Editing William IV (section)

=== Later reign and death ===
[[File:King William IV by Sir David Wilkie.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait by [[David Wilkie (artist)|Sir David Wilkie]], 1837]]
For the remainder of his reign, William interfered actively in politics only once, in 1834, when he became the last British sovereign to choose a prime minister contrary to the will of Parliament. In 1834, the ministry was facing increasing unpopularity and Lord Grey retired; the [[home secretary]], [[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne]], replaced him. Melbourne retained most Cabinet members, and his ministry retained an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons. Some members of the Government, however, were anathema to the King, and increasingly left-wing policies concerned him. The previous year Grey had already pushed through [[Church Temporalities Act 1833|legislation]] reforming the Protestant [[Church of Ireland]]. The Church collected [[tithe]]s throughout Ireland, supported multiple bishoprics and was wealthy. However, barely an eighth of the Irish population belonged to the Church of Ireland. In some parishes, there were no Church of Ireland members at all, but there was still a priest paid for by tithes collected from the local Catholics and [[Presbyterians]], leading to charges that idle priests were living in luxury at the expense of Irish people living at the level of subsistence. Grey's Act had reduced the number of bishoprics by half, abolished some of the sinecures and overhauled the tithe system. Further measures to appropriate the surplus revenues of the Church of Ireland were mooted by the more radical members of the Government, including [[Lord John Russell]].<ref>Ziegler, pp. 242–255.</ref> The King had an especial dislike for Russell, calling him "a dangerous little Radical."<ref>Molloy, p. 326.</ref>

[[File:William4coin.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Half crown (British coin)|Half-Crown]] of William IV, 1836. The inscription reads GULIELMUS IIII D(EI) G(RATIA) BRITANNIAR(UM) REX [[Fidei defensor|F(IDEI) D(EFENSOR)]] (William IV by the Grace of God King of the Britains, [[Fidei defensor#Modern usage|Defender of the Faith)]]]]
In November 1834, the [[leader of the House of Commons]] and [[chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Lord Althorp]], inherited a peerage, thus removing him from the Commons to the Lords. Melbourne had to appoint a new Commons leader and a new Chancellor (who by long custom, must be drawn from the Commons), but the only candidate whom Melbourne felt suitable to replace Althorp as Commons leader was Lord John Russell, whom William (and many others) found unacceptable due to his radical politics. William claimed that the ministry had been weakened beyond repair and used the removal of Lord Althorp—who had previously indicated that he would retire from politics upon becoming a peer<ref>Somerset, p. 187.</ref>—as the pretext for the dismissal of the entire ministry. With Lord Melbourne gone, William chose to entrust power to a Tory, Sir [[Robert Peel]]. Since Peel was then in Italy, the Duke of Wellington was provisionally appointed prime minister.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 256–257.</ref> When Peel returned and assumed leadership of the ministry for himself, he saw the impossibility of governing because of the Whig majority in the House of Commons. Consequently, Parliament was dissolved to force [[1835 United Kingdom general election|fresh elections]]. Although the Tories won more seats than in the [[1832 United Kingdom general election|previous election]], they were still in the minority. Peel remained in office for a few months but resigned after a series of parliamentary defeats. Melbourne was reappointed as prime minister, remaining there for the rest of William's reign, and the King was forced to accept Russell as Commons leader.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 261–267.</ref>

The King had a mixed relationship with Lord Melbourne. Melbourne's government mooted more ideas to introduce greater democracy, such as the devolution of powers to the [[Legislative Council of Lower Canada]], which greatly alarmed the King, who feared it would eventually lead to the loss of the colony.<ref>Ziegler, p. 274.</ref> At first, the King bitterly opposed these proposals. William exclaimed to [[Archibald Acheson, 2nd Earl of Gosford|Lord Gosford]], Governor General-designate of Canada: "Mind what you are about in Canada&nbsp;... mind me, my Lord, the Cabinet is not my Cabinet; they had better take care or by God, I will have them impeached."<ref>Somerset, p. 202.</ref> When William's son [[Lord Augustus FitzClarence|Augustus]] enquired of his father whether the King would be entertaining during [[Royal Ascot|Ascot week]], William gloomily replied, "I cannot give any dinners without inviting the ministers, and I would rather see the devil than any one of them in my house."<ref name="Somerset200">Somerset, p. 200.</ref> Nevertheless, William approved the Cabinet's recommendations for reform.<ref>Allen, pp. 221–222.</ref> Despite his disagreements with Melbourne, the King wrote warmly to congratulate the prime minister when he triumphed in the adultery case brought against him concerning [[Caroline Norton]]—he had refused to permit Melbourne to resign when the case was first brought.<ref>Somerset, p. 204.</ref> The King and Lord Melbourne eventually found a ''modus vivendi'', with Melbourne applying tact and firmness when called for and William realising that his prime minister was far less radical in his politics than the King had feared.<ref name=Somerset200/>

Both the King and Queen were fond of their niece, [[Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent]]. Their attempts to forge a close relationship with the girl were frustrated by the conflict between the King and Victoria's widowed mother, the [[Duchess of Kent and Strathearn]]. The King, angered at what he took to be disrespect from the Duchess to his wife, took the opportunity at what proved to be his final birthday banquet in August 1836 to settle the score. Speaking to those assembled at the banquet, who included the Duchess and Princess Victoria, William expressed his hope that he would survive until Victoria was 18 so that the Duchess would never be regent. He said, "I trust to God that my life may be spared for nine months longer&nbsp;... I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the exercise of the Royal authority to the personal authority of that young lady, heiress presumptive to the Crown, and not in the hands of a person now near me, who is surrounded by evil advisers and is herself incompetent to act with propriety in the situation in which she would be placed."<ref>Somerset, p. 209.</ref> The speech was so shocking that Victoria burst into tears, while her mother sat in silence and was only with difficulty persuaded not to leave immediately after dinner (the two left the next day). William's outburst undoubtedly contributed to Victoria's tempered view of him as "a good old man, though eccentric and singular".<ref>Allen, p. 225.</ref> William survived, though mortally ill, to the month after Victoria's coming of age. "Poor old man!", Victoria wrote as he was dying, "I feel sorry for him; he was always personally kind to me."<ref>Victoria writing to Leopold, 19 June 1837, quoted in Ziegler, p. 290.</ref>

[[File:William IV in 1837 by his daughter Sophia.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Portrait by his daughter Sophia de L'Isle and Dudley, early 1837]]
William was "very much shaken and affected" by the death of his eldest daughter, [[Sophia, Lady de L'Isle and Dudley]], in childbirth in April 1837.<ref>Sir Herbert Taylor quoted in Ziegler, p. 287.</ref> William and his eldest son, the Earl of Munster, were estranged at the time, but William hoped that a letter of condolence from Munster signalled a reconciliation. His hopes were not fulfilled and Munster, still thinking he had not been given sufficient money or patronage, remained bitter to the end.<ref>Ziegler, p. 287.</ref>

Queen Adelaide attended the dying William devotedly, not going to bed herself for more than ten days.<ref>Ziegler, p. 289.</ref> William died at 2:12 AM on 20 June 1837 at [[Windsor Castle]]. He was buried in the Royal Vault at [[St George's Chapel]] on 8 July.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/about-st-georges/royal-connection/royal-burials/royal-burials-chapel-since-1805/|title=Royal Burials in the Chapel since 1805|work=College of St George – Windsor Castle|accessdate=5 March 2023}}</ref>