Today's monarch of England is one you've probably never heard of. William IV... the "Sailor King," didn't leave much of an impression on the world in his seven year reign... but coming between an absolute profligate like George IV and a hugely popular queen like Victoria, one tends to get overshadowed.
William IV reigned during a time of change, and over a court that was in real danger of becoming extinct. Would the people finally become fed up with the royals and overthrow them? Would Parliament sideline them into obscurity? What WAS the role of a monarch in the new, industrializing world? The short answer was: King William IV had no clue.
Here we go with William IV!
- Born in 1765, the third son of George III and Charlotte, William was never really considered a candidate for the throne. Surely, George or Frederick would have at least ONE legitimate son between them, right? Wrong. Both were notorious rakes who left no legitimate heirs behind.
- Like many third sons of Hanoverian monarchs, William joined the navy. He lived like many of the other sailors, although he had a private tutor. He got drunk, got into fights, and even got arrested after a drunken bar brawl. (He was immediately released when they found out who he was, of course.)
- During the American Revolutionary War, William served the crown in New York. Most people had no idea who he was. When it was found out, the Americans plotted to kidnap him, but it never came to pass.
- After he became a captain in his own right, he became good friends with Admiral Horatio Nelson. They would remain friends throughout his life. Nelson remarked that Prince William was better than roughly 2/3 of his officers. This is a nice way of saying "He was... meh." He devoted his life to the navy, eventually becoming a rear admiral.
- William was known for two things: An almost obsessive compulsion to follow rules and impose order, and being as boring as hell. Many greatly dreaded his speeches, which were ponderous and tiring ordeals. William was well known to be able to talk about rules, regulations, and minutia. He went on and on about things ad nauseum. While not unpleasant like his older brother, he had a very dull sense of humor, and generally didn't know when he was being made fun of.
- And made fun of, he was. He had a rather large cranium, earning him the nickname "Pineapple" or "Pineapple Head." He was ridiculous, though surely most of his soldiers only dared to mock him behind his back... for he was known for strict, almost Draconian punishments when someone had broken the rules.
- At 24, he decided that he deserved to be a Duke, same as his older brothers. His father refused, now quite leery of giving his sons any more power than he absolutely had to. William threatened to run for the House of Commons. This shocked king George III deeply. The thought of his awkward, straight laced son reduced to CAMPAIGNING for office disgusted the king. So, George III made William the Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews.
- Now 25, he quit the navy to work full time at being a Duke. He proved to be a weak politician, waffling constantly on issues, switching sides, and generally being ignored by everyone around him. He turned to drinking, and managed to fall down a flight of stairs in a stupor. He broke his arm, which would pain him the rest of his life. Later, he made a slightly drunken speech in Parliament opposing war. This did little to impress anyone, and when war broke out against Napoleon, William was refused a post commanding a ship... or anything at all, for that matter.
- William was angry. He was from the navy, dammit, and serving as a naval officer was in his blood! He pestered, begged, and demanded a position. Finally, near the end of the war, Parliament caved in and gave him the honorary position of "Admiral of the Fleet." William had no idea what that meant, and neither did anyone else. Nothing came of it. He saw no action... although a shot did nearly hit him when he was visiting a battlefield... once.
- Another major point of the day was the abolition of slavery. Slavery was already illegal in Britain, but legal in its colonies. George was against abolition, stating that living as free men was far worse than being a slave, as slaves were at least cared for by their masters. He also believed that non-whites were mentally inferior to whites, an opinion he was quick to defend.
- In contrast, he was all for reform in other areas. He believed that all Christians should be allowed to worship as they saw fit, Protestant, Catholic, or whatever. He believed that women accused of adultery should be able to marry again, if they so chose. His political style was called "completely unpredictable."
- In matters of love, William was more like his father than his philandering older brothers. William fell in love with an actress (who really WAS an actress, in addition to being an *ahem,* actress.) named Dorothea Bland in his mid 20s. Her maiden name was the object of ridicule when it came to the prince, and many said he should change his name to Duke William Bland, to match his personality.
- George III approved of his cohabitation with Dorothea. He even built them a little house (by royal standards,) called "Bushy House." There, the couple lived very modestly, more like an upper middle class family than royals. George could have pressured William into marrying a respectable girl, but he was the third son, so there was no way he was going to be an heir, anyway. As long as one of his two older brothers had any children, female or male, William was behind them in line.
- William and Dorothea had a staggering 10 children. Five sons and five daughters. They were all given the surname "Fitzclarence," and the rather unimaginative given names of all of William's siblings.
- Though he lived simply, William had no regular income, save for a stipend from his father. This was not nearly enough, (George III was quite mean when it came to allowances,) and William racked up debt. While these debts were nothing in comparison to his brother, George, they were big enough to impoverish William and Dorothea. The finances took a toll on their relationship, and in 1811, after 20 years, the two broke up. Dorothea was given a small allowance and custody of the girls, on the condition she never take the stage again. (It was considered indecent, and of course most actresses were also prostitutes at that time.) However, she ran out of money, and began acting (and probably other 'jobs') to make ends meet. William found out, took the girls away, and cut her allowance even further. She fled to France to escape creditors, and died in poverty there later.
By now, William was deeply in debt. His father was now insane, and his brother was running the country as regent. George the Regent was far more interested in spending money in insane amounts than covering the debts of his little brothers, so William tried to marry rich heiresses. The women saw through his bumbling attempts at romance, and saw him for the gold-digging princeling he was. When regent George's only daughter, Charlotte, died in childbirth, the situation suddenly changed....
- King George III had plenty of children... but not one legitimate grandchild. The year was 1817. William was 52. George was obese, sick, and had no living heirs. Frederick, the second son, was old, and he had long since separated with his eccentric wife, whom he hated. (She was basically an old cat lady... but with monkeys instead of cats.) They had had no children. With Charlotte's death, suddenly ALL the royal children had a bead on the throne!
- William desperately needed a child from an acceptable woman. He needed a wife. However, due to the Royal Marriages act, the king had to approve the marriage. George III was a raving shut-in, so that job fell to the Regent, George. George disapproved of many of William's best prospects, leaving William to scrabble for whoever would marry him. The list was incredibly short... William was old, he was boring, he was not very bright, his head was shaped funny, and he had 9 kids left to care for. William's younger brother, Adolphus, was sent to find a match... it finally came down to Augusta of Hesse-Kassel. However, Adolphus fell in love with her, convinced her father to turn down the offer, then married her himself. The joke was on poor, dull William.
- Finally, a 25 year old young daughter of a Duke was found. She was willing to marry the old man, care for his many children, and play the part of dutiful wife. Her name was Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Their marriage was a good one. She got his finances in order, and William gave up his mistresses and would remain devoted to Adelaide until his death. Sadly, none of their children survived childhood. Charlotte died the day she was born, a second child was stillborn, and Elizabeth died at 12 weeks old of a bowel obstruction.
- Now determined to outlive his older brothers, William turned to fitness. He walked every evening, stopped drinking alcohol, and ate reasonably. This was all very amusing, and his older brothers mocked the hell out of him, it is said. George III died in 1820, and now, William worked in earnest to succeed George IV. Seven years later, Frederick died, making William next in line. Now, all he had to do was outlast George IV... which wasn't really that difficult.
- Determined to be useful, William saw to it that he was appointed to Admiral of the Navy. (Remember, he had that title, but no real responsibilities.) The office had long been held by a council, but William took it over personally. He started reformation in the Navy. He outlawed lashing with the cat o' nine tails, reorganized much of the cataloging of ships and men, and began to modernize the navy with steam ships. William knew the navy, and he was good at his job... but he made mistakes... now completely in control of something, he seems to have gone a bit power mad.
- William took a fleet of 10 ships out on a patrol.. and didn't return. He had not told anyone where he was going. No one knew. The king, as well as the rest of the navy, was in a panic! Where the hell was William, and what was he doing with 10 ships? Starting a war? Causing an incident? Who knew??? William returned after a few days with the ships intact. He had simply taken them out on a cruise on a whim. The king demanded his immediate resignation. William had no choice. He was once again in charge of nothing.
- Soon, George IV was mad and dying. William, ever the man of limited intelligence and tact, started 'practicing' at being king. No one really wanted William as king, but he was next in line, after all. When George IV died, William ascended the throne at the age of 64. He was and remains the oldest person to ever ascend the British throne.
- Right away, he was in charge of a deeply ailing country. His brother had bankrupted the treasury, Parliament was deeply corrupt and controlled by the House of Lords, and the people generally hated both the monarchy AND the government.
- William IV was a much better leader than most Hanoverians. George III had always asked questions, but never bothered to wait for the answer. George IV had refused to work with Parliament, as he was afraid of looking like the fool that he was. William recognized that he was a boring old man, and usually way out of his depth when it came to politics. So, he only made decisions after listening to many points of view from his ministers.
- He also became popular with the people. He was frugal, and he didn't act royal. He "popped in" to say hi to the common folk. He gave people rides in his carriage when he was out and about. He played with local children, and attended parties with people of all classes. It seemed he was the first Hanoverian king without major issues.
- He gutted the royal finances, throwing away all the excessive crap that his brother had so loved. He gave most of the royal palaces to the people, and encouraged them to use them as museums or schools. He even tried to give Buckingham palace to the army, and let Parliament use it after the Parliament building was burned in a fire. When people came to visit him, he insisted that they not bother with dressing up. He liked his meetings plain, though etiquette and rules were still to be stuck to, with no excuses.
- However, the old Hanoverian curse came to haunt him. His five sons all hated him, and were a constant source of embarrassment and disappointment. His health very rapidly began to fail, and he was prone to mumble and lose track of what he was doing from time to time. Luckily, the madness was mild, and it never overtook him like it did his father or brother.
- All would have been fine for William, however, the government had reached a breaking point... reform had been resisted for so long that the entire system was corrupt to the point of being paralyzed. Entire districts were now without constituents, and some had ministers, but as few as 7 voters in the entire area. These "Rotten Boroughs" and "Pocket Boroughs" were a pain, as that meant that an area with 8 voters in it sometimes had as much political power as one with hundreds of thousands in it. Of course, this suited the crusty old nobles just fine, who were quite happy to have two MPs, the same as entire swaths of London or York.
- The first Reform bill was shot down by the Tories. Many in parliament wanted to dissolve the government and have new votes, however, only the king could do that. William was worried, as he thought that doing so would throw the country into chaos. However, this caused his opposition to mock him as ineffectual and weak... and propose a new act that would forever remove the power of the king to dissolve parliament. William IV lost his temper.
- William demanded to go down to Parliament and chastise them himself. He looked every bit the cranky old man, waving his cane around and cursing about those "damned kids." When he was told that they couldn't arrange a horse and carriage on such short notice, the old king walked outside and hailed a taxi!
- His servants quickly found a nearby horse and carriage, and William IV stormed the Parliament building. He threw on his crown, gave the horse whip to one of his men, and marched in. The sight of the old king dissolving parliament, while Lord Londonderry whipped them, literally, out of the room, must have been not only comical, but inspiring. A new election was held, and the House of Commons easily was won by the reformers. However, the House of Lords would not be pushed over so easily.
- William IV set about showing the country that he was nothing like his deeply detested brother. He demanded that his coronation ceremony should cost less than one tenth as much as George IV's. He even gave some of his subjects a ride to the ceremony in his own personal carriage. He didn't live in a huge palace, he still resided in Bushy House, with a dutiful wife, and went on walks among the people. Though the Tories mocked him for this behavior, he didn't care. When several Tory MPs said they wouldn't come to his "half-crown" coronation, William said "Good, there will be more space and less hot air to contend with."
- Now fully installed as King, the bottom dropped out. The House of Lords shot down the reform bill, showing the world that they were quite happy to remain corrupt, thank-you-very-much-and-goodnight. The people of Great Britain began to riot. The corruption was too widespread, the government was ceasing to function, and the king seemed powerless to do anything but smile and wave and work on his own PR.
- The House of commons demanded that William IV appoint 22 new peers to the House of Lords, effectively stacking the House in his favor. William supported the reform bills, but that was taking things too far. When the PM and most leaders of Parliament threatened to resign, William calmly shrugged and let them resign. Government shut down, and the king caught all the blame. People threw mud at him and his carriage. He was publicly booed and hissed at during his speeches. A permanent mob formed in London. (Sort of an "Occupy London" movement.)
- Not knowing what else to do, William brought back his old government and promised to appoint the peers, if he must. Miraculously, the House of Lords, knowing their bluff had been called, abstained from voting on the reform bill, which meant that in 1832, the bill passed. Parliament was now in the hands of the people, not the nobles. The mob, overjoyed, publicly forgave the king and celebrated.
