George I

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Later years

George, although increasingly reliant on Sir Robert Walpole, could still have removed his ministers at will. Walpole was actually afraid of being removed towards the end of George I's reign, but such fears were put to an end when George I died in Osnabr¸ck from a stroke on 11 June 1727. George was on his sixth trip to his native Hanover, where he was buried, in Chapel Schloss Herrenhausen.

George I's son succeeded him, becoming George II. George II, like his father, faced a Jacobite Rebellion. The Rebellion of 1745 ("the Forty-Five"), however, was much stronger than the Fifteen and Nineteen, and almost overthrew George II. The Jacobites were nonetheless defeated at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, effectively ending their resistance.

George II seriously contemplated removing Sir Robert Walpole from office, but was prevented from doing so by his wife. During George II's reign, the power of the Sovereign further deteriorated, and the power of the Prime Minister increased. George II's grandson and successor, George III, was often engaged in constitutional struggles with his ministers. By the reign of George III, however, the Prime Minister's power had grown so much that the King was often forced to appoint junior ministers against his will. After George III's reign, Sovereigns almost never exercised influence over the composition of the Cabinet. The decline of the power of the Sovereign, which had begun during George I's reign, was almost complete during the reign of the last Hanoverian monarch, Victoria.

Legacy

George I was extremely unpopular in Great Britain, especially due to his supposed inability to speak English; recent research, however, reveals that such an inability may not have existed later in his reign. His treatment of his wife, Sophia, was not well-received. The British perceived him as too German, and despised his succession of German mistresses. He earned the appellations "Geordie Whelps" and "German George".

Although unpopular, the Protestant George I was seen by most as a better alternative to the Roman Catholic Old Pretender. William Makepeace Thackeray indicates such ambivalent feelings when he writes, "His heart was in Hanover. He was more than fifty-four years of age when he came amongst us: we took him because we wanted him, because he served our turn; we laughed at his uncouth German ways, and sneered at him… I, for one, would have been on his side in those days. Cynical, and selfish, as he was, he was better than a King out of St Germains The Old Pretender with a French King's orders in his pocket, and a swarm of Jesuits in his train."

Style and arms

In Great Britain, George I used the official style "George, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc." In some cases (especially in treaties), the formula "Duke of Brunswick-L¸neburg, Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire" was added before the phrase "etc."

George I's arms were: Quarterly, I Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England) impaling Or a lion rampant within a tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); II Azure three fleurs-de-lys Or (for France); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland); IV tierced per pale and per chevron (for Hanover), I Gules two lions passant guardant Or (for Brunswick), II Or a semy of hearts Gules a lion rampant Azure (for L¸neburg), III Gules a horse courant Argent (for Westfalen), overall an escutcheon Gules charged with the crown of Charlemagne Or (for the dignity of Archtreasurer of the Holy Roman Empire).

Titles

• His Serene Highness Duke Georg Ludwig of Brunswick-L¸neburg (1660-1679)

• His Serene Highness Georg Ludwig, The Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-L¸neburg (1679-1692)

• His Serene Highness Georg Ludwig, Prince Elect of Hanover(1692-1698)

• His Serene Highness Georg Ludwig, The Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-L¸neburg (1698-1714)

• His Majesty The King of Britain and Ireland (1714-1727)