Moments in Royal History: January 29

1820 - George III of the United Kingdom dies at Windsor, and his son becomes King

George III

     In the last decade of his reign, George III had slipped into a permanent state of apparent mental illness. During his Golden Jubilee year of 1810, his youngest and favorite daughter Princess Amelia had died, and this caused the King much grief. In 1811, the Regency Act was passed, which made the King's son and heir, George, Princes of Wales the Regent of the United Kingdom - with the powers but not the status of a king. By the end of that year, it was clear that George III has became permanently incapacitated, and he lived in seclusion at a small apartment in Windsor Castle for the rest of his life.

     Eventually becoming blind and deaf, and also suffering from dementia, George was unable to comprehend that his prime minister, Spencer Percival had been assassinated in 1812 (the only British Prime Minister to be murdered in office), that he had been upgraded to the status of king in Hanover following the Congress of Vienna in 1814, or that his beloved wife Charlotte had died in 1818. He had essentially become dead to the world, and spent hours thumping on an old harpsichord, as well as speaking nonsense. In his last few weeks, he was unable to walk, and his fourth-eldest son, Edward, Duke of Kent died. Six days after Edward's death, George III passed away on January 29th at 8:38 PM with his second-eldest son, Frederick, Duke of York at his side, and he was buried on February 16th in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. 

     At the age of 81, and having been king for over 59 years, he was the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch in British history. Though having been overtaken by Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II in those categories, he remains Britain's longest-lived and longest-reigning king.

George IV in Highland attire.

     On that same day, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Had been exercising his father's powers for nearly ten years, so his moment of accession meant no significant change in his status except for that fact that he was now King in authority and name.

1856 - Creation of the Victoria Cross

Obverse containing the insignia of the Cross

     This military decoration was established by Queen Victoria in response to the fact that there was no official system of recognition of gallantry in the British Armed Forces, aside from honors such as the Order of the Bath, which was mostly the purview of high-ranking and long-serving officers. In the 1850's, the Crimean War resulted in many acts of extraordinary bravery by British soldiers being reported William Howard Russell, one of the first modern war correspondents, and public pressure mounted to create a new award to recognize servicemen for their exploits in battle and not simply for their length of service.

     With this in mind, the Victoria Cross was created in 1856 as the highest military award for "most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy" to members of the armed forces in countries throughout the British Empire and later, the Commonwealth. In the later 20th Century, some Commonwealth countries developed their own honors systems independent of the British/Imperial orders, and it became necessary to create new awards and decorations that were the equivalent of the ones issued from the UK. Canada, New Zealand, and Australia now have their own versions of the Victoria Cross. 

     Since its creation, there have been over 1,350 recipients of the Cross, and it is usually presented by the British monarch to the recipient or the next of kin at an investiture at Buckingham Palace.


Photo Credit: Richard Harvey via Wikimedia Commons cc