- Though he was known for his tactlessness and generally ridiculous personality, he turned out to be good at diplomacy. America had fought against his father, and again against his brother, the Regent, in the war of 1812. England hand burned down Washington D.C. Needless to say, relations were... tense. William IV sat down with the American ambassador and many guests, and said, loudly, that he was sad that he had not been "born a free, independent American, so much did he respect that nation, which had given birth to George Washington, the greatest man that ever lived." While this shocked the British, it brought the USA and Great Britain together, single handedly. The two have been allies ever since... and much of it was started with that one bold sentence.
- However, he hated the French. He made it WELL known that he blamed the French for nearly every woe England was suffering. He acknowledged that the USA had done the revolution "well," and that the French had utterly failed in that endeavor.
- Now visibly aging, William IV withdrew from politics, only emerging to open Parliament, and once to deny a Prime Minister from taking control of Parliament. He then appointed one that was more to his liking. (He would be the last monarch to do so.) He didn't like radicals, and sought only moderates to be appointed to all positions. He became fiercely stubborn about this as he got older.
- People began to talk about the heir to the throne. William's daughters were dead, and the rest of his children were illegitimate. George's children were all illegitimate, and Frederick had had no children with his wife at all. Adolphus, his next brother, had become the King of Hanover, which was now separated from the UK. His son would claim that throne. That meant that only the youngest son, Edward of Kent, had any legitimate heirs... a teenage girl named Alexandrina Victoria.
- Edward had long since died, and Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, hated William IV with a passion, and the feeling was mutual. Then again, the Duchess of Kent seemed to hate EVERYONE. William and his wife tried to become close to the 18 year old Victoria, only to be publicly disrespected by her crotchety mother. William responded by saying, at his birthday feast, that he only had one duty left in life, to outlive the Duchess of Kent, so that Victoria would come of age before he died... that way the hated Duchess would never become regent. He said that the Duchess was incompetent, ignorant, and dominated by evil advisers. The duchess and her daughter were both sitting next to him at the table. Victoria burst into tears. The Duchess remained stony faced, and refused to speak of the incident. The two left the next day.
- The next year, his beloved daughter Sophia died. William's heart was broken, and his health gave out on him. He died soon after. He managed to live one month longer than he needed to, and the crown passed to 19 year old Victoria. A slightly timid girl who had been raised to fear her uncles by her overbearing mother, Victoria would be a nice, quiet, timid little queen, right?
Right?????
William IV reigned during a time of change, and over a court that was in real danger of becoming extinct. Would the people finally become fed up with the royals and overthrow them? Would Parliament sideline them into obscurity? What WAS the role of a monarch in the new, industrializing world? The short answer was: King William IV had no clue.
Here we go with William IV!
- Born in 1765, the third son of George III and Charlotte, William was never really considered a candidate for the throne. Surely, George or Frederick would have at least ONE legitimate son between them, right? Wrong. Both were notorious rakes who left no legitimate heirs behind.
- Like many third sons of Hanoverian monarchs, William joined the navy. He lived like many of the other sailors, although he had a private tutor. He got drunk, got into fights, and even got arrested after a drunken bar brawl. (He was immediately released when they found out who he was, of course.)
- During the American Revolutionary War, William served the crown in New York. Most people had no idea who he was. When it was found out, the Americans plotted to kidnap him, but it never came to pass.
- After he became a captain in his own right, he became good friends with Admiral Horatio Nelson. They would remain friends throughout his life. Nelson remarked that Prince William was better than roughly 2/3 of his officers. This is a nice way of saying "He was... meh." He devoted his life to the navy, eventually becoming a rear admiral.
- William was known for two things: An almost obsessive compulsion to follow rules and impose order, and being as boring as hell. Many greatly dreaded his speeches, which were ponderous and tiring ordeals. William was well known to be able to talk about rules, regulations, and minutia. He went on and on about things ad nauseum. While not unpleasant like his older brother, he had a very dull sense of humor, and generally didn't know when he was being made fun of.
- And made fun of, he was. He had a rather large cranium, earning him the nickname "Pineapple" or "Pineapple Head." He was ridiculous, though surely most of his soldiers only dared to mock him behind his back... for he was known for strict, almost Draconian punishments when someone had broken the rules.
- At 24, he decided that he deserved to be a Duke, same as his older brothers. His father refused, now quite leery of giving his sons any more power than he absolutely had to. William threatened to run for the House of Commons. This shocked king George III deeply. The thought of his awkward, straight laced son reduced to CAMPAIGNING for office disgusted the king. So, George III made William the Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews.
- Now 25, he quit the navy to work full time at being a Duke. He proved to be a weak politician, waffling constantly on issues, switching sides, and generally being ignored by everyone around him. He turned to drinking, and managed to fall down a flight of stairs in a stupor. He broke his arm, which would pain him the rest of his life. Later, he made a slightly drunken speech in Parliament opposing war. This did little to impress anyone, and when war broke out against Napoleon, William was refused a post commanding a ship... or anything at all, for that matter.
- William was angry. He was from the navy, dammit, and serving as a naval officer was in his blood! He pestered, begged, and demanded a position. Finally, near the end of the war, Parliament caved in and gave him the honorary position of "Admiral of the Fleet." William had no idea what that meant, and neither did anyone else. Nothing came of it. He saw no action... although a shot did nearly hit him when he was visiting a battlefield... once.
- Another major point of the day was the abolition of slavery. Slavery was already illegal in Britain, but legal in its colonies. George was against abolition, stating that living as free men was far worse than being a slave, as slaves were at least cared for by their masters. He also believed that non-whites were mentally inferior to whites, an opinion he was quick to defend.
- In contrast, he was all for reform in other areas. He believed that all Christians should be allowed to worship as they saw fit, Protestant, Catholic, or whatever. He believed that women accused of adultery should be able to marry again, if they so chose. His political style was called "completely unpredictable."
- In matters of love, William was more like his father than his philandering older brothers. William fell in love with an actress (who really WAS an actress, in addition to being an *ahem,* actress.) named Dorothea Bland in his mid 20s. Her maiden name was the object of ridicule when it came to the prince, and many said he should change his name to Duke William Bland, to match his personality.
- George III approved of his cohabitation with Dorothea. He even built them a little house (by royal standards,) called "Bushy House." There, the couple lived very modestly, more like an upper middle class family than royals. George could have pressured William into marrying a respectable girl, but he was the third son, so there was no way he was going to be an heir, anyway. As long as one of his two older brothers had any children, female or male, William was behind them in line.
- William and Dorothea had a staggering 10 children. Five sons and five daughters. They were all given the surname "Fitzclarence," and the rather unimaginative given names of all of William's siblings.
- Though he lived simply, William had no regular income, save for a stipend from his father. This was not nearly enough, (George III was quite mean when it came to allowances,) and William racked up debt. While these debts were nothing in comparison to his brother, George, they were big enough to impoverish William and Dorothea. The finances took a toll on their relationship, and in 1811, after 20 years, the two broke up. Dorothea was given a small allowance and custody of the girls, on the condition she never take the stage again. (It was considered indecent, and of course most actresses were also prostitutes at that time.) However, she ran out of money, and began acting (and probably other 'jobs') to make ends meet. William found out, took the girls away, and cut her allowance even further. She fled to France to escape creditors, and died in poverty there later.
By now, William was deeply in debt. His father was now insane, and his brother was running the country as regent. George the Regent was far more interested in spending money in insane amounts than covering the debts of his little brothers, so William tried to marry rich heiresses. The women saw through his bumbling attempts at romance, and saw him for the gold-digging princeling he was. When regent George's only daughter, Charlotte, died in childbirth, the situation suddenly changed....
- King George III had plenty of children... but not one legitimate grandchild. The year was 1817. William was 52. George was obese, sick, and had no living heirs. Frederick, the second son, was old, and he had long since separated with his eccentric wife, whom he hated. (She was basically an old cat lady... but with monkeys instead of cats.) They had had no children. With Charlotte's death, suddenly ALL the royal children had a bead on the throne!
- William desperately needed a child from an acceptable woman. He needed a wife. However, due to the Royal Marriages act, the king had to approve the marriage. George III was a raving shut-in, so that job fell to the Regent, George. George disapproved of many of William's best prospects, leaving William to scrabble for whoever would marry him. The list was incredibly short... William was old, he was boring, he was not very bright, his head was shaped funny, and he had 9 kids left to care for. William's younger brother, Adolphus, was sent to find a match... it finally came down to Augusta of Hesse-Kassel. However, Adolphus fell in love with her, convinced her father to turn down the offer, then married her himself. The joke was on poor, dull William.
- Finally, a 25 year old young daughter of a Duke was found. She was willing to marry the old man, care for his many children, and play the part of dutiful wife. Her name was Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Their marriage was a good one. She got his finances in order, and William gave up his mistresses and would remain devoted to Adelaide until his death. Sadly, none of their children survived childhood. Charlotte died the day she was born, a second child was stillborn, and Elizabeth died at 12 weeks old of a bowel obstruction.
- Now determined to outlive his older brothers, William turned to fitness. He walked every evening, stopped drinking alcohol, and ate reasonably. This was all very amusing, and his older brothers mocked the hell out of him, it is said. George III died in 1820, and now, William worked in earnest to succeed George IV. Seven years later, Frederick died, making William next in line. Now, all he had to do was outlast George IV... which wasn't really that difficult.
- Determined to be useful, William saw to it that he was appointed to Admiral of the Navy. (Remember, he had that title, but no real responsibilities.) The office had long been held by a council, but William took it over personally. He started reformation in the Navy. He outlawed lashing with the cat o' nine tails, reorganized much of the cataloging of ships and men, and began to modernize the navy with steam ships. William knew the navy, and he was good at his job... but he made mistakes... now completely in control of something, he seems to have gone a bit power mad.
- William took a fleet of 10 ships out on a patrol.. and didn't return. He had not told anyone where he was going. No one knew. The king, as well as the rest of the navy, was in a panic! Where the hell was William, and what was he doing with 10 ships? Starting a war? Causing an incident? Who knew??? William returned after a few days with the ships intact. He had simply taken them out on a cruise on a whim. The king demanded his immediate resignation. William had no choice. He was once again in charge of nothing.
- Soon, George IV was mad and dying. William, ever the man of limited intelligence and tact, started 'practicing' at being king. No one really wanted William as king, but he was next in line, after all. When George IV died, William ascended the throne at the age of 64. He was and remains the oldest person to ever ascend the British throne.
- Right away, he was in charge of a deeply ailing country. His brother had bankrupted the treasury, Parliament was deeply corrupt and controlled by the House of Lords, and the people generally hated both the monarchy AND the government.
- William IV was a much better leader than most Hanoverians. George III had always asked questions, but never bothered to wait for the answer. George IV had refused to work with Parliament, as he was afraid of looking like the fool that he was. William recognized that he was a boring old man, and usually way out of his depth when it came to politics. So, he only made decisions after listening to many points of view from his ministers.
- He also became popular with the people. He was frugal, and he didn't act royal. He "popped in" to say hi to the common folk. He gave people rides in his carriage when he was out and about. He played with local children, and attended parties with people of all classes. It seemed he was the first Hanoverian king without major issues.
- He gutted the royal finances, throwing away all the excessive crap that his brother had so loved. He gave most of the royal palaces to the people, and encouraged them to use them as museums or schools. He even tried to give Buckingham palace to the army, and let Parliament use it after the Parliament building was burned in a fire. When people came to visit him, he insisted that they not bother with dressing up. He liked his meetings plain, though etiquette and rules were still to be stuck to, with no excuses.
- However, the old Hanoverian curse came to haunt him. His five sons all hated him, and were a constant source of embarrassment and disappointment. His health very rapidly began to fail, and he was prone to mumble and lose track of what he was doing from time to time. Luckily, the madness was mild, and it never overtook him like it did his father or brother.
- All would have been fine for William, however, the government had reached a breaking point... reform had been resisted for so long that the entire system was corrupt to the point of being paralyzed. Entire districts were now without constituents, and some had ministers, but as few as 7 voters in the entire area. These "Rotten Boroughs" and "Pocket Boroughs" were a pain, as that meant that an area with 8 voters in it sometimes had as much political power as one with hundreds of thousands in it. Of course, this suited the crusty old nobles just fine, who were quite happy to have two MPs, the same as entire swaths of London or York.
- The first Reform bill was shot down by the Tories. Many in parliament wanted to dissolve the government and have new votes, however, only the king could do that. William was worried, as he thought that doing so would throw the country into chaos. However, this caused his opposition to mock him as ineffectual and weak... and propose a new act that would forever remove the power of the king to dissolve parliament. William IV lost his temper.
- William demanded to go down to Parliament and chastise them himself. He looked every bit the cranky old man, waving his cane around and cursing about those "damned kids." When he was told that they couldn't arrange a horse and carriage on such short notice, the old king walked outside and hailed a taxi!
