Basic Information
Name: George William Frederick Hanover, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover (later King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover)
Nickname: Farmer George, Mad King George, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (to you Hanoverians)
Born: June 4th, 1738 in London
Died: January 29th, 1820 at Windsor Castle (near London)
Nationality: Great Britain and Hanover
Hometown: London
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: King, Elector, Generally being a constitutional monarch while wishing he were a farmer instead
Education: Like most wealthy children and adolescents in the 18th century, George III was educated privately at home. His two most influential teachers were his mother and John Stuart, Earl of Bute, who he idealized.
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-1751); Augusta, Princess of Wales and Princess of Saxe-Gotha (1719-1772)
Siblings: Augusta, Hereditary Princess and Duchess of Brunswick (1737-1813)
Edward, Duke of York (1739-1767)
Princess Elizabeth (1740-1759)
Henry, Duke of Cumberland (1745-1790)
William Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1743-1805)
Princess Louisa (1749-1768)
Prince Frederick (1750-1765)
Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark (1751-1775)
Spouse: Charlotte Sophia, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Consort of Great Britain and the United Kingdom (1744-1818)
Children:
George IV, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent, King of the United Kingdom (1762-1830)
Frederick, Duke of York (1763-1827)
William IV, Prince, Duke of Clarence, King of the United Kingdom (1765-1837)
Charlotte, Princess Royal, Hereditary Princess and Duchess of Württemberg, Queen of Württemberg (1766-1828)
Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820)
Augusta, Princess (1768-1840)
Elizabeth, Princess, Hereditary Princess and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg (1770-1840)
Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, King of Hanover (1771-1851)
Augustus, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843)
Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850)
Mary, Princess, Duchess of Gloucester (1776-1857)
Sophia, Princess (1777-1848)
Octavius (1779-1783)
Alfred (1780-1782)
Amelia, Princess (1783-1810)
Friends: John Stuart, Earl of Bute; his entire family, at one time or another; parliament
Foes: George II; his entire family, at one time or another; parliament
Analysis
The Unluckiest King
Poor ol' George III is known for a couple of things.
The first? Bouts of mental illness that eventually led to the appointment of his son, George IV, as Prince Regent in 1811. (A regent takes over when a monarch is determined unfit to rule.) The second? Being the tyrant who left the colonists no choice but to rebel.
That's not a lot to show for a sixty-year reign (1760-1820), but it's also not the whole story. George III was the head of state during the American Revolution, so it's no surprise that the Founding Fathers used him as the figurehead of tyranny.
Your average American colonist didn't grasp the intricacies of a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch rules with the consent of, and in cooperation with, a legislative branch (parliament) and a cabinet (ministers). If you're starting a revolution, you need a bad guy everybody is familiar with, who they understand has more power than they do. That's how George III became the villain of the American Revolution.
On the other side of the Atlantic, your average British citizen didn't understand how all this worked either, and they were just as eager to lay praise and blame at the feet of the one guy in government they'd heard of: the monarch.
King Homebody
George III struggled with feelings of inadequacy his whole life, and this led him to hang out mostly with his family. While he always did his duty as the monarch, he preferred farming (which earned him the not-so-cool nickname "Farmer George") and hanging with his wife and kids. He really struggled with empty-nest syndrome when the first of the kids started growing up, right around the time of the American Revolution.
He had also struggled with the first decade of his reign, going through prime ministers like he went through a wheat field at harvest time. These were the years that also saw destabilization in relationships with the American Colonies.
In 1770, he found a friend and stable prime minister in Lord North (See his profile in "Key Figures"), which led to twelve years of decent government…despite the fact that these were also the years of the American Revolution.
But, like we said, George III wasn't the real villain or the real loser of this whole hullabaloo. Parliament was. Parliament was the body that made the laws and passed the taxes. Later in the war, Parliament wanted to quit, but George III said nope. Can't. Sorry. If we quit now, everybody else will want to rebel, too.
Ultimately, George III's views ended up prolonging the war, causing Great Britain to lose more money along with the American colonies. People weren't too happy with that.
By 1780, Parliament was blaming Lord North, who was blaming the King, who was blaming Parliament. Basically, everybody was blaming everybody else, but the king was left holding the bag. This was a real low point. He even tried to abdicate.
Ultimately, though, the King's reputation recovered, and he went on to rule until he was declared unfit in 1811, presiding over the Napoleonic Wars and the creation of the United Kingdom despite periods of mental illness. You have to respect him for that.
And you also have to pity him…because all the guy wanted to do was hang out with his kiddos and grandbabies and do a little gardening.