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Today in
1765 King William IV was born in Buckingham Palace. So often looked
over by historians and royalists alike, William IV lived an
extraordinary life that covered war, peace, rebellion and personal
triumph. He is perhaps best known for being the oldest person to
come to the throne (aged 64) and for his fierce protection of the
young Princess Victoria, who was to be his successor.
The young Prince William Henry was, at birth, third in line to the
throne and was not expected to succeed at all. Owing to this,
William joined the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen and saw action
during the American War of Independence, where the nefarious
American rebels sought to break away from the supposedly
‘tyrannical’ rule of his father, George III. During the war,
William gained notoriety for walking around New York unattended and
therefore became the centre of a plot by George Washington to
kidnap him and use him as a bartering chip in negotiations. The
plot, in the end, came to nothing.
William, on his return to Britain, sought to become a Duke in the
same style as his brothers. The initial refusal was met with
hostility from William and, in order to put pressure on the King,
William threatened to enter the House of Commons to make a
spectacle as members of the Royal family were not expected to be in
the public field. George III finally gave in and created William
the Duke of Clarence and St Andrews in 1789.
William also saw action in the Napoleonic Wars, and was shot in the
chest at the bombardment of Antwerp in 1813. His promotion to the
ceremonial title of Admiral gave William a long lasting affinity
and love of the Royal Navy. Consequently, when he became King, he
was known as the “Sailor King”.
When King George III died, following bouts of illness assumed to be
Porphyria, William’s brother became King George IV and William
moved up to second in line to the throne behind his brother,
Frederick, Duke of York. George IV had no legitimate children by
his wife Queen Caroline of Brunswick (she apparently smelt and on
their wedding night George passed out in the fire place!) and the
popular knowledge of the ill health of the Duke of York meant that
it was becoming more and more possible that William would one day
become King.
William was appointed Lord High Admiral in 1827 and, in what can be
described as probably the biggest temper tantrum in history, fell
out with the Admiralty itself over some small spurn. William took a
squadron of ships from Portsmouth and put it to sea for ten days
without telling anyone where he was going… a bit extreme maybe but
still pretty impressive!
At the age of 64, William eventually became King upon the death of
his brother George and in 1831 he was crowned King William IV. His
reign was a short but tempestuous one; falling out with parliament,
dissolving parliament, taking a firm stance on foreigners and,
perhaps most memorably, his long standing feud with the Duchess of
Kent.
The Duchess of Kent was the widow of William’s younger brother
Edward, Duke of Kent. Edward had died in 1820, leaving his wife to
fall into the arms of “that evil advisor” John Conroy who the
Duchess made her Private Secretary and, some say, her lover. It has
even been suspected that Princess Victoria may have actually been
Conroy’s daughter, but personally I think that’s tosh. William
hated Conroy and the way he and the Duchess treated Victoria. The
Duchess was selfish, vain, haughty and greedy; one of the main
reasons for the feud was the Duchess annexing more rooms then she
was allowed at Kensington Palace. William knew that, should he die
before Victoria came of age, it would lead to a Regency headed by
the Duchess and her dastardly “lover” Conroy.
At a dinner to celebrate the King’s birthday, things finally came
to a head. The King exploded at the Duchess shouting: “I trust
to God that my life may be spared for nine months longer … I should
then have the satisfaction of leaving the exercise of the Royal
authority to the personal authority of that young lady (Victoria),
heiress presumptive to the Crown, and not in the hands of a person
now near me (Duchess of Kent), who is surrounded by evil advisers
and is herself incompetent to act with propriety in the situation
in which she would be placed.” Talk about making a party
memorable!
William got his wish in the end. He died aged 71, only a month
after his niece Victoria came of age. An interesting fellow and
often overlooked because of his mad, colony losing father, drunken
and charming brother, and his long lived and imposing niece.
Photo credit: Tim Green via photopin cc]]>
Great post! So informative- thank you!