- His servants quickly found a nearby horse and carriage, and William IV stormed the Parliament building. He threw on his crown, gave the horse whip to one of his men, and marched in. The sight of the old king dissolving parliament, while Lord Londonderry whipped them, literally, out of the room, must have been not only comical, but inspiring. A new election was held, and the House of Commons easily was won by the reformers. However, the House of Lords would not be pushed over so easily.
- William IV set about showing the country that he was nothing like his deeply detested brother. He demanded that his coronation ceremony should cost less than one tenth as much as George IV's. He even gave some of his subjects a ride to the ceremony in his own personal carriage. He didn't live in a huge palace, he still resided in Bushy House, with a dutiful wife, and went on walks among the people. Though the Tories mocked him for this behavior, he didn't care. When several Tory MPs said they wouldn't come to his "half-crown" coronation, William said "Good, there will be more space and less hot air to contend with."
- Now fully installed as King, the bottom dropped out. The House of Lords shot down the reform bill, showing the world that they were quite happy to remain corrupt, thank-you-very-much-and-goodnight. The people of Great Britain began to riot. The corruption was too widespread, the government was ceasing to function, and the king seemed powerless to do anything but smile and wave and work on his own PR.
- The House of commons demanded that William IV appoint 22 new peers to the House of Lords, effectively stacking the House in his favor. William supported the reform bills, but that was taking things too far. When the PM and most leaders of Parliament threatened to resign, William calmly shrugged and let them resign. Government shut down, and the king caught all the blame. People threw mud at him and his carriage. He was publicly booed and hissed at during his speeches. A permanent mob formed in London. (Sort of an "Occupy London" movement.)
- Not knowing what else to do, William brought back his old government and promised to appoint the peers, if he must. Miraculously, the House of Lords, knowing their bluff had been called, abstained from voting on the reform bill, which meant that in 1832, the bill passed. Parliament was now in the hands of the people, not the nobles. The mob, overjoyed, publicly forgave the king and celebrated.
- Though he was known for his tactlessness and generally ridiculous personality, he turned out to be good at diplomacy. America had fought against his father, and again against his brother, the Regent, in the war of 1812. England hand burned down Washington D.C. Needless to say, relations were... tense. William IV sat down with the American ambassador and many guests, and said, loudly, that he was sad that he had not been "born a free, independent American, so much did he respect that nation, which had given birth to George Washington, the greatest man that ever lived." While this shocked the British, it brought the USA and Great Britain together, single handedly. The two have been allies ever since... and much of it was started with that one bold sentence.
- However, he hated the French. He made it WELL known that he blamed the French for nearly every woe England was suffering. He acknowledged that the USA had done the revolution "well," and that the French had utterly failed in that endeavor.
- Now visibly aging, William IV withdrew from politics, only emerging to open Parliament, and once to deny a Prime Minister from taking control of Parliament. He then appointed one that was more to his liking. (He would be the last monarch to do so.) He didn't like radicals, and sought only moderates to be appointed to all positions. He became fiercely stubborn about this as he got older.
- People began to talk about the heir to the throne. William's daughters were dead, and the rest of his children were illegitimate. George's children were all illegitimate, and Frederick had had no children with his wife at all. Adolphus, his next brother, had become the King of Hanover, which was now separated from the UK. His son would claim that throne. That meant that only the youngest son, Edward of Kent, had any legitimate heirs... a teenage girl named Alexandrina Victoria.
- Edward had long since died, and Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, hated William IV with a passion, and the feeling was mutual. Then again, the Duchess of Kent seemed to hate EVERYONE. William and his wife tried to become close to the 18 year old Victoria, only to be publicly disrespected by her crotchety mother. William responded by saying, at his birthday feast, that he only had one duty left in life, to outlive the Duchess of Kent, so that Victoria would come of age before he died... that way the hated Duchess would never become regent. He said that the Duchess was incompetent, ignorant, and dominated by evil advisers. The duchess and her daughter were both sitting next to him at the table. Victoria burst into tears. The Duchess remained stony faced, and refused to speak of the incident. The two left the next day.
- The next year, his beloved daughter Sophia died. William's heart was broken, and his health gave out on him. He died soon after. He managed to live one month longer than he needed to, and the crown passed to 19 year old Victoria. A slightly timid girl who had been raised to fear her uncles by her overbearing mother, Victoria would be a nice, quiet, timid little queen, right?
Right?????