Both Prince George and Lt. George are portrayed as dim-witted "upper class twits". The son of
King George III, Lieutenant George, stationed in the trenches of
World War I, retains his enthusiastic naiveté, despite being stuck in the trenches for three years, revealing a lack of awareness of the seriousness of his circumstances; Robert Bianco of
USA Today stated the character "smiles through in the face of certain death". Both men are portrayed as very incompetent, in "
Nob and Nobility", it takes Prince George a week to put on a pair of trousers by himself, eventually putting them on his head. George relies heavily on his butler,
Mr. E. Blackadder Esq., even while Blackadder despises George for his stupidity. While George is considered foolish, and completely self-absorbed, he is helpful and loyal, and is aware he is not very intelligent, describing himself as "thick as a whale omelette". In a 2008 retrospective, co-star
Stephen Fry said George's keenness for self-improvement was one of the things he felt made the character likeable. In "
Duel and Duality," the final episode of the third series, after a sexual encounter with the Duke of Wellington's nieces, this princely incarnation of George is struck in the chest by a point-blank shot from the vengeful Wellington's pistol and killed, Wellington having become increasingly exasperated with George's behaviour, not realizing that George and Blackadder had switched identities. George briefly awakes, believing that he may have a cigarillo case on him that deflected the blow, but when he realises that he must have left the case at home on his dresser, promptly falls dead again in Baldrick's arms; Blackadder, disguised as the Prince Regent in order to take his place in the duel with Wellington, takes George's place to become
George IV. George's incarnation as Lieutenant
The Honourable George Colthurst St. Barleigh
MC, in
Blackadder Goes Forth, is a frontline officer. His character draws a lot of similarities to the naive 2nd Lt. Raleigh from
R C Sherriff's 1928 play ''
Journey's End''; as well as being strongly reminiscent in both manner and personality of
Bertie Wooster (as whom Laurie would
later go on to appear). George joined the army on the first day of World War I, along with nine other students at
Cambridge University. It is revealed later, in the fourth series' finale, that George is the only surviving member of the group. Although he lacks any kind of skill, competence, or authority as an officer, his upper-class status and educational background meant he went straight into the commissioned ranks upon enlisting. Melchett even offers George a way out of the trenches for the "final push", which he refuses, much to Blackadder's incredulity. Although George is shown to have benefited from his background of privilege, he still remains a generally kind and hopeful individual, and shortly before the big push at the end of the final episode George finally expresses some genuine fear and sadness that he may indeed die. In the 1989 sketch
Shakespeare Sketch Laurie portrays a very George-like
William Shakespeare.
Lord Blackadder is his agent and manages to persuade him to condense his new play
Hamlet.
Awards and decorations In the series, Lieutenant George is seen wearing the following ribbons: ==Development==