Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751) epigram (quoted by William Makepeace Thackeray, “Four Georges”):
“Here lies poor Fred who was alive and is dead,
Had it been his father I had much rather,
Had it been his sister nobody would have missed her,
Had it been his brother, still better than another,
Had it been the whole generation, so much better for the nation,
But since it is Fred who was alive and is dead,
There is no more to be said!”
Because Frederick died before his father, King George II, his son would inherit the throne and become King George III. George III was king of England during the Revolutionary War.