Search results
Apr 15, 2013 · However, a new research project based at St George's, University of London, has concluded that George III did actually suffer from mental illness after all. Using the evidence of thousands...
May 17, 2023 · Much more recently, a team of researchers at St George’s, University of London, countered that George III’s madness was not caused by porphyria but was simply a version of severe mental...
- Dr. Howard Markel
Mar 22, 2024 · George III had four prolonged periods of illness during his reign. Despite his achievements, he is perhaps most commonly referred to as ‘The Mad King’ – an unhelpful phrase that undermines the extent of his deeply traumatic ailments, and ignores his physical symptoms.
May 7, 2023 · Though the show is fictional, the real King George III did likely suffer from mental illness. George ascended to the throne at age 22, and was King of Great Britain until his death in 1820...
- Senior News Editor
- 3 min
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.
In the later part of his life, George had recurrent and eventually permanent mental illness. The exact nature of the mental illness is not known definitively, but historians and medical experts have suggested that his symptoms and behaviour traits were consistent with bipolar disorder or porphyria.
Violent mania. George’s second bout of illness in 1788 was far worse than the first. Whereas before George had displayed mild mental distress, this time around he was struck down with full-blown mania. Residing in Windsor Castle at the time, the king’s behaviour quickly spiralled out of control.
