In this biographical series that begins in 1784, twenty-one-year-old George, Prince of Wales-- the eldest son of King George III and heir to the British throne-- spends his youth idly by keeping countless mistresses, drinking profusely, and making friends with the radical Whig Opposition, much to the dismay of his father and the conservative Tories. While the Prince of Wales is handsome, witty, and intelligent, he is also vain, haughty, and melodramatic. However, his Whig friends overlook his vices in the hopes that their political alliance with him will one day be in their favor, as they hope to one day retake the government from the Tories. The Prince of Wales gets himself into even more difficulties with an illegal marriage, accumulating debts, and an evermore distant relationship with his parents. This finally culminates in the Regency Crisis of 1788: when King George III suffers through a serious mental illness, the Prince of Wales' true disposition is finally revealed before the public eye.