Maria Anna died young and George stayed unmarried for the rest of his long life.

He succeeded Albert as King of Saxony on 19 June 1902, albeit for just a brief two-year reign.

On 15 October 1904 he died in Pillnitz and was succeeded by his eldest son, Frederick Augustus III (1865–1932), who was deposed in 1918.

He divorced by royal decree his eldest son from his daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Luise.

Luise's flight from Dresden was due to her father-in-law's threatening to have her interned in a mental asylum at the Sonnenstein Castle for life.