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Winter 1788.
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King George III is hallucinating,
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violent and abusive.
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Out of my sight!
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He's losing control of himself
and the country.
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This is a crisis.
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Britain can't have
a mentally ill king!
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As a last resort, a medical maverick
who runs an asylum is summoned.
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Can he save the King?
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In this series, I'm reinvestigating
some of the most dramatic
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and brutal chapters
in British history.
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It wasn't just one generation.
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It was three generations
losing their lives.
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Bam, bam, bam.
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These stories are part of our
national mythology,
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harbouring mysteries that have
intrigued us for centuries.
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It's chilling to think that this
could actually be evidence
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in a murder investigation.
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But with the passage of time,
we have new ways to unlock
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their secrets, using scientific
advances and a modern perspective.
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It's a horrible psychosexual
form of torture. Absolutely.
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I'm going to uncover
forgotten witnesses,
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re-examine old evidence
and follow new clues
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to get closer to the truth.
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It is one of the great
British mysteries.
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It was one of those moments,
I'm afraid, for historians,
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that makes the hairs stand up
on the back of your neck.
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Oh, wow.
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I find George III
an intriguing king.
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He was conscientious
and intellectually curious.
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He built this observatory
to watch the transit of Venus
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across the sun in 1769.
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He ruled for 60 years, but he was
plagued by bouts of mental illness,
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which were barely understood
in his lifetime.
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The madness of George III has been
raked over for centuries
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by medics and historians.
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But I want to look beyond the
diagnosis at the man himself,
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and I want to use newly released
papers to understand the pressures
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in his private and public lives that
may have brought on his illness.
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How did Georgian Britain deal
with having a mentally ill king?
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And how did his illness
change Britain?
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I'd say I know a fair bit
about George III,
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but I don't know nearly enough
about his mental health.
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And now's the perfect time
to take a look at it,
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because new evidence has
come to light.
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Just a few years ago, the Royal
Family granted unprecedented access
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to his personal papers.
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This treasure trove of documents
is stored at Windsor Castle.
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So far, 225,000 documents,
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that's diaries,
letters and medical notes,
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have been published online.
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But there are still more secrets
to be revealed.
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I've been here to the Royal Archives
before, but this is the first time
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I hope to get my hands on documents
that will take me behind the scenes
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into 1788, when the King fell ill.
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I've asked the royal archivist to
bring out a unique private diary.
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It's an eyewitness account of George
III's illness as it escalated.
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There we are.
Thank you so much.
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This is great, thanks.
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This is an amazing thing
to get to see.
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It's the diary of Robert Greville.
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Journal of His Majesty's most
serious and afflicting illness.
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He was one of the King's equerries,
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which means he spent a lot of time
with the King.
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And on Sunday 9th November,
he's writing about
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"great agitation
and much incoherence
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"in thought and expressions".
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It's fascinating that he's actually
with the King.
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This is like a front line report
from the King's bedside.
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What else are we going to learn?
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Oh, "Finally he goes to sleep
after having talked for 19 hours
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"without scarce any intermission."
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Poor man.
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So what's happening
on November 24th?
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"We found the King violently
agitated and very angry,
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"but more particularly with
Dr Warren,"
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one of the medical advisers.
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"The King advanced up to him
and pushed him."
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So Greville's getting
pretty upset, actually.
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He says that "the general conduct
of the physicians has not
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"been decided or firm".
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They simply don't know what to do.
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"They appear to shrink
from responsibility."
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Greville says here that "a report
has been sent to Mr Pitt",
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the Prime Minister, stating that
"His Majesty had passed
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"a quiet night, but that he was
entirely deranged".
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George had at least five
personal doctors,
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and they were all flummoxed.
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In the 1780s, the medical
profession still clung
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to a centuries-old notion about
mental illness.
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When George fell ill in 1788,
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his doctors at first still believed
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they needed to get this disease
out of his body.
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They gave him drugs to make
him vomit.
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They used blisters to draw out
what they thought
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was bad blood from his body.
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And they used these
little suckers...
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Got these off the internet.
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I love the way they're actually
called Little Wrigglers.
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These are leeches.
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Look at them wiggle.
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They're just like tiny
little monsters.
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Oh, he's sucking the side there.
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And the idea was that these would be
applied to George's temples...
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..and that they would suck
the madness out of his brain.
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The King is bled, blistered
and purged.
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Nothing works.
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But if he doesn't get better
soon, his illness could trigger
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a constitutional crisis.
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In 1788, Europe is a tinderbox.
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Peter III of Russia has been
murdered in a coup.
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And in France, the scent
of revolution is in the air.
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It's a dangerous time to have
a mentally ill king.
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Investigating the medical mystery
of George's condition is not
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without potential pitfalls.
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George's illness wasn't just
misunderstood in his own lifetime.
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In modern times, another
suspect diagnosis has stuck.
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This essay was published in the
British Medical Journal in 1966.
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It's by a couple of psychiatrists,
MacAlpine and Hunter.
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They looked at George's
medical records and argued
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that he had a rare genetic blood
disorder called porphyria.
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This idea really stuck, notably
in the stage play by Alan Bennett.
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When this was turned into a film,
there was actually a caption
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on screen suggesting that George
had porphyria.
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But historians have been
divided about this,
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and now there's a rival diagnosis.
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I'm meeting an eminent psychiatrist
who led a recent review
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of the Mental Health Act
in England and Wales.
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He's also been examining the papers
from the Royal Archives.
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Can the new evidence settle
the question of what was wrong
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with George once and for all?
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Simon, how do you feel about
diagnosing dead people?
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There are some concerns here,
aren't there?
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Oh, yeah, very much so. In medicine
in general and psychiatry,
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it's a very dangerous thing to do.
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The only reason that we can do
this with George
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is because the documentation
so extraordinary.
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Why do you think that porphyria
was so warmly welcomed
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as a theory in the 1960s?
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MacAlpine and Hunter were,
it now, turns out,
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ardent monarchists, and they wanted
really to remove
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the taint and the stigma of mental
illness from the Royal Family.
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And porphyria did run in the Royal
Houses of Europe, by the way,
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it just didn't affect George.
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But they wanted to kind of help
the Queen out by taking away
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the taint of mental illness.
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What was really the King's
condition, do you think?
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The best evidence we have from
George is the observations
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of his behaviour.
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We've had for some time now
what we call diagnostic criteria,
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and in which you can fill
in a computer program
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and that will then tell you what
is the most likely diagnosis.
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So you have your computer program
and you can put George
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into it and see what comes out?
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You can indeed.
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Employment? Employment, King.
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Residence, Windsor Castle.
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Grandiosity, a bit difficult in
a king to diagnose that, actually.
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Excessive self reproach.
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He was a great one for beating
himself up.
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Poor sleep - very, very common.
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Reduced need for sleep,
reduced appetite.
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He's having hallucinations.
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Yes, he's having some
hallucinations, which is common
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in very severe mania.
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At times when he had to be
restrained, for example,
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there was also a lot of violence
and things like that.
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And so now they've ticked
what the diagnosis is.
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And it comes up as the most probable
diagnosis is what we now
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call bipolar disorder.
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Not a concept they had...
At the time.
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No, not at all. Any doctor
reading that now,
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it would just shout bipolar at you,
it really would.
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I'm convinced...
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..but can you tell me
what causes it?
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I wish I knew. I don't.
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Nobody knows. What we do know is
there's very compelling evidence
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that what we call life events,
so major traumas in your life,
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bereavement or being a victim
of crime or, you know,
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divorce, something like that,
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it doesn't cause bipolar disorder,
but what it does do,
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it will then trigger an episode and
you'll have a full-blown illness.
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So it's sensitive to what's
going on in our environment.
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Is there a particular life stage
at which people generally start
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to experience it for the first time?
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Yes, it usually starts
in younger people.
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So the peak age is somewhere
between 20 and 30.
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So if George had it, we could expect
perhaps to see some evidence
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of this in his 20s?
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He had an episode in 1765.
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It's unclear what it was.
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And the records, as I understand it,
simply have never been found.
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Mm.
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This earlier episode in 1765
is intriguing.
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George was 50 when he had
his first documented
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bout of illness in 1788.
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But if bipolar disorder usually
strikes between 20 and 30,
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were there earlier signs?
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Here's George in
his coronation robes in 1760.
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He was just 22.
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Doesn't he look young but full
of confidence?
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It was only a few years after this,
in 1765,
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that we get this mysterious
incident of illness,
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when he disappeared from public
life for a while.
