George, King of Saxony

George (Georg; 8 August 1832 – 15 October 1904) was king of Saxony and member of the House of Wettin.

Early life
George was born in the Saxon capital Dresden. He was the second son of King John of Saxony (1801–1873) and his wife, Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria (1801–1877), daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (1756–1825).

Marriage
On 11 May 1859 at Belém Palace, Lisbon, George married, Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal, eldest surviving daughter of Queen Maria II of Portugal and her consort, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, and the younger sister of King Pedro V of Portugal. Maria Anna died young and George stayed unmarried for the rest of his long life.

Military career
George served under his brother Albert's command during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and in the Franco-German War. In the re-organisation of the army which accompanied the march towards Paris, his brother the Crown Prince gained a separate command over the 4th army (Army of the Meuse) consisting of the Saxon XII corps, the Prussian Guard corps, and the IV (Prussian Saxony) corps and George succeeded him in command of the XII corps.

King of Saxony
Prince George was a Generalfeldmarschall before his ascension. It gradually became clear that George's elder brother, Albert (1828–1902), and his wife, Queen Carola (1833–1907), would not have any children, thereby making George the heir presumptive to the throne. He succeeded Albert as King of Saxony on 19 June 1902, albeit for just a brief two-year reign. On 15 October 1904 he died in Pillnitz and was succeeded by his eldest son, Frederick Augustus III (1865–1932), who was deposed in 1918.

King George was a controversial figure. He divorced by royal decree his eldest son from his daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Luise. Luise's flight from Dresden was due to her father-in-law's threatening to have her interned in a mental asylum at the Sonnenstein Castle for life.

Honours and awards
• Kingdom of Saxony:

• * Knight of the Rue Crown, 1833

• * Commander of the Military Order of St. Henry, 1st Class, 1870; Grand Cross, 1898

• * Grand Cross of the Albert Order

•  Kingdom of Prussia:

• * Knight of the Black Eagle, 29 November 1847; with Collar

• * Pour le Mérite (military), 6 December 1870; with Oak Leaves, 8 March 1896

• * Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd Classes

• * Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, 6 September 1879

•  Austrian Empire:

• * Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1849

• * Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1862

•  Grand Duchy of Hesse:

• * Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 9 June 1851

• * Military Merit Cross, 9 July 1871

•  Kingdom of Hanover: Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, 1851

•  Russian Empire:

• * Knight of St. Andrew, May 1852

• * Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, May 1852

•  Kingdom of Bavaria: Knight of St. Hubert, 1853

•    Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, 1854

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 8 August 1855

•  Hesse-Kassel: Knight of the Golden Lion, 27 September 1857

•  Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 28 September 1857

•  Brunswick: Grand Cross of Henry the Lion, 1857

•  Baden:

• * Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1858

• * Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion, 1858

•  Nassau: Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau, November 1865

•  Württemberg:

• * Grand Cross of the Military Merit Order, 30 December 1870

• * Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1886

•  Oldenburg: Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, 29 April 1876

• 🇹🇭 Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 24 August 1897

•  Empire of Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 31 January 1903

•  Kingdom of Portugal:

• * Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword

• * Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders