George III deemed permanently insane and the Regency crisis

Background. George III had suffered debilitating illness in the late 1780s. Brief temporary relapses occurred in 1801 and 1804, but permanent illness began from 1810 onward. The King was already virtually blind with cataracts and in pain from rheumatism when he suffered a relapse into his mental disorder in late 1810, becoming dangerously ill.

Trigger for Permanent Incapacity. The death of George III's youngest daughter, Princess Amelia, on 2 November 1810, probably triggered the king's final bout of madness. The princess's nurse reported that the scenes of distress and crying every day were melancholy beyond description. This event precipitated the determination that the King was permanently insane.

Regency Arrangements. George accepted the need for the Regency Act 1811. Despite signs of recovery in May 1811, by the end of the year George III had become permanently insane. The King was suspended from his duties as head of state, and the Prince of Wales assumed office as Prince Regent on 5 February 1811.