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00:13:03,243 --> 00:13:06,323
And there are now quite a few
historians who are suggesting
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that this was perhaps his first
experience of the mental illness
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that would come back
with a vengeance in 1788.
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There were tantalising clues
that the Royal Family
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was covering something up.
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The daughter of the
King's hairdresser,
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Charlotte Papendiek, wrote later,
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"It was Her Majesty The Queen's
wish to prevent the public
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"from discovering the nature
of the King's illness."
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But this is all gossip, not fact.
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I can't find any doctor's notes
in the Georgian papers,
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but there is this.
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Now, here's a really fascinating
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nugget of information from 1765.
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George has called in his
ministers to a meeting
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and he tells them he wants
to make plans for a regency.
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He wants to make provision
for the administration of government
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00:14:08,523 --> 00:14:13,123
in case of a minority
which God prevent.
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So that means should George die
or become incapacitated,
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and if his children weren't
old enough to take over,
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what would happen?
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He wanted his wife or his mother
to step in as monarch.
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Now, this could be a
complete coincidence,
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00:14:32,403 --> 00:14:35,963
but the timing suggests
to me otherwise.
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Perhaps this year George realised
that there was something
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00:14:40,723 --> 00:14:42,723
seriously wrong with him,
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something that might stop him
from doing his job as king.
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If the trail runs cold here,
let's leave the younger George
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and move forward to 1788
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and George's first official bout
of illness.
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00:15:01,843 --> 00:15:07,203
If episodes of bipolar disorder
can be triggered by traumatic events
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or extreme stress,
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00:15:10,363 --> 00:15:13,323
what was happening in
George's personal life
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in the run-up to '88?
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00:15:16,603 --> 00:15:20,123
There's something at the
Royal Academy I want to see.
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00:15:22,563 --> 00:15:26,523
By 1783, George had 15 children.
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00:15:26,523 --> 00:15:30,083
The older ones,
particularly the Prince of Wales,
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were causing him all sorts of
trouble with their overspending
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00:15:33,803 --> 00:15:35,363
and their womanising.
244
00:15:35,363 --> 00:15:39,203
But he really doted on
the two littlest boys.
245
00:15:42,323 --> 00:15:47,683
Tragically, George's toddler,
two-year-old Alfred, died suddenly.
246
00:15:49,483 --> 00:15:54,003
Then eight months later,
four-year-old Octavius died too.
247
00:15:56,043 --> 00:15:58,323
Infant death was common,
248
00:15:58,323 --> 00:16:03,203
so you might think parents were used
to dealing with this kind of loss.
249
00:16:10,923 --> 00:16:13,123
This is such a poignant image.
250
00:16:17,203 --> 00:16:22,283
It's an engraved copy
of a painting George had done...
251
00:16:23,643 --> 00:16:26,963
..to commemorate his
two lost little boys.
252
00:16:26,963 --> 00:16:30,683
This is Prince Alfred,
who died first.
253
00:16:30,683 --> 00:16:32,363
And he's in heaven already,
254
00:16:32,363 --> 00:16:37,123
and he's welcoming in his brother,
Prince Octavius.
255
00:16:37,123 --> 00:16:39,043
Octavius dies.
256
00:16:39,043 --> 00:16:42,403
And there's angels here
to look after them both.
257
00:16:42,403 --> 00:16:46,243
George had the original of this on
the wall of his bedchamber,
258
00:16:46,243 --> 00:16:49,723
so that when he woke up
in the morning,
259
00:16:49,723 --> 00:16:53,283
the first thing he'd see
were his lost sons.
260
00:16:54,403 --> 00:16:56,643
That alone, I think,
261
00:16:56,643 --> 00:17:00,403
speaks volumes about what
this loss meant to him.
262
00:17:15,363 --> 00:17:18,283
It seems to me that this
could have been a trigger
263
00:17:18,283 --> 00:17:20,883
for his breakdown in 1788.
264
00:17:20,883 --> 00:17:25,523
But to prove it, I need
a window into George's mind.
265
00:17:35,043 --> 00:17:37,483
You might think that's impossible.
266
00:17:37,483 --> 00:17:41,363
But I've come to Kew Gardens,
the playground of Octavius
267
00:17:41,363 --> 00:17:45,323
and Alfred, to meet a professor
who's doing something unique.
268
00:17:47,003 --> 00:17:52,163
He's examining George's
hallucinations and delusions.
269
00:17:52,163 --> 00:17:55,003
How do you know what
the King's delusions were?
270
00:17:55,003 --> 00:17:59,723
Well, we have very few direct
records of what the King says,
271
00:17:59,723 --> 00:18:03,603
but we do have what the pages
and attendants who are looking
272
00:18:03,603 --> 00:18:07,483
after the King when he was asleep
or in the night,
273
00:18:07,483 --> 00:18:09,963
told the doctors the next morning.
274
00:18:09,963 --> 00:18:13,803
From those you get these often
very brief references to things
275
00:18:13,803 --> 00:18:17,883
that he is said to have believed
or imagined, but which, when you put
276
00:18:17,883 --> 00:18:20,803
them all together, it's quite
a substantial body of material
277
00:18:20,803 --> 00:18:23,763
that just lets you see
inside the King's mind, really.
278
00:18:23,763 --> 00:18:27,603
And do you think you can
see evidence of specific trauma,
279
00:18:27,603 --> 00:18:30,243
bad things that happened to him
in his life, that you see sort of
280
00:18:30,243 --> 00:18:32,523
being processed
through these delusions?
281
00:18:32,523 --> 00:18:37,123
Well, there are particular incidents
relating to his children.
282
00:18:37,123 --> 00:18:39,003
He was a very devoted father.
283
00:18:39,003 --> 00:18:43,283
And when they were lost
at different phases of his life,
284
00:18:43,283 --> 00:18:47,523
they then reappear to him
in his delusions,
285
00:18:47,523 --> 00:18:50,363
in really very moving ways,
actually.
286
00:18:50,363 --> 00:18:53,163
What sort of delusions is
he having about his lost children?
287
00:18:53,163 --> 00:18:55,763
There's a very particularly moving
incident that takes place
288
00:18:55,763 --> 00:18:58,363
on Christmas Eve 1788.
289
00:18:58,363 --> 00:19:02,723
So this particular night,
what the King recalled is
290
00:19:02,723 --> 00:19:07,083
thinking that the pillow of his bed
is Octavius
291
00:19:07,083 --> 00:19:10,163
and he has come back... Oh!
This is so awfully sad.
292
00:19:10,163 --> 00:19:12,963
It's all then described here.
293
00:19:12,963 --> 00:19:17,123
It says he had the pillow in the
bed with him, which he called
294
00:19:17,123 --> 00:19:19,443
Prince Octavius,
295
00:19:19,443 --> 00:19:23,283
who he said was to be new born
this day.
296
00:19:23,283 --> 00:19:26,603
The reason this is so upsetting
is because you just have the image
297
00:19:26,603 --> 00:19:30,403
of him holding the pillow
like it was the baby.
298
00:19:30,403 --> 00:19:33,443
Yeah, that's the recurring trope,
actually, for the King,
299
00:19:33,443 --> 00:19:36,563
because when his daughter Amelia
dies from TB,
300
00:19:36,563 --> 00:19:39,883
after she's dead, he begins to
imagine having conversations
301
00:19:39,883 --> 00:19:45,083
with her, and that she's had holes
drilled in her coffin
302
00:19:45,083 --> 00:19:48,763
and in fact survived burial and has
come back to talk to him after that.
303
00:19:48,763 --> 00:19:52,403
That's a very strange delusion,
which, again,
304
00:19:52,403 --> 00:19:55,203
echoes this earlier incident
with Octavius.
305
00:19:55,203 --> 00:19:58,563
The fact that this comes up in his
delusions, not only in this illness,
306
00:19:58,563 --> 00:20:02,963
but in his later illness too,
suggest that that's the trigger.
307
00:20:02,963 --> 00:20:05,483
Arthur, do you feel that this
research is giving you
308
00:20:05,483 --> 00:20:09,563
a really extraordinary insight into
the mind of a king?
309
00:20:09,563 --> 00:20:12,923
There's a sense in which one of the
things that's happening to him
310
00:20:12,923 --> 00:20:15,963
in his illness is he becomes
disinhibited and will actually
311
00:20:15,963 --> 00:20:18,403
perhaps articulate things
that he otherwise
312
00:20:18,403 --> 00:20:21,043
has been suppressing
or repressing in his mind.
313
00:20:21,043 --> 00:20:24,363
And in a way, it's his illness,
it's his so-called madness,
314
00:20:24,363 --> 00:20:26,283
that allows us to know him.
