Editing William IV (section)

== Reign ==

=== Early reign ===
[[File:WilliamIVbyLonsdale.jpg|thumb|Portrait by [[James Lonsdale (painter)|James Lonsdale]], 1830. William wears Masonic insignia.]]
When George IV died on 26 June 1830 without surviving legitimate issue, William succeeded him as William&nbsp;IV. Aged 64, he was the oldest person at that point to assume the British throne,<ref>Ashley, p. 3.</ref> a distinction he would hold until surpassed by [[Charles III]] in 2022.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rayner|first=Gordon|title=Prince of Wales will be oldest monarch crowned|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/10320264/Prince-of-Wales-will-be-oldest-monarch-crowned.html|access-date=19 September 2013|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=19 September 2013|archive-date=20 September 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130920192835/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/10320264/Prince-of-Wales-will-be-oldest-monarch-crowned.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Furness |first=Hannah |date=8 September 2022 |title=Queen Elizabeth II dies aged 96 at Balmoral |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/09/08/queen-dead-age-96-royal-family-balmoral-buckingham-palace/ |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref>

Unlike his extravagant brother, William was unassuming, discouraging pomp and ceremony. In contrast to George&nbsp;IV, who tended to spend most of his time in [[Windsor Castle]], William was known, especially early in his reign, to walk, unaccompanied, through London or [[Brighton]]. Until the [[Reform Crisis]] eroded his standing he was very popular among the people, who saw him as more approachable and down-to-earth than his brother.<ref>Allen, pp. 83–86; Ziegler, pp. 150–154.</ref>

The King immediately proved himself a conscientious worker. The prime minister, the Duke of Wellington, stated that he had done more business with King William in ten minutes than he had with George&nbsp;IV in as many days.<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 179.</ref> [[Lord Brougham]] described him as an excellent man of business, asking enough questions to help him understand the matter—whereas George&nbsp;IV feared to ask questions lest he display his ignorance and George&nbsp;III would ask too many and then not wait for a response.<ref>Somerset, p. 122.</ref>

The King did his best to endear himself to the people. [[Charlotte Williams-Wynn (diarist)|Charlotte Williams-Wynn]] wrote shortly after his accession: "Hitherto the King has been indefatigable in his efforts to make himself popular, and do good natured and amiable things in every possible instance."<ref>Somerset, p. 110.</ref> [[Emily Eden]] noted: "He is an immense improvement on the last unforgiving animal, who died growling sulkily in his den at Windsor. This man at least ''wishes'' to make everybody happy, and everything he has done has been benevolent."<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 178.</ref>

William dismissed his brother's French chefs and German band, replacing them with English ones to public approval. He gave much of George&nbsp;IV's art collection to the nation and halved the royal [[Stud (animal)|stud]]. George had begun an extensive (and expensive) renovation of [[Buckingham Palace]]; William refused to reside there and twice tried to give the palace away, once to the Army as a barracks and once to Parliament after the [[Houses of Parliament]] burned down in 1834.<ref>Somerset, pp. 110–122.</ref> His informality could be startling: when in residence at the [[Royal Pavilion]] in Brighton, he used to send to the hotels for a list of their guests and invite anyone he knew to dinner, urging guests not to "bother about clothes. The Queen does nothing but embroider flowers after dinner."<ref>Somerset, pp. 119f.</ref>

Upon taking the throne, William did not forget his nine surviving illegitimate children, creating his eldest son, [[George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster|George]], [[Earl of Munster]] and granting the other children the precedence of a daughter or a younger son of a marquess. Despite this his children importuned for greater opportunities, disgusting elements of the press who reported that the "impudence and rapacity of the FitzJordans is unexampled".<ref>''Morning Post'' quoted in Ziegler, p. 158.</ref> The relationship between William and his sons "was punctuated by a series of savage and, for the King at least, painful quarrels" over money and honours.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 158–159.</ref> His daughters, on the other hand, proved an ornament to his court, as "They are all, you know, pretty and lively, and make society in a way that real princesses could not."<ref>Somerset, p. 117.</ref>

=== Reform crisis ===
At the time, the [[Demise of the Crown|death of the monarch]] caused fresh Parliamentary elections and, in the [[1830 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1830]], Wellington's [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]] lost ground to the Whigs under [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Lord Grey]], though the Tories still had the largest number of seats. With the Tories bitterly divided, Wellington was defeated in the House of Commons in November, and Lord Grey formed a government. Grey pledged to reform the electoral system, which had seen few changes since the fifteenth century. The inequities in the system were great; for example, large towns such as [[Manchester]] and [[Birmingham]] elected no members (though they were part of county constituencies), while small boroughs, known as [[rotten borough|rotten]] or [[pocket borough]]s—such as [[Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)|Old Sarum]] with just seven voters—elected two members of Parliament each. Often, the rotten boroughs were controlled by great aristocrats, whose nominees were invariably elected by the constituents—who were, most often, their tenants—especially since the secret ballot was not yet used in Parliamentary elections. Landowners who controlled seats were even able to sell them to prospective candidates.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 177–180.</ref>
[[File:Reformact1832cartoon.jpg|thumb|left|Political cartoon supporting the Reform Act: King William sits above the clouds, surrounded by Whig politicians; below [[Britannia]] and the British Lion cause the Tories to flee.]]

