Famous for his German roots George was the first Hanoverian monarch to rule England.
George I was responsible for a substantial remodelling of Kensington Palace in the 1720s.
It was under his auspices that the young artist William Kent came to decorate many of Kensington Palace’s state rooms.
George I was generally an unpopular monarch. He struggled to learn English. On his accession George left his estranged wife imprisoned in the castle at Ahlden.
He however continued to enjoy the company of his mistress, Ehrengard von der Schlenburg and Sophia von Kielmansegg, who was perhaps his half sister.
As one was very tall and the other was fat they became known respectively as the ‘Maypole’ and the ‘Elephant and castle’.
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