Absolutely.
315
00:20:26,283 --> 00:20:29,483
We don't get to those bits
of his mind otherwise.
316
00:20:37,203 --> 00:20:41,683
I've been left feeling really sad
about what Arthur
317
00:20:41,683 --> 00:20:46,003
had to say about George's love
for his children
318
00:20:46,003 --> 00:20:48,363
and his grief for their loss.
319
00:20:48,363 --> 00:20:51,803
It's easy to forget
that he wasn't just a king,
320
00:20:51,803 --> 00:20:54,763
he was also a human being.
321
00:20:58,323 --> 00:21:03,523
The death of these children was not
marked by formal court mourning.
322
00:21:03,523 --> 00:21:06,243
They were considered too young.
323
00:21:06,243 --> 00:21:10,243
So George doesn't have this as a way
to help him process his loss.
324
00:21:11,763 --> 00:21:14,163
He represses his grief
325
00:21:14,163 --> 00:21:19,523
and it clearly festers, bursting out
during episodes of mania.
326
00:21:26,163 --> 00:21:30,523
It's clear to me there's concrete
evidence of personal trauma,
327
00:21:30,523 --> 00:21:33,163
which could have triggered
a bipolar episode.
328
00:21:34,803 --> 00:21:39,003
But I also want to look at the
political pressures on George, too.
329
00:21:39,003 --> 00:21:42,723
I know this was a
tricky time to lead a country.
330
00:21:42,723 --> 00:21:47,043
George was staring down the barrel
of a new world order.
331
00:21:48,483 --> 00:21:52,283
An account of the rise and progress
of the late tumult.
332
00:21:53,763 --> 00:21:56,243
Dead bodies in the streets
of London.
333
00:21:56,243 --> 00:21:58,283
This is serious stuff.
334
00:22:01,883 --> 00:22:07,003
Newspaper headlines from the 1780s
reveal a time of huge turmoil.
335
00:22:11,483 --> 00:22:16,043
George decided to grant
some new rights to Catholics.
336
00:22:16,043 --> 00:22:18,643
Seemed like a generous
and liberal thing to do,
337
00:22:18,643 --> 00:22:21,323
but it went horribly wrong.
338
00:22:21,323 --> 00:22:26,563
There were anti-Catholic riots and
sectarian violence on the street.
339
00:22:26,563 --> 00:22:31,843
This newspaper article here
describes a Roman Catholic chapel
340
00:22:31,843 --> 00:22:37,403
being set fire to, what they call
"the mob" are out on the streets.
341
00:22:37,403 --> 00:22:41,643
They're waving revolutionary flags,
actually.
342
00:22:41,643 --> 00:22:44,843
Things are on the brink
of enormous trouble.
343
00:22:45,923 --> 00:22:51,323
The 1780s weren't just an age
of reason, but an age of revolution.
344
00:22:51,323 --> 00:22:54,243
And it wasn't just Britain
that was on the brink.
345
00:22:54,243 --> 00:22:57,763
The King of France had faced
an assassination attempt,
346
00:22:57,763 --> 00:23:02,163
and the American War of Independence
was coming to a head.
347
00:23:02,163 --> 00:23:05,563
Here's Cornwallis,
defeated at Yorktown,
348
00:23:05,563 --> 00:23:07,563
doing the walk of shame.
349
00:23:07,563 --> 00:23:10,203
They're taking down
the British flag,
350
00:23:10,203 --> 00:23:13,883
and they're putting up the
American flag in its place.
351
00:23:13,883 --> 00:23:19,163
So George would have hoped
to have added to his empire,
352
00:23:19,163 --> 00:23:24,403
but instead, he must have felt that
he had effectively lost America.
353
00:23:30,003 --> 00:23:35,083
These crises coincided with
the start of the mass news era.
354
00:23:35,083 --> 00:23:38,643
George had nowhere to hide.
He was exposed.
355
00:23:41,603 --> 00:23:43,843
And I found an extraordinary letter
356
00:23:43,843 --> 00:23:49,163
which suggests George
was afraid he was failing.
357
00:23:49,163 --> 00:23:53,683
Now, this is just the most
fascinating document
358
00:23:53,683 --> 00:23:56,323
from the Royal Archives of 1782.
359
00:23:57,403 --> 00:24:03,123
It's a letter that George III
has drafted saying
360
00:24:03,123 --> 00:24:06,563
that he's going to
hand in his resignation.
361
00:24:06,563 --> 00:24:12,563
"I am therefore resolved
to resign my Crown."
362
00:24:14,043 --> 00:24:18,483
Extraordinary. No king had abdicated
for 1,000 years.
363
00:24:18,483 --> 00:24:21,323
And just think of the huge stink
that there was
364
00:24:21,323 --> 00:24:24,323
when Edward VIII abdicated
in the 20th century,
365
00:24:24,323 --> 00:24:27,363
at a point when the monarchy was
much less politically significant
366
00:24:27,363 --> 00:24:31,123
than it was here in
the 18th century.
367
00:24:31,123 --> 00:24:35,123
George has clearly agonised
over his decision.
368
00:24:35,123 --> 00:24:40,003
There's all sorts of crossings out
and underlinings in his letter.
369
00:24:40,003 --> 00:24:45,083
And there's a real sense
of alienation here
370
00:24:45,083 --> 00:24:47,083
and disillusionment.
371
00:24:47,083 --> 00:24:50,843
Now, he never actually sent
his letter of resignation
372
00:24:50,843 --> 00:24:55,803
to Parliament, but it shows
the mind of a king in turmoil.
373
00:25:04,363 --> 00:25:09,043
George is under extreme pressure
to make monarchy work
374
00:25:09,043 --> 00:25:11,443
in this new era.
375
00:25:11,443 --> 00:25:14,003
He must evolve or perish.
376
00:25:16,603 --> 00:25:21,003
George styled himself as a new,
slightly more accessible
377
00:25:21,003 --> 00:25:22,363
kind of a king.
378
00:25:22,363 --> 00:25:26,203
His line was that he was going
to listen to people's grievances
379
00:25:26,203 --> 00:25:28,043
and respond to them.
380
00:25:28,043 --> 00:25:31,523
Now, ordinary working people
didn't have the vote,
381
00:25:31,523 --> 00:25:36,163
but they could make political points
through giving the King petitions.
382
00:25:36,163 --> 00:25:40,323
They were able to take
their problems straight to the top.
383
00:25:41,963 --> 00:25:46,043
Crowds gathered at the gates
of St James's Palace,
384
00:25:46,043 --> 00:25:49,723
waving their petitions,
begging the King for help.
385
00:25:49,723 --> 00:25:54,163
And in August 1786,
something happened
386
00:25:54,163 --> 00:25:56,963
that I think must have
increased the pressure
387
00:25:56,963 --> 00:25:59,363
on his already vulnerable mind.
388
00:25:59,363 --> 00:26:02,203
As it says in the newspaper,
389
00:26:02,203 --> 00:26:06,283
"His Majesty was stepping out
of his post chariot
390
00:26:06,283 --> 00:26:11,163
"at the garden entrance
to St James's..." Just over there.
391
00:26:11,163 --> 00:26:14,563
"..when the attack was made
upon his life.
392
00:26:14,563 --> 00:26:17,803
"The woman by whom the desperate
attempt was made,
393
00:26:17,803 --> 00:26:21,883
"had been observed waiting for
the King's arrival for some time."
394
00:26:31,323 --> 00:26:34,163
The woman advanced from the crowd
395
00:26:34,163 --> 00:26:37,603
and presented a paper folded
in the form of...
396
00:26:37,603 --> 00:26:41,963
When the woman aimed a blow with
a knife at His Majesty's breast...
397
00:26:41,963 --> 00:26:43,643
..Concealed in a piece of paper.
398
00:26:43,643 --> 00:26:45,523
The knife cut the King's waistcoat.
399
00:26:45,523 --> 00:26:48,123
The knife was instantly
wrestled from the woman.
400
00:26:48,123 --> 00:26:49,803
And he hastened into the palace.
401
00:26:49,803 --> 00:26:53,283
"The woman was
immediately taken into custody
402
00:26:53,283 --> 00:26:57,483
"and on examination
appears to be insane."
403
00:27:00,043 --> 00:27:04,403
I'm fascinated by this
assassination attempt,
404
00:27:04,403 --> 00:27:08,723
when a mentally ill woman and
a soon-to-be mentally ill king
405
00:27:08,723 --> 00:27:10,963
came face to face.
