King George IV, the last monarch of Britains Georgian era (1714-1830), filled his time with the pursuit of pleasure. His vice-coated lifestyle was notorious and expensive, putting unnecessary financial pressure on the shoulders of the British Parliament.This made him a deeply unpopular monarch and the perfect example of a rich, out-of-touch royal who cared little for the affairs of the state. Though he did have some redeeming qualities, King George IV will always be remembered as the lastand worstof the Georgian kings.King George IVs UpbringingKing George IV; Frederick, Duke of York and Albany by Robert Laurie, 1772. Source: National Portrait GalleryGeorge arrived on August 12, 1762. He was the first of fifteen children (thirteen of whom reached adulthood) and spent most of his childhood in royal villas, especially the seventeenth-century lodge in Richmond Park, London.During his younger years, George was close to the second-eldest brother in the family, Frederick. There was only a year between the two boys, and they shared the same educational curriculum.While his reputation may suggest otherwise, George was not unintelligent. By the time he reached manhood, he could speak several languages, including Hebrew, and was capable of playing the piano and the cello. He also inherited a love of architecture from his father, King George III, who had learned much from the Scottish architect William Chambers.Yet it didnt take long for Georges rebellious nature to appear. With Frederick now over in Hanover and William (the third-eldest brother) going off into the navy, George started to miss the company of lads his own age. Whats more, unlike future kings-in-waiting, George lacked a constitutional role. He simply had no other purpose other than to wait for his father to die, and this lack of purpose opened the door for his decadent ways.The RebelPrinceMary Robinson by John Keyse Sherwin, 1781. Source: National Portrait GalleryBy the time he was in his late teens, George had already developed a taste for the ladies.One of his earliest romances was with a young woman named Mary Hamilton. Several years older than the teenage prince, Mary was the governess of Georges sisters and the great-granddaughter of the Duke of Wellington.But it wasnt a balanced relationship. While Mary was interested in friendship, George developed a passionate, albeit brief, obsession. He pursued her tirelessly, writing letters, sending bits of his hair, and making promises of marriage. The prince soon changed targets, however.During a trip to the theater in December 1779, George locked his sights on the actress and poet Mary Darby Robinson. Before long, the relationship became serious. Mary became Georges first public mistress despite being married (though unhappily) to Thomas Robinson. But it didnt take long for the young prince to grow tired of Mary, so he turned his attention to Elizabeth Armistead next.Georges temperamental attitude towards women remained throughout his life, with these early scandals being the start of his addiction to infidelity.A HatefulMarriagePrincess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbttel by Thomas Lawrence, 1804. Source: National Portrait GalleryNow a man in his early twenties, George received a whopping allowance of 50,000 a year and spent his time in Carlton House, London. But George wasnt careful with his money at all.Having moved into the aforementioned royal residence, the prince commissioned the leading architect Henry Holland to make expensive renovations. With a large chunk of the yearly allowance already gone, King George III was not impressed when he heard what his son had done.In the spring of 1784, the Prince met Maria Fitzherbert, a wealthy Catholic widow who was six years his senior. George fell madly in love with Maria, and the two of them married in secret in December 1785.However, the Royal Marriage Act made the ceremony unlawful, for the prince was under the age of twenty-five and did not have consent from his father. Maria thought otherwise. She saw the union as sacred and binding, as it had been solemnized by a Catholic priest. The marriage remained a guarded secret, and Maria remained in her own separate residences in London and Brighton.Another marriage took place in 1795, with George marrying his older cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. This marriage was a disaster. Caroline, who was a high-spirited woman, had expected a dazzling life with the future King of Great Britain. But she spent most of her time cooped up with ladies-in-waiting, and on the rare occasions she did see her husband, he was often drunk or in a foul mood.Despite the hostilities, the couple did produce a daughter: Princess Charlotte, who was born on January 7, 1796.The Madness of King GeorgeIIIKing George III by William Beechey, c. 1800. Source: National Portrait GalleryPrincess Charlottes arrival did nothing to bring the couple closer together. Though they remained husband and wife, the two of them separated.The king, meanwhile, was plagued with mental decline, suffering five distinct bouts of madness between 1788 and 1809. Its difficult for historians to know the precise nature of the illness, but it was probably a hereditary disorder known as porphyria. Victims suffer from hallucinations, weak limbs, and paranoia.Due to his fathers mental decline, George was forced to step up. In 1811, he officially became the prince regent. George was forty-eight years old at the time and already dangerously overweight, thanks to a diet loaded with meat, alcohol, and sugar.Shortly after becoming the prince regent, George hosted a celebration at Carlton House. With approximately two thousand guests (including the exiled French royal family), the event featured a lavish meal with an abundance of fruit, roasts, and champagne.A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion (King George IV) by James Gillray, 1792. Source: National Portrait GalleryUnlike his father, George preferred to take the backseat when it came to politics, staying in Brighton while his ministers dealt with the details and practicalities in London. The Brighton Pavilion, with its Great Kitchen run by the