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- Historians and scientists have long struggled to identify the cause of King George’s famous “madness.” Back in 1969, a study published in Scientific American suggested he had porphyria, an inherited blood disorder that can cause anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, confusion, paranoia and hallucinations.
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Was King George III's madness caused by porphyria?
Did porphyria cause George III's malady?
Did the King have acute porphyria?
Apr 15, 2013 · The researchers have even thrown doubt on one of the key planks in the case for porphyria, the blue urine. George III's medical records show that the king was given medicine based on gentian.
May 17, 2023 · Anxiety, hallucinations, severe pain, nausea and vomiting, palpitations, high blood pressure, numbness, muscle weakness, red or brown urine and blindness count among the many symptoms of acute...
- Dr. Howard Markel
Jul 23, 2005 · In 1969 it was proposed that the episodic madness suffered by King George III (1738–1820) resulted from an acute hereditary porphyria, variegate porphyria, caused by deficiency of protoporphyrinogen oxidase.
- Timothy M Cox, Nicola Jack, Simon Lofthouse, John Watling, Janice Haines, Martin J Warren
- 2005
This review is concerned with the nature of the recurrent mental ill health of King George III (1738–1820), reinvestigation of the widely accepted belief that he suffered from acute porphyria, how this unlikely diagnosis was obtained and, in particular, why it has gained so much unwarranted support.
- Timothy Peters
- 10.7861/clinmedicine.11-3-261
- 2011
- Clin Med (Lond). 2011 Jun; 11(3): 261-264.
The mental illness of George III is the basis of the plot in The Madness of King George, a 1994 British film based upon the 1991 Alan Bennett play, The Madness of George III. The closing credits of the film include the comment that the King's symptoms suggest that he had porphyria, and note that the disease is "periodic, unpredictable, and ...
- Depends on type and symptoms
- Usually genetic
- Recurrent attacks that last days to weeks
- Blood, urine, and stool tests, genetic testing
Two text panels at the end of the film note that the colour of the King's urine suggests that he was suffering from porphyria, adding that the disease is "periodic, unpredictable and hereditary." The Madness of King George won the BAFTA Awards in 1995 for Outstanding British Film and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Nigel Hawthorne , who was ...
The canonical parody ‘Eight songs for a mad king’ by Peter Maxwell Davis (1969) and Alan Bennett's play and film ‘The madness of George III’ (1991 and 1995, respectively) raised public interest in porphyria as a cause of the king's mental illness.