When the First Reform Bill was defeated in the House of Commons in 1831, Grey's ministry urged William to dissolve Parliament, which would lead to a new general election. At first, William hesitated to exercise his prerogative powers to dissolve Parliament because elections had just been held the year before and the country was in a state of high excitement which might boil over into violence. He was, however, irritated by the conduct of the Opposition, which announced its intention to move the passage of an Address, or resolution, in the House of Lords, against dissolution. Regarding the Opposition's motion as an attack on his prerogative, and at the urgent request of Lord Grey and his ministers, the King prepared to go in person to the House of Lords and [[legislative session#Procedure in Commonwealth realms|prorogue]] Parliament.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 182–188.</ref> The monarch's arrival would stop all debate and prevent passage of the Address.<ref name="Ziegler188">Ziegler, p. 188.</ref> When initially told that his horses could not be ready at such short notice, William is supposed to have said, "Then I will go in a [[hackney cab]]!"<ref name=Ziegler188/> Coach and horses were assembled quickly and he immediately proceeded to Parliament. Said ''The Times'' of the scene before William's arrival, "It is utterly impossible to describe the scene&nbsp;... The violent tones and gestures of noble Lords&nbsp;... astonished the spectators, and affected the ladies who were present with visible alarm."<ref>Grant, p. 59, quoting ''The Times''</ref> [[Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry|Lord Londonderry]] brandished a whip, threatening to thrash the Government supporters, and was held back by four of his colleagues. William hastily put on the crown, entered the Chamber, and dissolved Parliament.<ref>Allen, pp. 121–122 and Ziegler, p. 189.</ref> This forced [[1831 United Kingdom general election|new elections for the House of Commons]], which yielded a great victory for the reformers. But although the Commons was clearly in favour of parliamentary reform, the Lords remained implacably opposed to it.<ref>Allen, pp. 124–127; Ziegler, pp. 190f.</ref>

The crisis saw a brief interlude for the celebration of the [[Coronation of William IV and Adelaide|King's coronation]] on 8 September 1831. At first, William wished to dispense with the coronation entirely, feeling that his wearing the crown while proroguing Parliament answered any need.<ref>Allen, pp. 124, 130; Ziegler, pp. 189, 192.</ref> He was persuaded otherwise by traditionalists. He refused, however, to celebrate the coronation in the expensive way his brother had—the 1821 coronation had cost £240,000, of which £16,000 was merely to hire the jewels. At William's instructions, the Privy Council budgeted less than £30,000 for the coronation.<ref>Molloy, pp. 72–73.</ref> When traditionalist Tories threatened to boycott what they called the "[[Half crown (British coin)|Half Crown]]-nation",<ref>Allen, p. 130 and Ziegler, p. 193.</ref> the King retorted that they should go ahead, and that he anticipated "greater convenience of room and less heat".<ref>[[Herbert Taylor (British Army officer)|Herbert Taylor]], the King's secretary, writing to Lord Grey, 15 August 1831, quoted in Ziegler, p. 194.</ref>

After the rejection of the Second Reform Bill by the House of Lords in October 1831, agitation for reform grew across the country; demonstrations grew violent in so-called "Reform Riots". In the face of popular excitement, the Grey ministry refused to accept defeat, and re-introduced the Bill, despite the continued opposition of peers in the House of Lords. Frustrated by the Lords' obdurate attitude, Grey suggested that the King create a sufficient number of new peers to ensure the passage of the Reform Bill. The King objected—though he had the power to create an unlimited number of peers, he had already created 22 new peers in his Coronation Honours.<ref>Allen, p. 132.</ref> William reluctantly agreed to the creation of the number of peers sufficient "to secure the success of the bill".<ref>Correspondence of [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey]], with William&nbsp;IV and Sir Herbert Taylor, edited by [[Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey]], (1867) 2.102, 113, quoted in Brock</ref> However, the King, citing the difficulties with a permanent expansion of the [[peerage]], told Grey that the creations must be restricted as much as possible to the eldest sons and collateral heirs of existing peers, so that the created peerages would for the most part be absorbed as subsidiary titles. This time, the Lords did not reject the bill outright, but began preparing to change its basic character through amendments. Grey and his fellow ministers decided to resign if the King did not agree to an immediate and large creation to force the bill through in its entirety.<ref>Allen, pp. 137–141; Ziegler, pp. 196–212.</ref> The King refused, and accepted their resignations. The King attempted to restore the Duke of Wellington to office, but Wellington had insufficient support to form a ministry and the King's popularity sank to an all-time low. Mud was slung at his carriage and he was publicly hissed. The King agreed to reappoint Grey's ministry, and to create new peers if the House of Lords continued to pose difficulties. Concerned by the threat of the creations, most of the bill's opponents abstained and the [[Reform Act 1832]] was passed. The mob blamed William's actions on the influence of his wife and brother, and his popularity recovered.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 214–222.</ref>

=== Foreign policy ===
William distrusted foreigners, particularly anyone French,<ref>Allen, p. 205; