by Susan Flantzer

The third son and third child of the fifteen children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, His Royal Highness The Prince William Henry was born at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) in London, England on August 21, 1765. At the time of his birth, it seemed highly unlikely that William would be anything more than a royal duke as he had two elder brothers. William was christened on September 18, 1765, at St James’s Palace In London, England by Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury and had three godparents:

William had 14 siblings:

William was brought up with his brother Edward at Kew Palace and they were educated by Dr. John James Majendie, a classical scholar, and Major General Budé, a Swiss who was an officer in the Hanover Army. King George III decided that William would have a career in the navy. In 1879, at the age of 13, William went to sea along with his tutor Mr. Majendie, serving under Captain (later Admiral) Robert Digby on the HMS Prince George. On his father’s orders, William received no privileges and was treated the same as his fellow sailors.

During his naval career, William, nicknamed Sailor Bill, served on a number of ships and in a number of places. In 1789, his ship saw action in the Battle of Cape St Vincent. He was then stationed in the West Indies and Nova Scotia. William was transferred to HMS Warwick and saw action in the Delaware Bay in the American Revolution. In 1785, William was made the third lieutenant of the frigate HMS Hebe. The following year, William was made captain of the HMS Pegasus. The Pegasus was stationed in West Indies under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who became a close friend of William. When Admiral Nelson married in 1787, William gave away the bride. William returned to England in December of 1787 and was subsequently appointed to the command of the frigate HMS Andromeda in the West Indies. In 1789, William was appointed Rear Admiral and commanded the HMS Valiant in home waters, his last command afloat. Prince William received the Order of the Garter in 1782 and was created Duke of Clarence and St Andrews and Earl of Munster in 1789. He was appointed Vice-Admiral in 1799 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1811, both honorary positions.

In 1790, Dorothea Jordan, an actress, attracted the attention of William. Dorothea was born Dora or Dorothy Bland in 1761 in Ireland. Her father had been an actor, and she followed in her father’s footsteps, first acting in Dublin. In 1782, she came to England, adopted the name “Mrs. Jordan”, and had a daughter by Irish actor and theatrical manager Richard Daly. Starting in 1786, Dorothea had another relationship with Sir Richard Ford, a police magistrate and a lawyer, and had three more children. She began her affair with William, once she realized that Ford was never going to marry her. Dorothea and William had a happy relationship that lasted over 20 years and produced 10 children. The couple resided at Clarence Lodge in Roehampton near London and at William’s apartments at St James’ Palace. When William became Ranger of Bushy Park, they lived at Bushy House near Hampton Court Palace.

William’s illegitimate children by Dorothea Jordan:

William and Dorothea’s children married into the British aristocracy and their many descendants include these notable people:

In 1811, William had an invalid father and saw that only three people stood between him and the throne: his brother George, George’s teenage daughter Charlotte, and his childless brother Frederick. William had always boasted that his healthier habits would cause him to outlive his elder brothers. The possibility of ascending the throne and mounting debts made it necessary for William to choose a wife.

Dorothea was on tour with a play when she received a letter from William asking her to meet him so they could discuss the terms of a separation. She was so upset that on stage that night instead of laughing heartily as the script required, she burst into tears instead. In January of 1812, a settlement was drawn up giving Dorothea an annual allowance of £1500 and £600 annually for a house and coach. In addition, she was to be given £800 per year for her two daughters from previous relationships and £1500 for the maintenance of her youngest daughters by William. However, if Dorothea returned to the stage, she would lose the £1500 and the custody of the youngest daughters. A few months later, Dorothea did return to the stage and the custody of the youngest daughters reverted to William.

In 1815, Dorothea made her last appearance on the stage and retired to France in a terrible financial situation having settled the debts of the husband of her elder daughter by a previous relationship. Dorothea died in poverty on July 5, 1816, at the age of 54 and was buried in Cimetière de Saint-Cloud in Saint-Cloud, France.

On November 6, 1817, a great tragedy struck the British Royal Family. Twenty-one year old Princess Charlotte of Wales died after delivering a stillborn son. Charlotte was mourned by the British people in a manner similar to the mourning of Diana, Princess of Wales. Charlotte’s pregnancy and delivery were grossly mismanaged and the doctor in charge later committed suicide. At the time of her death, Charlotte, who was second in line to the throne, was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, despite the fact that eleven of his fifteen children were still living. Her death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession. William, along with his unmarried brothers Edward, Duke of Kent and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, all married.

Soon after the death of Princess Charlotte of Wales, negotiations began for the marriage of William to Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, and the engagement was announced on April 19, 1818. William was 52 and Adelaide was 25. William and Adelaide were married on July 14, 1818, at Kew Palace in the presence of an ailing Queen Charlotte who died in November of the same year.

Adelaide loved children but was destined not to have one of her own. Her first child was born prematurely on March 27, 1819, as a result of Adelaide being ill with pleurisy. The baby girl was christened Charlotte Augusta Louisa and died the same day. Adelaide suffered a miscarriage on September 5, 1819. On December 10, 1820, Adelaide gave birth to a girl, Elizabeth Georgiana Adelaide, six weeks prematurely. Princess Elizabeth, who had been healthy despite being premature, died 12 weeks later on March 4, 1821, of the then inoperable condition of a strangulated hernia. Twin boys were stillborn on April 23, 1822. A child of William and Adelaide would have succeeded to the throne as William’s two elder brothers, George IV and Frederick, Duke of York, had no surviving children. Adelaide wrote to her widowed sister-in-law the Duchess of Kent, “My children are dead, but your child lives, and she is mine too.” That child was Queen Victoria.

William’s brother King George IV died on June 26, 1830, and William succeeded to the throne. His coronation on September 8, 1831, was rather low key due to government economics and was nicknamed “the half-crownation”. The traditional procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey and the coronation banquet were eliminated and have never again occurred. Adelaide had to provide the jewels for her crown and other jewels had to be hired.

William’s heiress presumptive was his niece Princess Victoria of Kent, the only child of his brother Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Kent, born Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Both William and Adelaide were very fond of their niece and wanted to be closer to her. However, the Duchess of Kent did not allow this. In addition, she was rude to Queen Adelaide by refusing to recognize the Queen’s precedence, ignoring her letters, and taking space in royal stables and apartments for her own use. In August 1836 at a dinner in honor of his 71st birthday, William publically insulted the Duchess of Kent in a speech. After his health had been toasted, he replied with this:

“I trust in God that my life may be spared for nine months longer, after which period, in the event of my death, no regency would take place. I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the royal authority to the personal exercise of that young lady [pointing to the Princess Victoria], the Heiress Presumptive of the Crown, and not in the hands of a person now near me, who is surrounded by evil advisers and who is herself incompetent to act with the propriety in the station in which she would be placed. I have no hesitation in saying that I have been insulted – grossly and continually insulted – by that person, but I am now determined to endure no longer a course of behaviour so disrespectful to me. Among many other things I have particularly to complain of the manner in which that young lady has been kept away from my court: she has been repeatedly kept from my drawing room at which she ought always to have been present, but I am fully resolved that this shall not happen again. I would have her know that I am king, and that I am determined to make my authority respected, and for the future I shall insist and command that the Princess do upon all occasions appear at my court, as is her duty to do so.”

William’s wish that his life would be spared for nine months was granted. Princess Victoria turned 18 on May 24, 1837, and a regency would no longer be required. The king had become ill with asthma or hay fever in May 1837, and pneumonia soon developed. King William IV died peacefully at 2:15 AM on June 20, 1837, at Windsor Castle and Princess Victoria ascended to the throne. An autopsy showed that heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver had contributed to his death. William was buried in the Royal Tomb House at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. His wife Adelaide survived William by 12 years, dying on December 2, 1849, at the age of 57. She was buried after a simple funeral, in accordance with her wishes, in the Royal Tomb House beneath St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where her husband had been buried.

Wikipedia: King William IV of the United Kingdom