A 300th birthday bash has begun with cannon-fire at the Tower of London to mark three centuries of the Hanovarian dynasty whose descendants still rule Britain today.
A 19-gun solute by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery marked the anniversary of George I, Elector of Hanover, being invited to take the throne—although he didn’t take up the offer until August 1, 1714.
He got a right royal welcome at the time, when Handel composed his Royal Fireworks Music first performed on a barge for a Thames summer pageant that year in honour of the new king.
Goerge started a bit of a tradition, being followed by his son, grandson and great-grandson all named the same who turned the rest of the 18th century and first chunk of the 19th into the Georgian golden era—that was until George IV’s niece, our present Queen Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother, ushered in the even-more golden Victorian era.
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