PC: George III does an Edward VIII?

[Tom Colton]

Before he became King, Prince George (son of Fred) was rather smitten with Lady Sarah Lennox, a figure who many felt was an unsuitable match. He eventually came around to see their point of view, but what if he hadn't, and upon accession to the throne, announced his wish to marry her, damn the torpedoes?

Would opposition to the match be so intense that there would be calls for him to abdicate in favour of his brother, Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany? If so, what implications would there have been in the late 18th-early 19th century?

 

[Pesterfield]

How much stronger was royal power compared to Edward?

Would George have the authority make his detractors shut up and accept his decision?

 

[Tripwire]

George III wouldn't have been forced from the throne over this. Lady Sarah Lennox was Protestant, the legitimate daughter of a duke, and presumably a virgin. The idea seems to have been scrapped for purely political reasons, not constitutional ones. If George III had told all his advisors to get bent and married her, there wouldn't be much they could do about it other than abandon him and leave him to try and govern without any of his old mentors.

 

[Avrorrange]

George III wouldn't have been forced from the throne over this. Lady Sarah Lennox was Protestant, the legitimate daughter of a duke, and presumably a virgin. The idea seems to have been scrapped for purely political reasons, not constitutional ones. If George III had told all his advisors to get bent and married her, there wouldn't be much they could do about it other than abandon him and leave him to try and govern without any of his old mentors.

Wouldn't such a threat far less likely to succeed than with Edward VIII given George III did appoint a couple of governments without parliamentary support?

 

[mcdnab]

Was definitely political given Sarah's connections to Fox's which upset some of the King's advisers - her family certainly pressured her to build the connection with the King and had ambitions for her to become Queen. Though her affections were not as strong as George's by all accounts.

There was nothing in law preventing the marriage at all it predates the Royal Marriages Act - although it might have caused problems in Hannover (where the marriage would not have been regarded as equal) - always surprising that George fancied the match given his own determination that none of his son's would make a similar unequal match.

 

[Jonathan]

Before he became King, Prince George (son of Fred) was rather smitten with Lady Sarah Lennox, a figure who many felt was an unsuitable match. He eventually came around to see their point of view, but what if he hadn't, and upon accession to the throne, announced his wish to marry her, damn the torpedoes?

Would opposition to the match be so intense that there would be calls for him to abdicate in favour of his brother, Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany? If so, what implications would there have been in the late 18th-early 19th century?

Interesting idea, as a great-grand daughter of Charles II, by his mistress Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, this could raise a few eyebrows in the Jacobite forces.

He would not have to abdicate as this was not a new thing, for a royal to marry a duchess or noble ladies. The only sad thing about this, is the fact that George III was really affectionate to his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, he remarkably never took a mistress (in contrast with his grandfather and his sons, along with most of the other English and British monarchs), and the couple enjoyed a genuinely happy marriage.

Was definitely political given Sarah's connections to Fox's which upset some of the King's advisers - her family certainly pressured her to build the connection with the King and had ambitions for her to become Queen. Though her affections were not as strong as George's by all accounts.

There was nothing in law preventing the marriage at all it predates the Royal Marriages Act - although it might have caused problems in Hannover (where the marriage would not have been regarded as equal) - always surprising that George fancied the match given his own determination that none of his son's would make a similar unequal match.

I believe that Lady Sarah Lennox was a little more nobler than:
- Maria Fitzherbert, a commoner, six years older then OTL George IV, twice widowed, and a Roman Catholic.
- Lady Augusta Murray, first wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, was only the daughter on an Earl.
- Dorothea Jordan, was an actress morn in Waterford, Irealand, being married five times before William, duke of Clarence, having three children before him.

Compared to these three, Lady Lennox is an empress.

So what if, in an ATL, George does not believe that "He is born for the happiness or misery of a great nation and consequently must often act contrary to his passions." and marries his first love in 1759?

 

[Emperor Constantine]

Considering Lady Sarah's later actions and reputation (adultery, having an illegitimate daughter, leaving her husband, being divorced and gambling) I'd say George III dodged a bullet there. A Queen Sarah could have been a hell of a lot worse than Queen Wallis, that's for sure.