What is wrong with King George in Queen Charlotte?

In Netflix’s newest original drama, Queen Charlotte: A Briderton Story, Shonda Rhimes and the creative team behind Bridgerton turn back the hands of time to revisit the story of Queen Charlotte and King George — whose love story has only ever been touched on in brief moments within the flagship show.

Across the show’s six-episode season, audiences watch Charlotte and George’s love blossom as the pair wed and are thrust into a marriage filled with many ups and downs.

A major thread across the season is the health of King George, who is seen suffering from a mixture of symptoms that will leave audiences at home guessing about what exactly is wrong with the King. These answers come into focus as the season progresses, but history itself offers up insights into the character’s aliment for those eager to know the background before getting too far into the show’s run.

Queen Charlotte spoilers: What was wrong with King George III?

As fans of the Bridgerton franchise are familiar, the show is a work of fiction; however, it does draw upon real-life figures including real monarchs from the British Royal Family. Like the real King George III, Queen Charlotte simply explains that King George suffers from mental illness with no specific disorder ever diagnosed directly in the show.

At the time, as we see in Netflix’s Bridgerton prequel, the king’s illness is diagnosed as “madness”, which was a catch-all term during that time in history for a wide range of mental disorders. Some of the symptoms he exhibited across the show’s six episodes include episodes of mania, depression, delusions, and agitation were also suffered by the real King George III and likely used as inspiration within the show.

Today, there is no definitive diagnosis for George’s condition, but historians and medical professionals have suggested several possibilities, including bipolar disorder, porphyria, or a rare genetic disorder called acute intermittent porphyria. It’s also possible that the King’s condition was the result of the medications he was taking at the time and the treatments he subjected himself to, which were explored in the show.