Editing William IV (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:King William IV. monument Göttingen.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of William IV erected in [[Göttingen]] in 1837 on the 100th anniversary of [[University of Göttingen|the university's]] foundation]]
As William had no living legitimate issue, the British throne passed to his niece Victoria, the only legitimate child of [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn]], George&nbsp;III's fourth son. Under [[Salic Law]], a woman could not rule [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanover]] and so the Hanoverian throne went to George&nbsp;III's fifth son, Ernest Augustus. William's death thus ended the [[personal union]] of Britain and Hanover, which had persisted since 1714. The main beneficiaries of his will were his eight surviving children by Mrs Jordan.<ref name="dnb"/> Although William is not the direct ancestor of the later monarchs of the United Kingdom, he has many notable descendants through his illegitimate children with Mrs Jordan, including British prime minister [[David Cameron]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Price |first=Andrew |date=5 December 2005 |title=Cameron's royal link makes him a true blue |work=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article745903.ece |access-date=23 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514021758/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article745903.ece |archive-date=14 May 2009}}</ref> TV presenter [[Adam Hart-Davis]], and author and statesman [[Duff Cooper]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barratt |first=Nick |date=5 January 2008 |title=Family detective: Adam Hart-Davis |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/familyhistory/3355487/Family-detective-Adam-Hart-Davis.html |access-date=23 August 2008 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402111948/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/familyhistory/3355487/Family-detective-Adam-Hart-Davis.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

William IV had a short but eventful reign. In Britain, the Reform Crisis marked the ascendancy of the House of Commons and the corresponding decline of the House of Lords, and the King's unsuccessful attempt to remove the Melbourne ministry indicated a reduction in the political influence of the Crown and of the King's influence over the electorate. During the reign of George&nbsp;III, the king could have dismissed one ministry, appointed another, dissolved Parliament, and expected the electorate to vote in favour of the new administration. Such was the result of a dissolution in 1784, after the dismissal of the [[Fox-North Coalition]], and in 1807, after the dismissal of [[Lord Grenville]]. But when William dismissed the Melbourne ministry, the Tories under Peel failed to win the ensuing elections. The monarch's ability to influence the opinion of the electorate, and therefore national policy, had been reduced. None of William's successors has attempted to remove a government or to appoint another against the wishes of Parliament. William understood that as a constitutional monarch he had no power to act against the opinion of Parliament. He said, "I have my view of things, and I tell them to my ministers. If they do not adopt them, I cannot help it. I have done my duty."<ref>''Recollections'' of [[John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton]], quoted in Ziegler, p. 276.</ref>

During William's reign, the British Parliament enacted major reforms, including the [[Factory Act 1833]] (preventing child labour), the [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833]] (emancipating slaves in the colonies), and the [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]] (standardising provision for the destitute).<ref name="ma"/> William attracted criticism both from reformers, who felt that reform did not go far enough, and from reactionaries, who felt that reform went too far. A modern interpretation sees him as failing to satisfy either political extreme by trying to find a compromise between two bitterly opposed factions, but in the process proving himself more capable as a constitutional monarch than many had supposed.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=1967 |title=William IV |encyclopedia=Collier's Encyclopedia |last=Fulford |first=Roger |volume=23 |page=493}}</ref><ref>Ziegler, pp. 291–294.</ref>