Editing George IV (section)

==Marriage and mistresses==
[[File:Prince of Wales (later George IV), ca. 1798.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Portrait of George, Prince of Wales]]'' by [[Sir William Beechey]], 1798]]

Prince George's debts continued to climb, and his father refused to aid him unless he married his cousin [[Princess Caroline of Brunswick]].{{Sfnp|Smith|1999|page=70}} In 1795, the prince acquiesced, and they were married on 8 April 1795 at the [[Chapel Royal, St James's Palace]]. The marriage, however, was disastrous; each party was unsuited to the other. The two were formally separated after the birth of their only child, [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817)|Princess Charlotte]], in 1796, and remained separated thereafter. George remained attached to Maria Fitzherbert for the rest of his life, despite several periods of estrangement.<ref name="david2">David, pp. 150–205.</ref>

George's mistresses included [[Mary Robinson (poet)|Mary Robinson]], an actress whom he paid to leave the stage;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Leslie |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780451223982 |title=Royal Affairs: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures That Rocked the British Monarchy |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-451-22398-2 |chapter=George IV and Mary Robinson 1757–1800 |publisher=Penguin |url-access=registration}}</ref> [[Grace Elliott]], the divorced wife of a physician;<ref>Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (2016), ''An infamous mistress: the life, loves and family of the celebrated Grace Dalrymple Elliott'', Pen & Sword History, {{ISBN|1473844835}}</ref>{{Sfnp|Hibbert|1972|page=18}} and [[Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey]], who dominated his life for some years.<ref name="david2"/> In later life, his mistresses were the [[Isabella Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford|Marchioness of Hertford]] and the [[Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham|Marchioness Conyngham]].{{Sfnp|Hibbert|1973|page=214}}

George was rumoured to have fathered several illegitimate children. James Ord (born 1786)—who moved to the United States and became a Jesuit priest—was reportedly his son by Fitzherbert.{{Sfnp|David|2000|pages=76–78}} Late in life, George told a friend that he had a son who was a naval officer in the West Indies, whose identity has been tentatively established as Captain Henry A. F. Hervey (1786–1824), reportedly George's child by the songwriter [[Lady Anne Lindsay]] (later Barnard), a daughter of [[James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres]].{{Sfnp|David|2000|page=78}} Other reported children include Major George Seymour Crole, the son of theatre manager's daughter Eliza Crole; William Hampshire, the son of [[publican]]'s daughter Sarah Brown; and Charles "Beau" Candy, the son of a Frenchwoman with that surname.{{Sfnp|David|2000|page=80}} [[Anthony Camp]], Director of Research at the [[Society of Genealogists]], has dismissed the claims that George IV was the father of Ord, Hervey, Hampshire and Candy as fictitious.<ref>[[Anthony J. Camp|Camp, Anthony J.]] (2007) ''Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction 1714–1936'', {{ISBN|978-0-9503308-2-2}}</ref>

The problem of George's debts, which amounted to the extraordinary sum of £630,000 in 1795{{Sfnp|De-la-Noy|1998|page=55}} (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|630000|1795|r=-3}}}} today{{Inflation/fn|UK|df=y}}), was solved (at least temporarily) by Parliament. Being unwilling to make an outright grant to relieve these debts, it provided him an additional sum of £65,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|65000|1795|r=-3}}}} today{{Inflation/fn|UK|df=y}}) per annum.{{Sfnp|Smith|1999|page=97}} In 1803, a further £60,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|60000|1803|r=-3}}}} today{{Inflation/fn|UK|df=y}}) was added, and George's debts as at 1795 were finally cleared in 1806, although the debts he had incurred since 1795 remained.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In 1804, a dispute arose over the custody of Princess Charlotte, which led to her being placed in the care of the King. It also led to a Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into Princess Caroline's conduct after her husband accused her of having an illegitimate son. The investigation cleared Caroline of the charge but still revealed her behaviour to have been extraordinarily indiscreet.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashley |first=Mike |title=The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens |publisher=Robinson |year=1998 |isbn=1-84119-096-9 |location=London |page=684}}</ref>