French chef Antonin Carme, was a heavenly retreat for the prince regent.However, there were some responsibilities. One of Georges first moves was allowing the Tories to continue their ministry. He believed stability was preferable when his fathers health was so fragile. This came as a surprise, for George had previously expressed support for the Whigs.Though only fifteen years of age, Princess Charlotte disagreed with her fathers decision, for she favored the Whigs over the Tories.Death andScandalThe Trial of Queen Caroline 1820 by George Hayter, 1820. Source: National Portrait GalleryIn May 1812, British politics suffered a heavy blow when a gunman assassinated Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby outside the House of Commons. The prince regent, hoping to give the country some stability, appointed Lord Liverpool as his new prime minister, who remained in this position for fifteen years.Five years later, another tragedy rocked the prince regent. After suffering several miscarriages, Princess Charlottes third conception led to a fifty-hour labor and a stillborn child. Convulsions took hold of the princess soon after, and she died on November 6, 1817, at the age of twenty-one.Mad King George died a couple of years later on January 29, 1820, marking the end of the Regency era and the start of King George IVs ten-year reign. Unfortunately, things went downhill almost immediately due to the Queen Caroline Affair.After more than twenty years of a hate-fuelled marriage, George wanted a divorce from Caroline, who was now Queen Caroline. It was most irregular for a monarch to divorce their spouse, but despite this, George was offered a way out thanks to the Pains and Penalties Bill.This bill allowed George to divorce Caroline if he could prove she was an adulterer. The irony, of course, was that George had engaged in many well-known extramarital affairs during the marriage. This hypocrisy made the public turn away from their new monarch and side with Queen Caroline instead.Though the bill managed to get through the House of Lords, it stood no chance of getting through the House of Commons due to the wave of disapproval from the public. Queen Caroline kept her titles and her honor while her husband sank into a hole of embarrassment.Tours, Art and ArchitectureKing George IV by Thomas Woolnoth, c. 1820. Source: National Portrait GalleryKing George IVs coronation was held on July 19, 1821, in Westminster Abbey, London. True to form, George wanted the event to be coated in luxury and forced Parliament to rustle up 100,000 for the festivities. (Queen Caroline, despite her position, was barred from attending.)Following the service in Westminster Abbey, the newly-crowned monarch and his fellow guests moved into Westminster Hall for the coronation banquet. The meal was ridiculously expensive, coming with a price tag of 250,000 and two thousand guests. The king also received lots of gifts, including two live falcons from the Duke of Atholl!A month after the coronation, the king went on a tour of Ireland, becoming the first British monarch to visit since 1690. George visited many well-known landmarks, including Phoenix Park, Dublin Castle, Trinity College, and the Bank of Ireland.The king visited Scotland a year later, staying in Dalkeith Palace outside the city of Edinburgh. It had been almost two hundred years since a British monarch had visited Scotland. During the visit, George was received at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, with the Scottish artist David Wilkie painting a portrait of the king. George also attended a Highland ball, visited the theater, and went on a procession down the Royal Mile.Palace of Holyroodhouse. Source: XtoF / Wikimedia CommonsGeorges interest in politics was still small during his reign. However, its worth mentioning the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, for it allowed Catholics to vote and sit in Parliament. George had been reluctant to sign the legislation at first. But after the Duke of Wellington threatened to retire his Tory government, George changed his mind.While he had little interest in politics, the king loved art and culture. Both before and during his reign, he had a particular liking for Dutch and Flemish paintings and assembled a wonderful collection of pieces. George served as a patron for some of the greatest artists of the era, including George Stubbs, Thomas Gainsborough, and David Wilkie.When it came to architecture, the king ordered the rebuilding of Buckingham House into a palace. As with Brighton Pavilion, this project was overseen by the architect John Nash. George also worked with the architect Jeffry Wyatville, who changed Windsor Castle with his Gothic style of architecture.King George IVs Death andLegacyGeorge IV by Thomas Lawrence, 1821. Source: Royal Collection TrustAfter decades of rich and fattening food, the kings health was not ideal.Dropsy (a condition that had also affected Queen Anne during her reign) caused parts of Georges body to swell with fluid. Gout also prevented the king from signing documents, so his attendants had to use a stamp of his signature instead. Worse still, he suffered from cataracts, meaning he was severely blind towards the end of his reign.Soon, the inevitable happened. George died at the age of 67 on June 26, 1830, after rupturing a blood vessel in his stomach. He weighed 24 stone (over 300 pounds) at the time of his death, and the post-mortem also found large fatty deposits around the kings heart.Georges legacy is not particularly positive. While he deserves praise for funding some exceptional artistic and architectural projects, his gluttonous lifestyle will always overshadow his achievements.Even as a teenager, George pursued a life of vice, with food, drink, and women being the big three. The scale of his pleasurable pursuits was a problem, for Parliament had to fund his lifestyle. This led to a considerable amount of dislike from the public, and the dislike only increased with the Queen Caroline Affair in 1820.Though he had some commendable qualities, George IV left behind a poor legacy, and he will always sit in the bottom tier of British monarchs.