Contemporary poet and critic Leigh Hunt described George IV (1820-30) as a violator of his word, a libertine, over head and ears in debt, a disgrace, a despiser of domestic ties, the companion of demi-reps and gamblers without a single claim on the gratitude of his country, nor the respect of posterity.

Characters

George IV – King of Great Britain, Ireland and Hanover (1820-30)
George III – King of Great Britain and Ireland (1760-1820), King of Hanover (1814-20)
Charlotte of Mecklenberg- Strelitz – Queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland (1761-1818), Queen consort of Hanover (1814-18)
Princess Charlotte of Wales – daughter of George and Caroline
Prince Frederick, duke of York – younger brother of George and one-time heir presumptive
Prince William – younger brother of George and eventual heir to the throne

Maria Fitzherbert – illegitimate Catholic wife of George
Caroline of Brunswick – legitimate wife of George
Mary Robinson – a lady-in-waiting for Queen Charlotte, love interest of George

Charles James Fox – Whig statesman and friend of George
William Pitt the Younger – Prime Minister (1783-1801, 1804-06)
Henry Addington – Prime Minister (1801-04)
Lord Liverpool – Prime Minister (1812-27)
George Canning – Prime Minister (1827)
Duke of Wellington – Commander at the Battle of Waterloo, Prime Minister (1828-30, 1834)
Robert Peel – Home Secretary, founder of the Metropolitan Police
Daniel O’Connell – political leader of Ireland’s Catholic majority, later an MP
Elizabeth Fry – Prison and social reformer

Henry Hunt – radical speaker and agitator

John Nash – Architect

James Gilray – contemporary cartoonist
Leigh Hunt – contemporary poet and critic
Richard Sheridan – Irish satirist

Napoleon Bonaparte – Emperor of France

Richard II – King of England (1377-99)
Charles II – King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1660-85)