Which King Of England Spoke No English?

George I, great grandson of James I, became king in 1714 when Queen Anne died without an heir. The founder of the House of Hanover, he was already 54 when he inherited the throne, had never learned English and made little attempt to do so. In fact George disliked England and spent as little time there as possible. It was largely because of the king's lack of English that the post of Prime Minister was created. Sir Robert Walpole took his place at council meetings and performed many duties which had previously belonged to the monarch but which George did not have the language skills to carry out.
While not very popular with the English, George was generally preferred to his Catholic rivals and kept his throne, despite occasional unrest, until his death in 1727. He was less disliked as a ruler than for his private life; there was widespread indignation at his treatment of his wife, whom he imprisoned for 38 years on grounds of adultery. He may well have murdered her supposed lover; rumour had it that the lover was buried under the floorboards of the Hanover Palace.

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