The Madness of King George (1994)


Nigel Hawthorne         George III
Helen Mirren            Queen Charlotte
Amanda Donohoe          Lady Pembroke
Rupert Everett          The Prince of Wales
Rupert Graves           Greville
Ian Holm                Willis
Julian Wadham           Prime Minister Pitt
Anthony Calf            Fitzroy
John Wood               Thurlow
Julian Rhind-Tutt       Duke of York
Charlotte Curley        Amelia
Peter Bride-Kirk        Royal Child
Eve Cadman              Royal Child
Thomas Copeland         Royal Child

Directed by:            Nicholas Hytner, Tariq Anwar
Produced by:            Stephen Evans, David Parfitt



The life of times of King George III, who lapsed in and out of occasional comas due to a metabolic 
imbalance. The King's son, the Prince of Wales, took advantage of those times, trying to seize power.

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A meditation on power and the metaphor of the body of state, based on the real episode of dementia 
experienced by George III [now suspected a victim of porphyria, a blood disorder]. As he loses his 
senses, he becomes both more alive and more politically marginalized; neither effect desirable to 
his lieutenants, who jimmy the rules to avoid a challenge to regal authority, raising the question 
of who is really in charge.

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The story of King George III of England's slide into insanity, and the political and royal back 
stabbing which results from his incapacitation. Despite being very amusing at times, this is a sad 
tale of medical practices in the later 1700s as well as an insight into life inside and around the 
royaly of the time.