Editing William IV (section)

== Lord High Admiral ==
[[File:WilliamIVWhileLordHighAdmiral.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait as Lord High Admiral. Print by William James Ward, after [[Abraham Wivell]]'s painting, first published in 1827]]
William's eldest brother, the Prince of Wales, had been [[Prince Regent]] since 1811 because of the mental illness of their father. In 1820, George&nbsp;III died and the Prince Regent became George&nbsp;IV. William was now second in the line of succession, preceded only by his brother Frederick. Reformed since his marriage, William walked for hours, ate relatively frugally, and the only drink he imbibed in quantity was [[barley water]] flavoured with lemon.<ref>Ziegler, p. 130.</ref> Both of his older brothers were unhealthy, and it was considered only a matter of time before he became king.<ref>Molloy, p. 9.</ref> When Frederick died in 1827, William, then more than 60 years old, became heir presumptive. Later that year, the incoming prime minister, [[George Canning]], appointed him to the office of [[Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom|Lord High Admiral]], which had been in commission (that is, exercised by a board rather than by a single individual) since 1709. While in office, William had repeated conflicts with his Council, which was composed of [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] officers. Things finally came to a head in 1828 when, as Lord High Admiral, he put to sea with a squadron of ships, leaving no word of where they were going, and remained away for ten days. The King requested his resignation through the prime minister, [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]]; he complied.<ref name="dnb"/>

Despite the difficulties William experienced, he did considerable good as Lord High Admiral. He abolished the [[cat o' nine tails]] for most offences other than mutiny, attempted to improve the standard of naval gunnery, and required regular reports of the condition and preparedness of each ship. He commissioned the first steam warship and advocated the construction of more.<ref>Ziegler, p. 141.</ref> Holding the office permitted him to make mistakes and learn from them—a process that might have been far more costly if he had not learnt before becoming king that he should act only with the advice of his councillors.<ref name="dnb"/><ref>Ziegler, p. 133.</ref>

William spent much of his remaining time during his brother's reign in the House of Lords. He supported the [[Catholic Emancipation]] Bill against the opposition of his younger brother [[Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover|Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland]], describing the latter's position on the Bill as "infamous", to Ernest's outrage.<ref name="Ziegler143">Ziegler, p. 143.</ref> George&nbsp;IV's health was increasingly bad; it was obvious by early 1830 that he was near death. The King took his leave of William at the end of May, stating, "God's will be done. I have injured no man. It will all rest on you then."<ref>Fulford, p. 137.</ref> William's genuine affection for his older brother could not mask his rising anticipation that he would soon be king.<ref name=Ziegler143/><ref>Allen, pp. 77–78.</ref>{{Clear}}