Reigning from 1760 to 1820, it is said that George III was unpopular in Liverpool, being perceived to have 'lost' America. His unpopularity was exacerbated by his alleged derangement and disappearance from public life and the appointment of his son as Prince Regent in 1811. Some medical historians have said that George III's mental instability was caused by a hereditary physical disorder called porphyria (the theory
dramatised by Alan Bennett in theatre & film). A public subscription for the erection of a statue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his accession elicited a sluggish response. The statue was finally unveiled in 1822, two years after his death and 14 years after the subscription was announced. Richard Westmacott of Mayfair was the son and father of eponymous sculptors but the only one to be knighted.

Alan Maycock © 2007