At least once an episode I rolled my eyes at the show trying to make George III a romantic figure, but despite the tyranny, I did feel bad for him about his mental illness, which may or may not have been bipolar but was portrayed more as some kind of schizophrenia. Despite his mental health issues, he and Charlotte do have a charming romance and were allegedly devoted to each other in real life as well.

They were, despite really meeting for the first time on the day of their wedding. While Bridgerton never pretends at historical accuracy (au contraire, as their disclaimer tells), I will say that their G3 is at least as accurate as Hamilton's, because Farmer George, mental illness or not, was the least flamboyant of all the Hannovers and yes, the first faithful husband (and for a long time the last) of the clan. (Not the first husband in love of his wife. G2 was crazy about Caroline, but he did cheat on her, not least because it was socially expected of him.) As far as heroes of romance are concerned, G3 works better than the rest of his family.

(Speaking of his family, the Bridgerton version in order to heighten the importance of Charlotte conceiving an heir edits out all of G3's brothers and sisters, of which there were a lot. This includes poor Caroline Matilda, G3's youngest sister who married mentally ill King Christian of Denmark, had a love affair with his doctor-and-favourite Struensee and is the heroine of the movie with Mads Mikelsen as Struensee. The whole thing ended in tears, Struensee executed and Caroline Matilda banished to Hanover where she died just a few years later. Talk about how royal marriages could go in that era.)

Tyranny: well, due to the fact that at time time the Prime Minister and Parliament did most of the ruling already, he didn't have the chance to be much of one, compared with most of the other European monarchs. (The ones in Sweden were also constitutional monarchs, but the rest were absolute monarchs.) I mean, I know American propaganda built him up as a tyrannical figure, but I always thought this is because complaining about the tyranny of Parliament and PM just is less efficient rethoric. Which isn't to say G3 pre mental illness (which the Bridgerton version lets occur decades before it did in rl) was a champion of liberalism or equality. He liked his Tories better than his Whigs, and even young G3, when acceeding to the throne, was all offended dignity when cousin Frederick the Great (this was mid 7 Years War, in which Prussia and England were allies) sent him a letter which presumed equality (at least). But he did have a hardcore work ethic, took his responsibilities seriously, and was actually the first Hannover King to be personally popular as King (as opposed to as Prince of Wales) in his own country, which, again, is more than the majority of his contemporaries on the thrones could claim.

re: The Bridgerton version: it amuses me that the show's aesthetic goes with vaguely Georgian outre wigs for the ladies (best embodied by Charlotte herself, of course) but draws the line at wigs for the men, hence George walking around with a short modern haircut. I also thought that for the fluffy romance genre which this show is, the depiction of what in the 18th century constituted progressive treatment for the mentally ill was amazingly dark (and sad to say semi realistic - even for this particular case; most of what was done to G3 probably made things worse), and the romance between the two footmen was sweet and poignant. (Also , it's a m/m couple with actual screen time and characterisation, not just minor characters without either.)

Have you ever seen the filmed version of Alan Bennett's play, The Madness of King George? That one has Nigel Hawthorne as G3 and Helen Mirren as Charlotte, and their relationship is one of its strengths as well. (Its theory of G3's illness as porphyria is based on now outdated research, but such is life.)