complained of feeling unwell that was put down to stress and exhaustion, being flown back to Port Helena for medical attention, the Queen was pronounced dead on arrival at the medical facilities at Port Helena Naval Base. Medical diagnosis was a weakened cardiac system following her recovery from Spanish Flu in 1918 had caused her to be more susceptible to the heat and dehydration, aggravated by stress and exhaustion.
Her body was flown back to (the) Jefferson Palace in Richmond with her state funeral occurring a fortnight later after her coffin lay in state at Richmond Cathedral.
The Earl of New York survived his wife by six years, passing away in 1952 from cancer due to excessive smoking (and his title being returned to the crown). He saw Theodore, his son, take the throne after his wife.
( George, Duke of Virginia i and Samuel, Duke of Virginia ii, indicate the creation of the title with the third creation for George IVs younger brother being the first to pass down to a second son - similarly the Duke of Carolina has been created twice, first for George IVs second son, and second for Queen Martha's second son. Each is accompanied by a subsidiary title for the heir of the Duke - the Earl of Fairfax for the Duke of Virginia, and the Earl of Monroe for the Duke of Carolina [though this title was not used in its first creation]. The creation of the lifetime peerage of Earl of New York and subsequent lifetime peerage of Baron Washington of Port Helena were exceptions to the rule )
[6] As first born son of Queen Martha, one might expect that he would have been the obvious choice as heir. However, when he was born, Theodore was a sickly child whom many did not believe would survive. Though he survived infancy, his survival was in question until his early teens. Yet Theodore's conditions never brought him down. A studious boy with a love of sports and taxonomy, Theodore would fight his way through illness after illness to become an amazing hunter, athlete, and soldier. Taking his first commission in 1942, the young crown prince would see action in the oft forgotten war of Panamanian Independence that took place between 1943-44. (in which, after the Kingdom of Colombia forcefully annexed the american owned panama canal, American forces would invade Colombia and establish american puppet states in panama and Colombia) the young Colonel Washington was the first of his house since its progenitor to serve in the military, and he distinguished himself. Leading the 3rd Royal Dragoons (nicknamed the Red Riders), Prince Theodore would take part in the battles of Colon, Panama City, Bogota, and San Salvador hill (the battle that would make him truly famous and inspire French-American artist Jean-Baptiste LeClerc to paint the now famous "Charge of the Red Riders.") Upon the death of his mother and father, Theodore was coronated as the most popular member of the Royal Family since George I. Having married Lady Alice Roosevelt (daughter of Baron Roosevelt of Oyster bay) in 1941, He would be struck by tragedy when his wife died in childbirth to their stillborn son in 1945. To overcome his melancholy in his traditional fashion of working to avoid it, he threw himself into his work. It started nearly immediately with Theodore slowly but surely gathering more power to the throne, then in 1949, he would unleash a massive program of conservationist environmental policies, and progressive, economic policies. His actions would spawn a new Progressive Party that would overthrow the decades long grip of the whig party. In 1951 some semblance of joy would return to the White Palace when King Theodore (30) would marry Edith Roosevelt (alices cousin, daughter of Baron Roosevelt of Hyde Park.) and they would sire 6 children. Yet Tumult would strike the country when the Second Great War would break out in 1954. (The Kingdom of America, The German Empire, The British Empire, and France, Facing The Turkish Peoples Republic, The Soviet Union, and The Roman Peoples Republic.) Communard forces swept easily over the balkans and into southern france. British middle eastern forces would be annihilated, and Russian troops would swarm eastern germany. it would take the combined might of britains overseas empire, and american industrial and military strength to push the communards back by 1957. it would not be until 1961 that the last communards armies surrendered and their nations dissolved. From then on his reign would be fairly peaceful. His policies would show good results, and he would go on several major hunting trips across north america, south america, and africa. Alas, at the age of 60, his hard lived life and poor eating habits would lead to his death of a Pulmonary Embolism. He was succeeded by his son, George.
"They got him! They got him! Dad! You've won! They got him!" He showed the king the magazine. King Theodore took him on his knee behind his big desk and carefully explained to the little prince what hanging in effigy meant.
"I grew up that day," King George would explain. "I not only realized that it was a dummy, but I somehow realized that even if it had been Khrushchev that it wouldn't have meant the war was won. I realized the world was more complicated. I've been learning more about that ever since."
By the time he took the throne at age 26 in 1981, he'd not only learned how complicated the world was, he'd moved on from his anti-communard heritage, instead moving forward with his progressive one. Although the Second Great War had been won, a Cold War had immediately begun as the only Communard nation left, the People's Republic of Communard China (PRCC), became a nuclear power. Through the last two decades of his father's reign, a nuclear arms race and a space race grew and grew. George sought to undo that, reaching out to the Chinese and welcoming President Deng Xiaopeng to his palace for negotiations and eventually a peace treaty that included an immediate nuclear freeze and then mutual de-escalation.
He moved the kingdom to the left in the 90s when a prosperous economy buoyed the kingdom with budget surpluses. He saw the establishment of LGBT equal rights, the establishment of a woman's right to an abortion in private, and legalization of medical marijuana.
Then on April 3, 2002, the unthinkable happened, when radical Hindu terrorists from Southeast Asia and Indonesia attacked the United States by crashing airliners into the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in New York City and the Capitol Building in the Capital City. The entire kingdom took a turn to the conservative side on foreign affairs and so did King George. He formed an alliance that even included the PRCC and invaded Greater Cambodia (which includes what in OTL is southern Laos, southern Vietnam, and parts of eastern Thailand.) This has turned out to be the longest war in the history of the kingdom. Meanwhile King George has moved on to using drone warfare against terrorists in the Republic of Bali, Ceylon, and the Maldives.
King George at 63 remains popular and a strong king, continuing to combine a progressive social liberal policy on domestic affairs, now championing medicare for all, free public college, and a $20 minimum wage, while pursuing a strong conservative policy on foreign affairs, including a new cold war with the Neo-Russian Empire as the latest Czar seeks a stronger Russia to counter America.
(As finisher I'll start a new line.)