406
00:27:11,963 --> 00:27:15,403
Who was she
and how did George react?
407
00:27:17,203 --> 00:27:19,403
This is a woman
called Margaret Nicholson.
408
00:27:19,403 --> 00:27:22,563
She's a 36-year-old spinster
409
00:27:22,563 --> 00:27:24,603
and needle woman.
410
00:27:24,603 --> 00:27:28,123
And she felt that something needed
to be done to improve her life,
411
00:27:28,123 --> 00:27:30,683
so she petitions the King.
412
00:27:30,683 --> 00:27:32,963
So she's writing him letters saying,
413
00:27:32,963 --> 00:27:36,443
"Dear King, I want you to do
this for me."
414
00:27:36,443 --> 00:27:38,963
Yeah, well, you know, if only
it was that clear.
415
00:27:38,963 --> 00:27:40,403
What sort of things?
416
00:27:40,403 --> 00:27:42,803
So here's one of
Margaret's petitions.
417
00:27:42,803 --> 00:27:46,523
She thought she was due a property
settlement of some sort.
418
00:27:46,523 --> 00:27:48,723
She thought she was due a decent
marriage,
419
00:27:48,723 --> 00:27:50,523
possibly to the King himself,
420
00:27:50,523 --> 00:27:53,083
if only he'd rid himself
of his ghastly foreign wife.
421
00:27:53,083 --> 00:27:55,083
Do you think that she
was suffering from
422
00:27:55,083 --> 00:27:56,843
some sort of mental health issue?
423
00:27:56,843 --> 00:27:59,243
Well, that's an
interesting question.
424
00:27:59,243 --> 00:28:02,683
She petitions the King
something like 20 times
425
00:28:02,683 --> 00:28:07,843
just between April and August
of 1786, by her own testimony.
426
00:28:07,843 --> 00:28:11,843
On 2nd August 1786,
she's clearly had enough.
427
00:28:11,843 --> 00:28:13,523
So she turns up one more time.
428
00:28:13,523 --> 00:28:15,763
The King gets down out of
his carriage,
429
00:28:15,763 --> 00:28:17,203
she's ushered towards the King.
430
00:28:17,203 --> 00:28:19,643
I expect they've all seen
her before, they know who she is,
431
00:28:19,643 --> 00:28:22,163
and she's got her little piece
of paper again.
432
00:28:22,163 --> 00:28:25,243
But the piece of paper this time
conceals a dagger. Yeah.
433
00:28:25,243 --> 00:28:28,643
And then immediately, and this
is the interesting thing, I think,
434
00:28:28,643 --> 00:28:31,003
he immediately says,
435
00:28:31,003 --> 00:28:35,123
"The poor woman is mad,
do not hurt her."
436
00:28:35,123 --> 00:28:37,883
And we know
he said that straight away
437
00:28:37,883 --> 00:28:41,003
because just about two hours later,
438
00:28:41,003 --> 00:28:45,283
one of the young pages who'd been
attending the King testifies
439
00:28:45,283 --> 00:28:47,683
these were the words the King used.
440
00:28:47,683 --> 00:28:52,083
Do you think that when he gave
this compassionate reaction
441
00:28:52,083 --> 00:28:55,043
towards Margaret Nicholson,
"don't hurt her",
442
00:28:55,043 --> 00:28:57,563
do you think that he saw
a fellow sufferer?
443
00:28:57,563 --> 00:28:59,843
He immediately identifies
what's wrong with her.
444
00:28:59,843 --> 00:29:03,803
So even, whether or not, yeah,
it's a little bit close to home
445
00:29:03,803 --> 00:29:07,003
for him, or he recognises
a fellow sufferer,
446
00:29:07,003 --> 00:29:11,363
the incident provoked a huge public
conversation in the newspaper press
447
00:29:11,363 --> 00:29:15,323
and elsewhere about whether or not
Margaret Nicholson was mad,
448
00:29:15,323 --> 00:29:19,083
because if she's going to be
put before a law court,
449
00:29:19,083 --> 00:29:21,843
it's going to have to be on
a charge of high treason.
450
00:29:25,643 --> 00:29:31,403
George's words "do not hurt her"
became iconic.
451
00:29:31,403 --> 00:29:37,203
They were in newspapers, in print,
it was wonderful PR for the King.
452
00:29:37,203 --> 00:29:39,963
His compassion towards Margaret
453
00:29:39,963 --> 00:29:45,563
brought mental illness into the
open, but what happened to her?
454
00:29:45,563 --> 00:29:49,323
Was she treated kindly,
as he'd asked?
455
00:29:49,323 --> 00:29:53,883
There's no evidence of a public
trial, but there is a folder
456
00:29:53,883 --> 00:29:57,403
in the National Archives
with her name on it.
457
00:29:57,403 --> 00:30:00,323
Margaret's case went
right to the top.
458
00:30:00,323 --> 00:30:05,403
It was the Privy Council, the King's
advisers, who decided her fate.
459
00:30:06,483 --> 00:30:07,883
Oh, yes!
460
00:30:11,163 --> 00:30:12,523
Look at all of this!
461
00:30:13,563 --> 00:30:17,003
So, it's clear that they've done
a pretty thorough job.
462
00:30:17,003 --> 00:30:21,763
They've examined Margaret herself.
She has...
463
00:30:23,443 --> 00:30:27,803
Oh, she's said here that
she never meant to kill the King,
464
00:30:27,803 --> 00:30:30,483
but just wanted to
get his attention.
465
00:30:32,763 --> 00:30:36,563
And they've also talked
to her brother.
466
00:30:36,563 --> 00:30:39,883
He says that she came to
London 20 years ago
467
00:30:39,883 --> 00:30:43,923
and that she'd
worked as a housemaid.
468
00:30:46,403 --> 00:30:52,123
But she'd been sacked from that job
and she had been ill.
469
00:30:52,123 --> 00:30:54,083
He says that she's been
470
00:30:54,083 --> 00:30:59,163
"breaking out into fits
of laughter in the night".
471
00:30:59,163 --> 00:31:02,603
And the brother also says this,
it's extraordinary.
472
00:31:02,603 --> 00:31:07,443
He says that
"reading Milton's Paradise Lost
473
00:31:07,443 --> 00:31:14,403
"and such high-style books had
contributed to turn her brain".
474
00:31:14,403 --> 00:31:17,083
That's such an 18th-century thing,
isn't it?
475
00:31:17,083 --> 00:31:22,083
To imagine that reading fancy books
can make a woman mad.
476
00:31:24,803 --> 00:31:26,963
So, what are the Privy Council
going to do?
477
00:31:26,963 --> 00:31:32,283
What she'd done, an assassination
attempt, was treason.
478
00:31:32,283 --> 00:31:34,523
She could have faced
the death penalty.
479
00:31:34,523 --> 00:31:37,083
But they didn't go down that route.
480
00:31:37,083 --> 00:31:42,123
So, instead, they turned to the
Vagrancy Act and they used that
481
00:31:42,123 --> 00:31:48,643
to have her shut up in Bethlem,
better known as Bedlam.
482
00:31:48,643 --> 00:31:53,203
This is Georgian England's
most notorious madhouse.
483
00:31:53,203 --> 00:31:58,763
They get her assessed by one
of the doctors from Bedlam,
484
00:31:58,763 --> 00:32:01,643
this is Dr John Monro,
485
00:32:01,643 --> 00:32:04,763
and he says that
never in his life had
486
00:32:04,763 --> 00:32:08,683
he seen a person more disordered.
487
00:32:08,683 --> 00:32:11,123
That's really quite a strong
statement, isn't it,
488
00:32:11,123 --> 00:32:13,843
from the man who runs England's
most notorious madhouse,
489
00:32:13,843 --> 00:32:17,323
that he's never seen a madder
person than Margaret.
490
00:32:17,323 --> 00:32:20,843
It makes you wonder
if he's overstating the case,
491
00:32:20,843 --> 00:32:23,643
so that they can all,
with good conscience, lock her up.
492
00:32:29,723 --> 00:32:32,683
And she's not the only one.
493
00:32:35,123 --> 00:32:40,243
In November 1788,
George succumbs to all the political
494
00:32:40,243 --> 00:32:43,443
and personal pressure
and becomes seriously ill.
495
00:32:45,723 --> 00:32:47,843
After weeks of failed treatment,
496
00:32:47,843 --> 00:32:53,603
his doctors take an unprecedented
step and lock him up.
497
00:32:53,603 --> 00:32:57,203
Not in Beldam, of course,
but in Kew Palace.
