King George IV Showed Up ‘Dead Drunk’ To His Own Wedding
Public DomainKing George IV lived an extravagant life and racked up many debts.
George, Prince of Wales, would one day become King George IV, but in his youth, he was known less for his regality and more for his fondness for women and wine. Unfortunately, George loved them so much that he racked up massive amounts of debt to indulge in his passions, which put him in a difficult situation with Parliament.
To clear his debts, Parliament offered him a deal. All George had to do was marry a suitable Protestant princess. His first cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, happened to fit this description, and their wedding was set for April 8, 1795.
They met for the first time just days before the wedding, and by all accounts, George’s reaction was not exactly kind. According to Historic UK, after embracing his bride-to-be, the prince immediately walked away and said to the Earl of Malmesbury, “Harris, I am not very well, pray get me a glass of brandy.”
To be fair to George, Caroline was not known to be an attractive woman. She rarely bathed, and her body odor was said to have been overwhelming. For her part, she found George equally unimpressive, purportedly saying he was “very fat and not handsome.”
George received his brandy, and he did not stop drinking it until the morning of the wedding.
Public DomainCaroline of Brunswick was never actually crowned the Queen of England.
At the ceremony at St. James’s Palace, he was so intoxicated that he could barely stand. He refused to participate until his father, King George III, ordered him to continue, and he openly wept.
The wedding night was even worse. When George stumbled back to his and Caroline’s bedroom, he drunkenly collapsed into the fireplace, where she left him.
Despite this, their only child, Princess Charlotte, was born nine months later. But things never improved for the royal couple. George refused to live with Caroline, informed her that he would not be having “relations” with her ever again, and sent her off to live at Blackheath.
Caroline later became known in London for her affairs, frequent nude dancing, and the clockwork Chinese sex doll she kept in her room.
When King George III died and his son became king, George IV refused to allow Caroline — still his wife and technically now the queen — to partake in any part of the coronation. George and the House of Lords desperately worked to get the couple divorced, but in the end, it was unnecessary. Caroline died less than three weeks after George was crowned. She likely perished from an intestinal illness or perhaps cancer, though there were rumors that she’d been poisoned.
Her tomb read: “Here lies Caroline, the Injured Queen of England.”
