King George IV, king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and king of Hanover, was born at St James's Palace, London, on 12 August 1762. The eldest son of the fifteen children of George III (1738–1820) and Queen Charlotte (1744–1818), George was by right of birth duke of Cornwall, duke of Rothesay, earl of Carrick, and baron of Renfrew. He was created prince of Wales and earl of Chester on 17 August.
King George IV was known for his extravagant lifestyle and his many illegitimate children. After George IV's death at Windsor on 26 June 1830, there were not many pleasant words written about him. The Times on 29 June 1830 stated that ‘there never was an individual less regretted by his fellow-creatures than this deceased King’, who was as roundly condemned for his ‘most reckless, unceasing and unbounded prodigality’ as he was for his ‘indifference to the feelings of others’.