498
00:32:59,763 --> 00:33:05,443
The King's eldest son senses
an opportunity to seize power.
499
00:33:05,443 --> 00:33:09,243
He tells everyone his father
is unfit to rule
500
00:33:09,243 --> 00:33:11,683
and calls for a regency.
501
00:33:13,003 --> 00:33:16,243
Daily bulletins are tied to
the gates of Kew Palace,
502
00:33:16,243 --> 00:33:18,643
but they are heavily censored
503
00:33:18,643 --> 00:33:25,123
and don't explicitly mention
madness. Speculation runs rife.
504
00:33:28,803 --> 00:33:33,923
So, here we have two infamous
so-called mad people,
505
00:33:33,923 --> 00:33:35,843
a seamstress and a king,
506
00:33:35,843 --> 00:33:39,363
tied together by
this assassination attempt.
507
00:33:39,363 --> 00:33:43,643
I'm so intrigued! And it was
the same with the public back then.
508
00:33:43,643 --> 00:33:46,403
They couldn't get
enough of the story.
509
00:33:46,403 --> 00:33:52,323
These are just a small snapshot of
the many, many different images that
510
00:33:52,323 --> 00:33:56,043
were being produced. A lot of the
facts were few and far between
511
00:33:56,043 --> 00:34:00,443
and a lot of embellishment was
going on. So, here we have Margaret
512
00:34:00,443 --> 00:34:03,283
in Bethlem...
Oh, my goodness! Is that her there?
513
00:34:03,283 --> 00:34:07,003
That's supposed to be her...
Oh, wow! ..and this image is kind of
514
00:34:07,003 --> 00:34:11,683
extraordinary. It shows this
violent, strange, terrifying figure.
515
00:34:11,683 --> 00:34:14,763
She's clutching straw.
Straw is used as bedding
516
00:34:14,763 --> 00:34:18,403
in asylums. Ah! She's kind
of involved with these two figures,
517
00:34:18,403 --> 00:34:20,923
two of the leading
revolutionaries of the day.
518
00:34:20,923 --> 00:34:23,283
So, here we've got rational
masculinity... Mm!
519
00:34:23,283 --> 00:34:25,403
..and here she is, looking...
520
00:34:25,403 --> 00:34:28,483
Well, this is the archetype
of the mad woman, having crazy hair.
521
00:34:28,483 --> 00:34:30,243
Exactly. Kind of Medusa-style.
522
00:34:30,243 --> 00:34:35,003
Yeah. Clearly, people are making
money out of Margaret Nicholson.
523
00:34:35,003 --> 00:34:38,443
Was there a real market for this?
Absolutely.
524
00:34:38,443 --> 00:34:41,883
Waxworks were being made,
people would pay to see waxworks
525
00:34:41,883 --> 00:34:44,923
and her lodgings were
described as being besieged.
526
00:34:44,923 --> 00:34:47,523
One I always find particularly
fascinating is
527
00:34:47,523 --> 00:34:50,283
the obsession around the knife.
528
00:34:50,283 --> 00:34:55,443
Very quickly, it became common
for enterprising innkeepers to
529
00:34:55,443 --> 00:34:59,403
announce that they had the original
knife and some of them
530
00:34:59,403 --> 00:35:02,563
didn't have the knife, but they had
a fork, which was the partner...
531
00:35:02,563 --> 00:35:04,923
I particularly love the idea of,
come to my pub,
532
00:35:04,923 --> 00:35:08,003
where you will see the fork that
went with the knife that might
533
00:35:08,003 --> 00:35:11,443
have belonged to Margaret Nicholson.
Absolutely! Absolutely.
534
00:35:11,443 --> 00:35:14,123
When the King himself became ill,
535
00:35:14,123 --> 00:35:19,203
how was he treated by this
sort of media of the 18th century?
536
00:35:19,203 --> 00:35:22,243
I think one of the really striking
537
00:35:22,243 --> 00:35:26,483
and surprising things is that
there was very little cultural
538
00:35:26,483 --> 00:35:30,403
treatment of the King,
so one of the very few images
539
00:35:30,403 --> 00:35:34,843
we have of the King when he went
mad is this one, Filial Piety,
540
00:35:34,843 --> 00:35:38,683
and it shows the King looking
perhaps ill,
541
00:35:38,683 --> 00:35:41,723
but none of the kind of typical
iconography around madness
542
00:35:41,723 --> 00:35:43,363
is being applied to him.
543
00:35:43,363 --> 00:35:44,963
On the left-hand side,
544
00:35:44,963 --> 00:35:48,483
we have the Prince of Wales,
who's sort of obviously drunk.
545
00:35:48,483 --> 00:35:51,483
We've got the kind of political
backdrop of the regency crisis
546
00:35:51,483 --> 00:35:52,603
in 1788.
547
00:35:52,603 --> 00:35:55,643
I suppose, here, what's really
going on is that they're using
548
00:35:55,643 --> 00:35:59,083
the situation to make the
Prince of Wales look bad. Exactly.
549
00:35:59,083 --> 00:36:01,923
The madness of the King
is being downplayed.
550
00:36:01,923 --> 00:36:04,843
I think it's a bit of a no-go area.
551
00:36:04,843 --> 00:36:09,563
A mentally ill king is simply
unmentionable,
552
00:36:09,563 --> 00:36:13,163
so the press feeds the frenzy
with Margaret instead.
553
00:36:15,763 --> 00:36:19,843
She even becomes the star
attraction at Bethlem, where the
554
00:36:19,843 --> 00:36:24,723
upper classes come to
ogle at the mentally ill.
555
00:36:24,723 --> 00:36:29,123
A mad king is extraordinary,
but if I want to understand
556
00:36:29,123 --> 00:36:31,443
mental illness at the time,
557
00:36:31,443 --> 00:36:34,283
I need to investigate
Margaret's story, too.
558
00:36:46,443 --> 00:36:50,123
These two statues are the very
last surviving
559
00:36:50,123 --> 00:36:55,043
bits of the Bethlem Hospital,
where Margaret was incarcerated.
560
00:36:55,043 --> 00:36:57,083
It was demolished in 1815.
561
00:36:58,083 --> 00:37:02,283
They represent the different
types of madness that people
562
00:37:02,283 --> 00:37:05,123
believed existed in
the 18th century.
563
00:37:05,123 --> 00:37:10,763
This one is melancholy madness,
he's calm and still,
564
00:37:10,763 --> 00:37:16,643
and this one is raving madness, he's
trying to burst out of his chains.
565
00:37:19,483 --> 00:37:23,483
These two were over the entrance
when Margaret arrived.
566
00:37:23,483 --> 00:37:26,323
Not exactly a warm welcome.
567
00:37:28,203 --> 00:37:32,123
In the 1780s, doctors still thought
they could treat people with
568
00:37:32,123 --> 00:37:35,763
mental illness by purging
it from the body.
569
00:37:35,763 --> 00:37:38,443
I'm hoping that Bethlem's
archivist can help me
570
00:37:38,443 --> 00:37:42,083
uncover the details of
Margaret's treatment.
571
00:37:42,083 --> 00:37:44,603
We actually have her admission
record here,
572
00:37:44,603 --> 00:37:47,923
which would have been created when
she first came in to the hospital.
573
00:37:49,523 --> 00:37:54,003
And we can see Margaret's name...
Margaret Nicholson. There she is.
574
00:37:54,003 --> 00:37:56,883
Do you know how
they would have diagnosed her,
575
00:37:56,883 --> 00:37:59,803
what sort of an illness
they thought she had?
576
00:37:59,803 --> 00:38:03,723
The hospital would have been
split into male and female wings
577
00:38:03,723 --> 00:38:05,843
and it would have been split into
578
00:38:05,843 --> 00:38:10,403
melancholics and ravers. And where
do you think...she fitted into that?
579
00:38:10,403 --> 00:38:14,043
I mean, I think, generally,
she's described as quite a quiet,
580
00:38:14,043 --> 00:38:18,123
withdrawn patient, I think, a lot
of the time, so I would be surprised
581
00:38:18,123 --> 00:38:22,723
if she was moved
apart from the melancholy patients.
582
00:38:22,723 --> 00:38:25,923
These categories are not
super subtle, are they?
583
00:38:25,923 --> 00:38:27,483
No, they really aren't.
584
00:38:27,483 --> 00:38:30,243
And what were
the conditions like in the hospital?
585
00:38:30,243 --> 00:38:34,003
They were probably not very good.
So, people were bled,
586
00:38:34,003 --> 00:38:37,603
people were given medication
that would make them vomit
587
00:38:37,603 --> 00:38:40,203
or purge themselves in other ways.
