The 1785 secret marriage of the Prince of Wales and Maria Fitzherbert

George IV was the ultimate drama king. Before he even had the crown, he pulled a total 'pick me' move: faking a suicide attempt just to guilt-trip Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-widowed Catholic, into a secret wedding.

The catch? It was super illegal. Between needing the King’s permission and a law banning royals from marrying Catholics, George was basically flirting with losing the throne for a secret 'I do' in a private drawing room.

It was messy, legally void, and peak main character energy. He got the girl, kept the crown, and left historians with the ultimate royal receipt.

Wait, so he just dumped her when he needed a 'real' Queen?

Basically. When George’s shopping addiction and gambling debts became too much, Parliament gave him an ultimatum: marry a Protestant princess or go broke.

He ghosted Maria to marry Caroline of Brunswick. It was hate at first sight; he reportedly needed a heavy drink just to walk down the aisle and spent their entire marriage trying to lock her out of the palace.

Maria remained his secret obsession, but for the crown, she was just a messy footnote he couldn't afford to keep.

He actually hired bouncers to keep his own Queen out?

He absolutely did. For his 1821 coronation—the most expensive party the UK had ever seen—George hired professional prize-fighters to stand at the doors of Westminster Abbey like 19th-century bouncers.

Poor Caroline showed up, trying every single door, but the security wouldn't budge. She was literally shouting her royal titles while the crowd watched the ultimate celebrity meltdown happen in real-time.

He even had her name stripped from the official prayers. It wasn't just a lockout; it was a full-on public cancellation of his own wife.

Did the people really just let him get away with that?

George had the muscle, but Caroline had the clout. She was the 19th-century 'People’s Princess' because the public hated George’s ego and his habit of blowing tax money on gold-leafed furniture.

While bouncers held the doors, the crowd was screaming her name and booing the King. It was a PR disaster that turned a messy divorce into a national uprising.

The stress killed her three weeks later. Her funeral sparked a riot where the public fought the cavalry just to parade her coffin through London as a final insult to the King.

So the public literally hijacked a royal funeral procession?

George wanted her gone, but he wanted it done quietly. He ordered the funeral to take a detour around London to avoid any "Pro-Caroline" rallies. He was basically trying to ghost her one last time by sneaking her body out the back door.

The public saw right through it. They formed human barricades and dragged heavy wagons across the roads to block the King's path. It turned into a high-stakes game of "capture the coffin."

Two protesters were shot by guards, but the mob didn't back down. They successfully forced the hearse through the city center, turning her exit into a massive victory parade that made George look like a total villain.