Editing William IV (section)

== Relationships and marriage ==
[[File:Lubber's-hole, -alias- the crack'd Jordan (BM 1851,0901.552).jpg|thumb|upright|Cartoon by [[James Gillray]] of William and Mrs. Jordan: A large, cracked [[chamber-pot]] represents Mrs. Jordan, and the Duke has thrust himself into a fissure in the "Jordan".]]
William had an illegitimate son before 1791 whose mother is unknown; the son, also called William, likely drowned off [[Madagascar]] when [[HMS Blenheim (1761)|HMS ''Blenheim'']] sank or foundered in February 1807.<ref>William writing to [[Lord Collingwood]], 21 May 1808, quoted in Ziegler, p. 83.</ref> Caroline von Linsingen, whose father was a general in the Hanoverian infantry, claimed to have had a son, Heinrich, by William in around 1790 but William was not in Hanover at the time that she claims, and the story is considered implausible by historians.<ref>Allen, p. 36 and Ziegler, p. 50.</ref>

From 1791, William lived with an Irish actress, [[Dorothea Bland]], better known by her stage name Mrs Jordan,<ref name="rh"/> the title "Mrs" being assumed at the start of her stage career to explain an inconvenient pregnancy<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 51.</ref> and "Jordan" because she had "crossed the water" from Ireland to Britain.<ref>Allen, p. 49 and Ziegler, p. 76.</ref> He appeared to enjoy the domesticity of his life with Mrs. Jordan, remarking to a friend: "Mrs Jordan is a very good creature, very domestic and careful of her children. To be sure she is absurd sometimes and has her humours. But there are such things more or less in all families."<ref>{{cite book|last=Pocock|first=Tom|title=The Sailor King: The Life of William IV|edition=ebook|pages=979–980|publisher=Lume Books|year=2020|orig-date=1991|isbn=978-1-85619-075-6}}</ref> The couple, while living quietly, enjoyed entertaining, with Mrs. Jordan writing in late 1809: "We shall have a full and merry house this Christmas, 'tis what the dear Duke delights in."<ref>Fulford, p. 125.</ref> The King was accepting of his son's relationship with the actress (though recommending that he halve her allowance);<ref>Ziegler, pp. 80–81.</ref> in 1797, he created William the Ranger of [[Bushy Park]], which included a large residence, [[Bushy House]], for William's growing family.<ref>Somerset, p. 68.</ref> William used Bushy as his principal residence until he became king.<ref>Allen, pp. 52–53 and Ziegler, p. 82.</ref> His London residence, [[Clarence House]], was constructed to the designs of [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] between 1825 and 1827.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 April 2016 |title=Royal Residences: Clarence House |url=https://www.royal.uk/royal-residences-clarence-house |access-date=18 April 2016 |website=Official web site of the British monarchy |archive-date=28 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328155336/https://www.royal.uk/royal-residences-clarence-house |url-status=live}}</ref>

The couple had ten illegitimate children—five sons and five daughters—nine of whom were named after William's siblings; each was given the surname "[[FitzClarence]]".<ref>Ziegler, p. 296.</ref><ref name="weir">Weir, pp. 303–304.</ref> Their affair lasted for twenty years before ending in 1811. Mrs Jordan had no doubt about the reason for the break-up: "Money, money, my good friend, has, I am convinced made HIM at this moment the most wretched of men", adding, "With all his excellent qualities, his domestic ''virtues'', his love for his ''lovely'' children, what must he not at this moment suffer?"<ref>Somerset, pp. 78–79.</ref> She was given a financial settlement of £4,400 ({{Inflation|UK|4400|1811|r=-2|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{inflation-fn|UK}} per year and custody of her daughters on condition that she did not resume the stage. When she resumed acting in an effort to repay debts incurred by the husband of one of her daughters from a previous relationship, William took custody of the daughters and stopped paying the £1,500 ({{Inflation|UK|1500|1814|r=-2|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{inflation-fn|UK}} designated for their maintenance. After Mrs Jordan's acting career began to fail, she fled to France to escape her creditors and died, impoverished, near Paris in 1816.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 108–109.</ref>

[[File:TheDisconsolateSailor.jpg|thumb|280px|"The Disconsolate Sailor", 1811: a cartoon by Charles Williams about Catherine Tylney-Long's choice between the Duke of Clarence (right) and [[William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington|William Wesley-Pole]] (left)]]
Deeply in debt, William made several attempts at marrying a wealthy heiress, such as [[Catherine Tylney-Long]], but his suits were unsuccessful.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 99–100.</ref> Following the death of William's niece [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817)|Princess Charlotte of Wales]], then second-in-line to the British throne, in 1817, George&nbsp;III was left with twelve children but no legitimate grandchildren. The race was on among his sons, the [[royal duke]]s, to marry and produce an heir. William had great advantages in this race—his two older brothers were both childless and estranged from their wives, who were both beyond childbearing age anyway, and William was the healthiest of the three.<ref>Ziegler, p. 118.</ref> If he lived long enough, he would almost certainly ascend the British and Hanoverian thrones and have the opportunity to sire the next monarch. William's initial choices of potential wives either met with the disapproval of his eldest brother, the Prince of Wales, or turned him down. His younger brother [[Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge]], was sent to Germany to scout out the available Protestant princesses; he came up with [[Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel]], but her father, [[Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel|Frederick]], declined the match.<ref>Letter from Hesse to the Duke of Cambridge, 1 March 1818, quoted in Ziegler, p. 121.</ref> Two months later Adolphus married Augusta himself. Eventually, however, a princess was found who was amiable, home-loving and willing to accept (even enthusiastically welcome) William's nine surviving children, several of whom had not yet reached adulthood.<ref>Ziegler, p. 121.</ref> In the Drawing Room at [[Kew Palace]] on 11 July 1818, William married [[Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen]].<ref>''The Times'', Monday, 13 July 1818 p. 3 col.A</ref>

William's marriage, which lasted almost twenty years until his death, was a happy one. Adelaide took both William and his finances in hand. For their first year of marriage the couple lived in economical fashion in Germany. William's debts were soon on the way to being paid, especially since Parliament had voted him an increased allowance, which he reluctantly accepted after his requests to have it increased further were refused.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 121–129.</ref> William is not known to have had mistresses after his marriage.<ref name="ma">{{cite book |last=Ashley |first=Mike |title=The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens |publisher=Robinson |date=1998 |isbn=978-1-84119-096-9 |location=London |pages=686–687}}</ref><ref name="dnb">{{Cite ODNB |last=Brock |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Brock |date=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29451 |title=William IV (1765–1837) |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29451 |access-date=6 July 2007}}</ref><ref>Allen, p. 87.</ref> The couple had two short-lived daughters and Adelaide suffered two miscarriages.<ref name="Ziegler, p. 136">Ziegler, p. 136.</ref> Despite this, false rumours that she was pregnant persisted into William's reign—he dismissed them as "damned stuff".<ref>Ziegler, p. 268.</ref>