588
00:38:40,203 --> 00:38:43,883
Mm. It was known round about
this sort of time,
589
00:38:43,883 --> 00:38:47,683
there's a new strain of thought
that's saying this isn't working,
590
00:38:47,683 --> 00:38:50,203
but Bethlem is still
persisting in this.
591
00:38:50,203 --> 00:38:54,403
So, is there some information about
what happened next to Margaret?
592
00:38:54,403 --> 00:38:56,043
Does she appear again?
593
00:38:56,043 --> 00:38:58,563
Yes, so, we will see her
again
594
00:38:58,563 --> 00:39:01,123
in the Incurable Admissions
Register,
595
00:39:01,123 --> 00:39:04,723
so the Incurable Ward
would have been the long-stay
596
00:39:04,723 --> 00:39:07,723
section of Bethlem. You say that,
but the name...
597
00:39:07,723 --> 00:39:13,283
It's a very depressing thought. It
is, yes! These are people who are...
598
00:39:13,283 --> 00:39:17,203
Long stay. ..probably lifers...
Mm. ..by this point.
599
00:39:17,203 --> 00:39:20,083
It says, "A motion was made
that Margaret Nicholson be no
600
00:39:20,083 --> 00:39:25,003
"longer confined in
her cell by a chain." Oh!
601
00:39:25,003 --> 00:39:28,083
So... So, what year is... What year
is this?
602
00:39:28,083 --> 00:39:30,283
1791, so this is four years.
603
00:39:30,283 --> 00:39:33,563
So, she's been in chains
for four years.
604
00:39:33,563 --> 00:39:36,763
She's regularly clapped in irons.
Yes. Goodness me!
605
00:39:36,763 --> 00:39:38,403
I'm thinking what this means.
606
00:39:38,403 --> 00:39:41,123
Does this mean that the hospital
committee have decided that
607
00:39:41,123 --> 00:39:42,483
she's so peaceful
608
00:39:42,483 --> 00:39:45,683
and not hurting herself that they
don't need to bother doing that?
609
00:39:45,683 --> 00:39:50,883
Yes. But what is also interesting in
this is the implication that she
610
00:39:50,883 --> 00:39:53,603
is well enough to be unchained,
611
00:39:53,603 --> 00:39:56,603
but she is still
in the Incurable Wing.
612
00:39:56,603 --> 00:40:00,243
And that might be
because she's this special patient,
613
00:40:00,243 --> 00:40:04,523
what she did received national
attention, therefore
614
00:40:04,523 --> 00:40:08,323
the bar for her recovery is higher
than it is for anybody else.
615
00:40:08,323 --> 00:40:12,203
It also perhaps implies that the
hospital has been told not to
616
00:40:12,203 --> 00:40:16,323
release her... Not to release her.
..in any circumstance. Oof!
617
00:40:16,323 --> 00:40:20,803
Mm. She has been, if you like,
disposed of by the state.
618
00:40:31,243 --> 00:40:33,403
It's pretty clear that at Bethlem,
619
00:40:33,403 --> 00:40:36,163
they were still committed to doing
things the old way.
620
00:40:36,163 --> 00:40:39,203
Patients in cells, chains.
621
00:40:39,203 --> 00:40:44,043
And it's rather devastating to
think of Margaret being written off,
622
00:40:44,043 --> 00:40:47,243
almost, with that word "incurable".
623
00:40:53,123 --> 00:40:56,803
I found these old lantern slides
in the archives.
624
00:40:56,803 --> 00:41:00,403
This one is of Dr Thomas Monro.
625
00:41:00,403 --> 00:41:03,563
It was his father who
incarcerated Margaret
626
00:41:03,563 --> 00:41:07,923
and Thomas takes over
Bethlem from 1792.
627
00:41:07,923 --> 00:41:12,083
Asylums like his were a law
unto themselves.
628
00:41:12,083 --> 00:41:16,723
Bethlem hadn't updated its treatment
plan in 100 years.
629
00:41:16,723 --> 00:41:21,203
But there was a new school
of thought that mental illness
630
00:41:21,203 --> 00:41:23,243
was an illness of the brain
631
00:41:23,243 --> 00:41:26,683
that needed to be
treated in its own way.
632
00:41:26,683 --> 00:41:31,203
Some of these new ideas were
to be found in this book.
633
00:41:31,203 --> 00:41:36,723
It's the first proper book
about madness as a mental illness.
634
00:41:36,723 --> 00:41:42,283
It's called A Treatise On Madness
by Dr William Battie.
635
00:41:42,283 --> 00:41:46,723
This was really radical stuff,
636
00:41:46,723 --> 00:41:52,043
and he suggested that it was wrong
to chain up mentally ill people,
637
00:41:52,043 --> 00:41:55,523
nor was he in favour of shock
treatments,
638
00:41:55,523 --> 00:41:57,763
things like making people vomit.
639
00:41:57,763 --> 00:42:03,443
Instead, he proposed quiet
and fresh air and exercise,
640
00:42:03,443 --> 00:42:07,203
which sounds extraordinarily modern,
doesn't it?
641
00:42:07,203 --> 00:42:10,843
That's what people are still
recommended to do to this day.
642
00:42:10,843 --> 00:42:13,643
Battie's book was published in 1758,
643
00:42:13,643 --> 00:42:17,723
so that's 30 years
before the King got ill.
644
00:42:17,723 --> 00:42:20,083
But it was George's illness
645
00:42:20,083 --> 00:42:23,723
and Margaret's too that raised
the profile of his work.
646
00:42:23,723 --> 00:42:28,923
It went mainstream
and people started to implement it.
647
00:42:30,243 --> 00:42:33,843
So, while Margaret was
written off as incurable,
648
00:42:33,843 --> 00:42:36,243
did these new ideas reach George?
649
00:42:42,723 --> 00:42:47,883
In winter 1788,
George is delusional, aggressive,
650
00:42:47,883 --> 00:42:50,883
sleepless, and time is running out.
651
00:42:52,083 --> 00:42:55,163
A Regency Bill has been prepared.
652
00:42:55,163 --> 00:42:59,963
If the King is not better in three
months, his son will take over.
653
00:43:06,883 --> 00:43:11,683
In December 1788, the Royal Family
make a bold decision.
654
00:43:11,683 --> 00:43:14,283
They summon a man called
Francis Willis,
655
00:43:14,283 --> 00:43:19,203
who runs a madhouse in rural
Lincolnshire, to come here to Kew.
656
00:43:22,203 --> 00:43:27,123
Private madhouses begin to spring
up from the 1750s onwards,
657
00:43:27,123 --> 00:43:29,563
as new treatments are pioneered.
658
00:43:29,563 --> 00:43:33,563
Willis is one of a band
of so-called "mad doctors",
659
00:43:33,563 --> 00:43:37,883
or, to you and me,
early psychiatrists.
660
00:43:37,883 --> 00:43:44,603
Let me introduce you to Dr Francis
Willis. I'm calling him Dr Willis,
661
00:43:44,603 --> 00:43:48,443
but I do know that
his contemporaries might not have
662
00:43:48,443 --> 00:43:49,963
agreed with me in doing that
663
00:43:49,963 --> 00:43:55,003
because they didn't yet have the
idea of a doctor of the mind.
664
00:43:55,003 --> 00:43:58,563
Members of the Royal College
of Physicians, for example,
665
00:43:58,563 --> 00:44:01,363
would have said, "No,
he's just the keeper of a madhouse.
666
00:44:01,363 --> 00:44:03,923
"We don't count him as one of us."
667
00:44:03,923 --> 00:44:07,963
So, I think it's quite an exciting
decision that the Royal Family
668
00:44:07,963 --> 00:44:13,483
have called him in. It's a sign
of how desperate they were, I think.
669
00:44:13,483 --> 00:44:15,363
He's a maverick.
670
00:44:23,323 --> 00:44:30,083
This is a make-or-break moment
for him and his nascent profession.
671
00:44:30,083 --> 00:44:34,163
There's no higher-profile
patient than this.
672
00:44:34,163 --> 00:44:36,883
What on earth is he going to do?!
673
00:44:42,963 --> 00:44:47,323
George was treated by Willis
here at Kew.
674
00:44:47,323 --> 00:44:50,443
The King's tin bath still survives.
675
00:44:51,963 --> 00:44:55,403
This source
is key to what happened to him.
676
00:44:55,403 --> 00:44:59,923
It's a diary by Francis Willis
and his son, and they start off
677
00:44:59,923 --> 00:45:03,883
explaining what the previous
doctors had given the King.
