George III and the Prince of Wales Reviewing Troops
Oil on canvas painting by William Beechey
The National Army Museum version.
George III and the Prince of Wales Reviewing Troops was an oil on canvas painting by William Beechey , showing George III and his sons George, Prince of Wales and Frederick, Duke of York at an imagined review in Hyde Park . George rides Adonis (his favourite horse), whilst the Prince of Wales wears the uniform of the 10th Light Dragoons , of which he was colonel. Beside Frederick is David Dundas (Quartermaster General, who had commanded manoeuvres at Windsor and Weymouth before the king) and the painting also shows Philip Goldsworthy (one of the king's equerries and aides-de-camp) and William Fawcett , the 3rd Dragoon Guards ' Colonel.
The painting was commissioned by George III and exhibited at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1798. The preliminary sketches do not include the Prince of Wales – though he later sat to Beechey for the work, some versions of it survive without him. The original was hanging in State Dining Room at Windsor Castle at the time of the 1992 fire and – too large to move out – it was the only painting to be destroyed. (Its place is now filled by the similarly sized 1751 group portrait of George III, his mother, brothers and sisters by George Knapton .[ 1] )
A smaller version survives in the collection of the National Army Museum , probably copied around 1830 by Beechey's son George Duncan Beechey .[ 2]
References
Family
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (wife)
George IV, King of the United Kingdom (son)
Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (son)
William IV, King of the United Kingdom (son)
Charlotte, Princess Royal (daughter)
Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (son)
Augusta (daughter)
Elizabeth (daughter)
Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (son)
Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (son)
Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (son)
Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (daughter)
Sophia (daughter)
Octavius (son)
Alfred (son)
Amelia (daughter)
Frederick, Prince of Wales (father)
Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (mother)
Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (sister)
Edward, Duke of York and Albany (brother)
Princess Elizabeth (sister)
William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (brother)
Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn (brother)
Princess Louisa (sister)
Prince Frederick (brother)
Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway (sister)
Descendants
Reign Cultural depictions
Paintings Public sculptures Theatre, film, radio and television
America (1924, film)
The Young Mr. Pitt (1942, film)
Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947, film)
Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969, music theatre)
Barry Lyndon (1975, film)
The Adams Chronicles (1976, TV)
Prince Regent (1979, TV)
In the Ruins (1984, radio play)
Blackadder the Third "Duel and Duality " (1987, TV)
The Madness of George III (1991, play)
The Madness of King George (1994, film)
Longitude (2000, TV)
John Adams (2008, TV)
Hamilton: An American Musical (2015, musical)
Mr Foote's Other Leg (2015, play)
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023, TV)
Books and poems
Related