He succeeded his father as Count of
Schaumburg-Lippe on 13 February 1787, at the age of 2, due to his age, his mother
Princess Juliane acted as
regent. However
William IX, Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel occupied all of Schaumburg-Lippe except for
Wilhelmstein, after invading it to enforce his claim to Schaumburg-Lippe based on Princess Juliane's supposed
morganatic ancestry. The Imperial Court in Vienna, however, ruled in favor of George William and ordered Landgrave William IX to withdraw, which he did after a two-month occupation. Schaumburg-Lippe joined the
Confederation of the Rhine on 15 December 1807 and was raised to a
principality: George William became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1815, Schaumburg-Lippe joined the
German Confederation. ==Marriage and children==