678
00:45:03,883 --> 00:45:07,923
The answer is really powerful
sedatives.
679
00:45:07,923 --> 00:45:12,643
Here, he's been prescribed
"30 drops of laudanum".
680
00:45:12,643 --> 00:45:16,043
Now, that is opium
dissolved in alcohol.
681
00:45:16,043 --> 00:45:20,163
It's not a sustainable strategy.
It's not going to make him better.
682
00:45:20,163 --> 00:45:23,163
It might even get him addicted.
683
00:45:23,163 --> 00:45:26,243
It's kind of like prescribing
the King heroin.
684
00:45:31,203 --> 00:45:37,483
Willis decides to put a stop to this
and he radically reduces the dosage.
685
00:45:37,483 --> 00:45:43,483
He also makes a bold decision
to treat George just as he would
686
00:45:43,483 --> 00:45:49,003
any other patient in his asylum,
and bend the King to his will.
687
00:45:54,523 --> 00:45:56,603
Oh, wow!
688
00:45:56,603 --> 00:46:00,043
I've got a straightjacket for you.
My goodness!
689
00:46:00,043 --> 00:46:02,563
What... It keeps on giving.
690
00:46:02,563 --> 00:46:05,923
What is with these arms?!
They're so long!
691
00:46:05,923 --> 00:46:08,563
How does it work?
Here's the back.
692
00:46:08,563 --> 00:46:11,883
It buttons up the back, so you
put your arms in like that... Yeah.
693
00:46:11,883 --> 00:46:15,643
..and it's done up. And why
are the sleeves so immensely long?
694
00:46:15,643 --> 00:46:20,203
So you put your arms in there...
Yes. ..and then you hug yourself
695
00:46:20,203 --> 00:46:22,683
and then you get tied
round the back.
696
00:46:22,683 --> 00:46:27,403
Oh! So it forces you to go
like this, to give yourself a hug.
697
00:46:27,403 --> 00:46:31,963
Yes. Once you've no longer got the
use of your hands, your flight
698
00:46:31,963 --> 00:46:34,883
and fight mode is turned off,
699
00:46:34,883 --> 00:46:39,723
so that it could then support
you to calm yourself down.
700
00:46:39,723 --> 00:46:42,803
I was expecting
something...barbaric,
701
00:46:42,803 --> 00:46:45,443
something that was to do
with restraint.
702
00:46:45,443 --> 00:46:49,203
Compared to the manacles, which was
what people were using before,
703
00:46:49,203 --> 00:46:52,843
this is really soft. Oh!
This is a big step forward.
704
00:46:52,843 --> 00:46:54,963
Certainly,
when I first looked at this,
705
00:46:54,963 --> 00:46:58,643
I had the same feelings as yourself,
it's like really scary
706
00:46:58,643 --> 00:47:02,523
and the idea of being, you know,
tied up, really.
707
00:47:02,523 --> 00:47:06,603
But this is a treatment
and most illnesses, you know,
708
00:47:06,603 --> 00:47:08,683
most treatments are scary.
709
00:47:08,683 --> 00:47:12,803
Let me show you some of the ways
in which Dr Willis used
710
00:47:12,803 --> 00:47:14,243
the straightjacket.
711
00:47:14,243 --> 00:47:17,043
Well, he doesn't actually call
it a straightjacket.
712
00:47:17,043 --> 00:47:22,363
"The strait waistcoat was taken
off from His Majesty at morning
713
00:47:22,363 --> 00:47:27,523
"yesterday, but was put on again
soon after two o'clock
714
00:47:27,523 --> 00:47:31,523
"and was not taken off
till nine this morning."
715
00:47:31,523 --> 00:47:32,843
Goodness me!
716
00:47:32,843 --> 00:47:36,563
So, he was kept in his strait
waistcoat for the whole
717
00:47:36,563 --> 00:47:38,243
of this particular night. Nowadays,
718
00:47:38,243 --> 00:47:42,403
we use drugs
and it's a chemical restraint. Yeah.
719
00:47:42,403 --> 00:47:45,563
But sometimes,
that's not appropriate either,
720
00:47:45,563 --> 00:47:47,883
cos it's just treating the symptom,
721
00:47:47,883 --> 00:47:51,763
it's not allowing your brain to
rebalance and sort itself out.
722
00:47:51,763 --> 00:47:54,123
That's really interesting
that you're using the word
723
00:47:54,123 --> 00:47:56,363
"rebalance the brain".
724
00:47:56,363 --> 00:48:01,923
That's the language that Francis
Willis used in the 18th century.
725
00:48:01,923 --> 00:48:06,643
Now, even if Francis Willis
had the best intentions
726
00:48:06,643 --> 00:48:10,603
in the world, I do feel
sorry for the poor King
727
00:48:10,603 --> 00:48:15,003
because it says here
"they beat me like a madman".
728
00:48:20,723 --> 00:48:25,323
The King doesn't escape the brutal
remedies of purges
729
00:48:25,323 --> 00:48:31,043
and ice-cold baths, but there were
also new ideas at play.
730
00:48:31,043 --> 00:48:34,523
Willis is clearly picking
up on the progressive
731
00:48:34,523 --> 00:48:36,603
approach of William Battie.
732
00:48:36,603 --> 00:48:41,283
While Margaret in Bethlem
is chained and left to rot,
733
00:48:41,283 --> 00:48:46,323
Willis is encouraging
George at Kew to take the air.
734
00:48:48,283 --> 00:48:52,563
And even though George does try to
scale the giant pagoda,
735
00:48:52,563 --> 00:48:54,043
a 50-metre structure,
736
00:48:54,043 --> 00:48:57,843
Willis is confident his strategy
is having some success.
737
00:49:01,483 --> 00:49:03,243
If you leave it untreated,
738
00:49:03,243 --> 00:49:07,163
an episode of mania can
last between days or months,
739
00:49:07,163 --> 00:49:11,763
and to this day, doctors don't
really know why they come to an end.
740
00:49:11,763 --> 00:49:15,123
But on 26th February 1789,
741
00:49:15,123 --> 00:49:18,643
a bulletin appeared
on the gates of Kew Palace.
742
00:49:18,643 --> 00:49:22,403
Three months after he'd arrived,
Dr Willis was able to announce
743
00:49:22,403 --> 00:49:26,643
the entire cessation
of His Majesty's illness.
744
00:49:31,723 --> 00:49:37,163
It could be that the King's bipolar
episode has simply run its course.
745
00:49:37,163 --> 00:49:40,843
But it does appear that the
King's been restored to
746
00:49:40,843 --> 00:49:43,643
health by Dr Willis,
747
00:49:43,643 --> 00:49:50,163
and not a moment too soon.
The Regency Bill is only days away.
748
00:49:50,163 --> 00:49:53,523
After months of political
uncertainty,
749
00:49:53,523 --> 00:49:57,323
George is ready once again
to be king.
750
00:50:07,683 --> 00:50:13,003
On St George's Day, there was
a huge celebration of the King's
751
00:50:13,003 --> 00:50:17,923
recovery here
at St Paul's Cathedral.
752
00:50:17,923 --> 00:50:21,603
Now, the Archbishop of Canterbury
recommended that
753
00:50:21,603 --> 00:50:24,483
George himself shouldn't attend.
754
00:50:24,483 --> 00:50:27,883
He thought the excitement
might bring on a relapse.
755
00:50:27,883 --> 00:50:31,443
But George had other ideas.
He said, "No, I'm going.
756
00:50:31,443 --> 00:50:34,843
"My Lord," he said to the
Archbishop of Canterbury,
757
00:50:34,843 --> 00:50:39,883
"I have twice read over the evidence
of the physicians on my case,
758
00:50:39,883 --> 00:50:43,003
"and if I can stand that,
I can stand anything."
759
00:50:44,003 --> 00:50:46,603
Thousands lined the route
to St Paul's,
760
00:50:46,603 --> 00:50:50,283
and medals were struck to
commemorate the occasion.
761
00:50:51,563 --> 00:50:54,403
And here is one of them.
762
00:50:54,403 --> 00:50:58,563
They're not actually that hard to
find, cos so many of them were made.
763
00:50:58,563 --> 00:51:00,643
This one came off eBay.
764
00:51:00,643 --> 00:51:04,683
And on one side, we've got
George's little face. There he is,
765
00:51:04,683 --> 00:51:07,043
looking alive and well,
766
00:51:07,043 --> 00:51:12,483
and on the back, the exciting
story of what's happened.
