George II was born on November 9, 1683, at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover, the son of George Louis, future elector of Hanover and King George I of Great Britain, and Sophia Dorothea of Celle. His parents’ marriage collapsed amid scandal, and his mother was confined for the remainder of her life. George was raised at the Hanoverian court and educated in languages, military subjects, and the responsibilities of a German prince.

He married Caroline of Ansbach in 1705. Their partnership was politically important and personally close, despite George’s mistresses. Caroline was intelligent and cultivated, and she helped mediate between her husband and British ministers. When George I inherited the British throne in 1714, the younger George moved to Britain as Prince of Wales. He and his father quarreled frequently, and the prince became a focus for political opposition to the king’s ministers.

George II succeeded to the throne in 1727. Although he never fully lost his German accent or attachment to Hanover, he became experienced in British constitutional government, where ministers required parliamentary support and royal influence operated through appointments and patronage. He relied heavily on Robert Walpole during the early part of his reign. Queen Caroline remained a major adviser until her death in 1737.

The king took military matters seriously and personally commanded at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, the last British monarch to lead an army in battle. He also confronted the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the broader War of the Austrian Succession. By the 1750s George’s desire to protect Hanover shaped his view of European alliances. Britain’s global rivalry with France had to be balanced against the vulnerability of his German electorate, helping drive the alliance with Frederick II of Prussia before the Seven Years’ War.