Editing The Madness of King George (section)

==Plot==
King George III's bout of [[Insanity|madness]] in 1788 touched off the [[Charles James Fox#The Regency Crisis|Regency Crisis of 1788]] and triggered a power struggle between factions of [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] under the [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[William Pitt the Younger]] and the reform-minded [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] [[Charles James Fox]].

At first, the King's behaviour appears mildly eccentric. He is deeply concerned with the wellbeing and productivity of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and exhibits an encyclopaedic knowledge of the families of even the most obscure royal appointments. He is devoted to his loving wife, Queen Charlotte, and their large brood of 15 children. However, he is growing more unsettled, partly over the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|loss of America]]. His memory fails, his behaviour becomes erratic and [[Hypersexuality|hypersexual]], he talks and talks, and his urine turns blue.

[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George]], [[Prince of Wales]], aggravates the situation, knowing that he will be named [[regent]] if the King becomes incapacitated.  George chafes under his father's relentless criticism, and yearns for greater freedom, particularly when it comes to choosing a wife. He married the woman everyone believes to be his [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]], [[Maria Fitzherbert|Mrs. Fitzherbert]], in a secret ceremony in 1785. Without his father's consent, the marriage is illegal. Even with consent, it would remove him from the [[Succession to the British throne|succession]], because Fitzherbert is a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]. He knows that he has the moral support of Fox, whose agenda includes [[Abolitionism|abolition of the slave trade]] and friendlier [[United Kingdom–United States relations|relations with America]]. Knowing how to exacerbate the King's behaviour, the Prince arranges a concert of music by [[Handel]]. The King reacts as expected, interrupting the musicians, speaking lasciviously to [[Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery|Lady Pembroke]], and finally assaulting his son.

In a private moment, the King tells Charlotte that he knows something is wrong. They are brutally interrupted when the Prince has them separated, supposedly on the advice of physicians. Led by the Prince of Wales' personal physician, [[Richard Warren (physician)|Dr. Warren]], the King is treated using the medical practices of the time, which focus on the state of his urine and bowel movements and include painful [[Cupping therapy|cupping]] and [[Laxative|purgatives]].

Lady Pembroke recommends [[Francis Willis (physician)|Dr. Francis Willis]], who cured her mother-in-law. Willis uses novel procedures. At his farm in Lincolnshire, patients work to gain "a better opinion of themselves." He observes to an [[equerry]] "To be curbed, thwarted, stood up to, exercises the character."  When the King insults him, foully, he is strapped into a chair and gagged. He will be restrained whenever he "swears and indulges in meaningless discourse" and "does not strive every day and always towards his own recovery".

When the Prince has the King transferred to [[Kew]], Charlotte watches as her beloved, bearded and wearing a soiled diaper and a straitjacket, struggles against being put in the coach. "Until you can govern yourself, you're not fit to govern others. And until you do so, I shall govern you," Willis says. At Kew, the King spits soup at Willis, but gains control under the physician's intractable gaze.{{efn|According to the film, it was unheard of for anyone to look directly at the King without his permission.}} Later, the King, properly dressed, feeds himself to a round of applause from staff—but the delusions persist.

The [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] opposition confronts Pitt's increasingly unpopular [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] government with a proposal that would give the Prince powers of regency. [[Baron Thurlow]], the [[Lord Chancellor]], obtains and suppresses proof of the marriage. Fox wins, and the Regency Bill is printed. Thurlow comes to see the King and joins in a moving reading of ''[[King Lear]]''.<ref>Act IV, scene 7</ref> "I have remembered how to seem..." the King muses. "What, what!" an expression he has not used in six months. His urine is yellow.

Thurlow and the King arrive at Parliament in time to thwart the bill. The King forces the Prince to admit his marriage and to put away Fitzherbert. With the crisis averted, all those who have witnessed his suffering are summarily dismissed, including Captain Greville, the King's equerry. Fitzroy, another equerry, observes to the sacked Greville: "To be kind does not commend you to kings."

Cheering crowds welcome the royal family to [[St Paul's Cathedral|St. Paul's Cathedral]]. Willis stands by, but the King dismisses him.

"We must be a model family," he declares; George wants "something to do." "Smile at the people, wave at them. Let them see that we're happy. That's why we're here." Saluting, Willis disappears into the crowd, where Mrs. Fitzherbert also smiles, wistfully.