31. George II

George II's (1727-60) temper was warm and impetuous but was good natured and sincere. He was unskilled in royal of talent of dissimulation, he always was what he appeared to be. He might offend but he never deceived. What you saw was what you got. Could Britain’s second Hanoverian king provide calm composure against the immense challenges presented by a new Jacobite claimant and the first true global conflict in an unforgiving environment led by burgeoning prime ministers?  Characters George II – King of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover (1727-60) Caroline of Ansbach – Queen consort of Great Britain, Electress consort of Hanover (1727-37) George I – King of Great Britain (1714-27, Elector of Hanover (1698-1727), father of George II Sophia Dorothea of Celle – mother of George II Sophia of Hanover – Electress of Hanover (1692-98), heiress presumptive to the British throne, grandmother of George II Ernest Augustus – Elector of Hanover (1692-98), grandfather of George II Frederick, prince of Wales – eldest son of George II and Caroline, heir apparent to British throne William, duke of Cumberland – youngest son of George II and Caroline, British army general Philip Christoph von Konigsmarck – Swedish count and lover of Sophia Dorothea of Celle Anne – Queen of Great Britain (1702-14) John Churchill, the duke of Marlborough – British military commander under Queen Anne James Stuart (the Old Pretender) – son of James II and Jacobite pretender Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) – grandson of James II and Jacobite pretender, son of James Stuart Robert Walpole – Prime Minister of Great Britain (1721-42) Charles Townshend – Statesman and director of foreign policy under Walpole Spencer Compton, earl of Wilmington - Prime Minister of Great Britain (1742-43) Henry Pelham - Prime Minister of Great Britain (1743-54) Thomas Pelham, duke of Newcastle - Prime Minister of Great Britain (1754-57, 57-62) William Pitt – British statesman and informal leader (1756-61) Horace Walpole – statesman and son of Robert Walpole Mary Bellenden – mistress of George II Henrietta Howard – mistress of George II Amalie von Wallmoden – mistress of George II John Hervey – courtier and political writer George Friderich Handel – German-British composer Robert Jenkins – Welsh mariner who sparked the War of Jenkin’s Ear Robert Clive – general and governor of the Bengal Presidency John Byng – British admiral at the Battle of Minorca James Wolfe – general at the Battle of Quebec Elizabeth Montagu – social reformer and literary critic James Caulfeild, earl of Charlemont – Irish statesman Credits Music for the Royal Fireworks – George Frideric Handel Concerto for flute in A minor – Johann Sebastian Bach bbc_18th-centu_07019161 bbc_period-bat_07019148 bbc_period-bat_07019002 bbc_large-outd_07019156 bbc_period-bat_07019151 451958__kyles__flag-flaps-back-and-forth-between-2-flags-in-high-wind-on-mountain-good-crisp-fabric-detail bbc_animals--h_07024150 horses resting bbc_700-people_07010060 bbc_atmosphere_07030054 505272__diegolar__surrounded-by-horse close perspective 464490__elynch0901__human-knocked-over 427972__lipalearning__male-grunt 365676__mr-alden__dinner-table-ambience 344145__brokenphono__swig-of-whiskey-001 275581__hinzebeat__cutlery-throwing-2 155589__leafs67__walking-in-long-grass 139973__jessepash__crowd-yay-applause-25ppl-long 98055__tomlija__wine-bottle-break-2 82019__benboncan__distant-hunt-with-shots or countryside