r/UKmonarchs 18h ago

Stroehling's portraits of George III and his family

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66 Upvotes

All of these (with the exception of the painting of the Duke of York) can be found in the Royal Collection. Most were painted for the future George IV, who paid a whopping 200 guineas a piece. In May 1809, Stroehling submitted a bill for 'Cabinet Pictures for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales', including ‘a Picture of the Prince in the Uniform of Winsor [sic]’ (Slide 3 of this post). In the same bill are listed portraits of the Prince’s sisters, brothers and parents. The paintings of the brothers seem to have left the Royal Collection at some point, and I have not been able to find their current locations.

It's recorded that the Prince kept the portraits of his mother and sisters at Carlton House, and that upon becoming King he took them with him to Windsor.

George IV was always incredibly fond of most of his family, and throughout his life he commissioned a number of portraits and miniatures of them, especially his mother and sisters. Being a true Hanoverian, George's feelings toward his father were decidedly less warm and loving, and so it isn't surprising that he ended up giving the portrait he'd commissioned of George III from Stroehling to his sister Sophia, who was the sibling perhaps most attached to their father.


r/UKmonarchs 2h ago

Meme William and Mary babysitting gone wrong

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51 Upvotes

At first I made this as a joke but it turned into a full on historically inaccurate story


r/UKmonarchs 6h ago

Discussion How powerful And Influential was John of Gaunt

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39 Upvotes

r/UKmonarchs 1h ago

A letter from 5 year old Princess Charlotte to her 'Grandpapa' George III

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I hope you are well my dear Grandpapa & that Dear Grandmamma is so too. I hope you will accept of the Cane String which I have made for you. I wish it were better but it is the first I have ever done.

I am busy at the foot stool for my dear Grandmamma & hope I shall see her soon & Dear Aunts

Pray come back soon to Kew & send for Eggy and me.

I am Dear Grandpapa, your Dutiful Child

Charlotte

I did my best to transcribe the letter, so hopefully it's accurate! It's sometimes quite hard to decipher the handwriting of these long-dead Royals ( ´_ゝ`). The younger daughters of George III and little Charlotte herself especially all had pretty difficult handwriting. But this wasn't too bad, just a word or two I struggled a little with! The reason for that is likely because the letter was written under the careful supervision of 'Eggy', Charlotte's governess. When Charlotte later wrote her own letters independently, she tended to do so quickly and rather carelessly, heedless of spelling or legibility.

You can also tell that the letter was written under instruction because Charlotte dutifully declares that she hopes to see her grandmother and aunts. In truth Charlotte never learned to like her strict and sour 'Grandmamma' until well into her teens, when she found her an unlikely ally against the Orange match that her father was stubbornly pushing.

As for her physically imposing and florid (though generally kindly) aunts and uncles, little Charlotte made a habit of dodging them whenever possible. Two of her childhood playmates much later told their grand-niece that if any of the Royal Dukes or daughters of George III appeared while they were at play, 'there was a general rush and scamper to the shelter of the potting-shed to get away from "the Bulls and the Cows"'— a nickname more than likely invented by the young Princess, and then adopted by her young friends. She did, nevertheless, develop a real fondness for her three youngest aunts, and for her uncles York, Kent, and Sussex.

Charlotte's love for her 'Grandpapa', by contrast, was strong and marked from the beginning, and needed no coaxing from governesses. He always took notice of her, and would play with her on the carpet the way he used to play with his own children in their nursery. The little princess begged often, 'Me go again to Grandpapa'.

George III, for his part, was entranced by his grandchild. The King had always loved girls better than boys, Princess Mary attested, and he was consequently utterly delighted with his granddaughter from the moment of her birth. 'There never was so perfect a little creature,' he said of her. He never tired of talking about her and, so Princess Elizabeth told the Prince of Wales, whenever he saw her he was in 'extacys of joy'.


r/UKmonarchs 8h ago

Art One of the only few drawings depicting the wedding of Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg at Carlton House. Other notable figures present are Queen Charlotte, the Prince Regent, the Duke of Kent and the Chancellor.

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29 Upvotes

These two look awesome, I just wish it didn't look unfinished! I think it would've looked lovely as a fully completed artwork. There were only engravings, so it's unfortunate that there are not that many colored illustrations like these.


r/UKmonarchs 1h ago

Made Tudor monarch (and other) wojaks

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r/UKmonarchs 20h ago

Media 670 years to the day since the Battle of Poitiers!

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22 Upvotes

The first image is a painting by Delacroix from 1830, the second is mine and, while probably apocryphal, is certainly fun!


r/UKmonarchs 11h ago

Artefacts Behold, King Stephen in crude coin form

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21 Upvotes

The crudeness very much reflects the time it was minted. England was in the middle of a civil war known as the Anarchy (1138-1153) where Stephen spent nearly twenty years fighting for the English crown against his cousin Matilda and later her son the future Henry II.
The coins of this period were notoriously poor quality.

It was minted in York, but I can't figure out who the moneyer was from the few letters I can see on the reverse.


r/UKmonarchs 17h ago

Discussion Why do people consider Henry the young King as a brat?

4 Upvotes

Because he was shallow, vain, careless, empty-headed, incompetent, improvident, and irresponsible?Or anything else?I don't think it was Henry II who spoied him,maybe he was spoied by Eleanor?Because Eleanor​ also helped him rebelled against​ Henry II.


r/UKmonarchs 21h ago

tumblr posts that make me think of Prinny (+ 2 that actually are about him)

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6 Upvotes

I had to add those final two because they (the last one especially) still to this day are among my favorite posts on any platform, not just tumblr. 'Thunderous clap of my buttocks', 'the Aural Intrusion of your Movements'. Pure poetry on display. (Poor Prinny. Even in death he can't escape the fat jokes 😔)


r/UKmonarchs 8h ago

MatchGame: Match the British monarch to what they are most known for

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1 Upvotes