767
00:51:12,483 --> 00:51:19,323
It says, "Lost to Britannia's hope,
but to her prayers restored."
768
00:51:20,483 --> 00:51:24,683
Having a mentally fragile
king appears not to have
769
00:51:24,683 --> 00:51:27,043
destabilised the nation.
770
00:51:27,043 --> 00:51:32,683
If anything, it humanised him
in the eyes of his people.
771
00:51:32,683 --> 00:51:37,723
The irony is that King George III
was virtually the only
772
00:51:37,723 --> 00:51:42,763
monarch left standing in Europe
by the end of the 18th century.
773
00:51:42,763 --> 00:51:47,563
But the story doesn't end there.
There's another medal.
774
00:51:50,083 --> 00:51:55,923
Dr Willis had his own medals struck.
He paid for these himself.
775
00:51:55,923 --> 00:52:00,763
They're different grades.
This is the cheaper copper version.
776
00:52:00,763 --> 00:52:05,603
And this is the deluxe
shiny tin model.
777
00:52:05,603 --> 00:52:10,883
We've got a picture of Dr Willis on
the front and on the back, it says,
778
00:52:10,883 --> 00:52:15,203
"Britons rejoice,
your King's restored."
779
00:52:15,203 --> 00:52:19,323
The message is,
"I'm Dr Willis, I restored him."
780
00:52:19,323 --> 00:52:22,563
It's the most fantastic
bit of self-promotion.
781
00:52:22,563 --> 00:52:24,683
A bit like an advert, really,
782
00:52:24,683 --> 00:52:28,523
for this man you might almost
call a psychiatrist.
783
00:52:28,523 --> 00:52:34,083
And I think the significance
is that this profession
784
00:52:34,083 --> 00:52:39,363
of psychiatry is coming out of the
shadows, it's getting respectable.
785
00:52:39,363 --> 00:52:42,763
This is its moment of triumph,
if you like,
786
00:52:42,763 --> 00:52:44,163
captured in tin.
787
00:52:49,043 --> 00:52:55,483
George may be restored to health,
but Margaret gets no medal
788
00:52:55,483 --> 00:52:57,883
and no redemption.
789
00:52:59,163 --> 00:53:03,443
It would be 25 years before the
government started to concern
790
00:53:03,443 --> 00:53:09,323
itself with the horrific
conditions inside public asylums.
791
00:53:09,323 --> 00:53:15,563
During that time, the King
did relapse in 1801 and 1804.
792
00:53:15,563 --> 00:53:19,283
He convalesced for a
while in the home of a friend,
793
00:53:19,283 --> 00:53:22,883
an MP named George Rose.
794
00:53:24,083 --> 00:53:29,243
Witnessing George's illness helped
galvanise Rose and, in 1815,
795
00:53:29,243 --> 00:53:34,643
he led a select committee,
charged with investigating Bethlem.
796
00:53:36,483 --> 00:53:40,643
These are the minutes of this
parliamentary committee
797
00:53:40,643 --> 00:53:45,683
that's looking into the "better
regulation of madhouses in England".
798
00:53:45,683 --> 00:53:50,163
They're calling all
sorts of witnesses to give evidence
799
00:53:50,163 --> 00:53:54,403
and a very dark picture
is being painted
800
00:53:54,403 --> 00:53:56,083
of existing conditions.
801
00:53:57,443 --> 00:54:00,043
This part's really distressing.
802
00:54:00,043 --> 00:54:04,283
We've got a witness who's seen
"unfortunate women locked
803
00:54:04,283 --> 00:54:10,443
"up in their cells,
naked and chained, on straw,
804
00:54:10,443 --> 00:54:15,203
"with just one
blanket for a covering".
805
00:54:15,203 --> 00:54:18,523
Now, George Rose clearly
suspects that there have been
806
00:54:18,523 --> 00:54:22,643
male keepers looking after female
patients, which is
807
00:54:22,643 --> 00:54:25,603
inappropriate,
power could have been abused here.
808
00:54:25,603 --> 00:54:29,003
And he's really going
after Dr Monro,
809
00:54:29,003 --> 00:54:31,203
who's in charge
of the Bethlem Hospital.
810
00:54:31,203 --> 00:54:35,203
Dr Monro says, "In Bethlem,
the restraint is by chains.
811
00:54:35,203 --> 00:54:40,243
"There is no such thing as chains
in my private mental hospital."
812
00:54:40,243 --> 00:54:44,443
And he's asked about this.
Why the difference in standard?
813
00:54:44,443 --> 00:54:46,283
And Dr Monro says,
814
00:54:46,283 --> 00:54:52,203
"Well, it's because chains are
fit only for pauper lunatics."
815
00:54:52,203 --> 00:54:54,363
Isn't that shocking?
816
00:54:54,363 --> 00:54:58,723
He says, "If a gentleman was
put in irons, he would not like it."
817
00:54:58,723 --> 00:55:00,203
Too right!
818
00:55:00,203 --> 00:55:03,163
I don't think Dr Monro
realised how much
819
00:55:03,163 --> 00:55:07,163
he was going to damn himself by this
statement. It caused a scandal.
820
00:55:07,163 --> 00:55:09,763
People were offended by this
idea of a double standard
821
00:55:09,763 --> 00:55:11,443
for rich and for poor.
822
00:55:11,443 --> 00:55:16,003
The fallout of this was
so bad that Dr Monro had to resign.
823
00:55:19,123 --> 00:55:23,043
This committee exposed
the sexual abuse
824
00:55:23,043 --> 00:55:27,163
and excessive restraint that
had been rife for decades.
825
00:55:27,163 --> 00:55:32,963
It was a watershed moment,
a process of reform had begun.
826
00:55:32,963 --> 00:55:35,203
Fearing further censure,
827
00:55:35,203 --> 00:55:39,403
Bethlem started keeping
individual patient notes.
828
00:55:42,003 --> 00:55:45,763
Now, these books
are from after 1815,
829
00:55:45,763 --> 00:55:49,723
when they had to keep
fuller records.
830
00:55:49,723 --> 00:55:55,243
So I'm really hoping these might
shed some more light on Margaret.
831
00:55:59,443 --> 00:56:04,243
Because of the King's illness,
and the reform that followed,
832
00:56:04,243 --> 00:56:08,923
I can now at least find
her in the records.
833
00:56:11,603 --> 00:56:13,563
Oh, look at this!
834
00:56:13,563 --> 00:56:15,923
It's progress reports,
835
00:56:15,923 --> 00:56:17,963
in 1816,
836
00:56:17,963 --> 00:56:21,163
1817, 1819...
837
00:56:21,163 --> 00:56:27,163
By this time, she's been
in the hospital for nearly 30 years.
838
00:56:28,403 --> 00:56:35,363
It says here she's now in
"an advanced stage of her life
839
00:56:35,363 --> 00:56:37,843
"and is perfectly deaf.
840
00:56:37,843 --> 00:56:43,923
"She's decent in her appearance and
quiet and civil in her demeanour."
841
00:56:45,403 --> 00:56:47,483
It sounds to me like she's better.
842
00:56:50,043 --> 00:56:52,003
And then the records stop.
843
00:56:53,763 --> 00:56:57,283
It's really fantastic to get
a glimpse of a real person here.
844
00:56:59,043 --> 00:57:01,283
And she doesn't seem like
845
00:57:01,283 --> 00:57:07,763
either a criminal or a patient any
more. She's just a quiet old lady.
846
00:57:07,763 --> 00:57:11,283
Do you know what?
I've got a little tear in my eye.
847
00:57:20,403 --> 00:57:24,763
Reform really came too
late for Margaret Nicholson.
848
00:57:24,763 --> 00:57:28,763
She was incarcerated
in Bethlem for 42 years
849
00:57:28,763 --> 00:57:32,803
and died on 14th May 1828.
850
00:57:34,323 --> 00:57:38,163
George III was suffering
from chronic mania and dementia
851
00:57:38,163 --> 00:57:43,523
when he died
on 29th January 1820.
852
00:57:43,523 --> 00:57:47,963
This encounter between
George and Margaret
853
00:57:47,963 --> 00:57:49,723
happened at...
854
00:57:49,723 --> 00:57:55,523
In fact, it fed into this key
moment of change for the science
855
00:57:55,523 --> 00:57:57,043
of psychiatry
856
00:57:57,043 --> 00:58:01,363
and for the reform
of psychiatric asylums.
857
00:58:01,363 --> 00:58:05,603
There's still so much more to
learn about the complexities
858
00:58:05,603 --> 00:58:10,043
of mental illness,
but this was the starting point.
74402
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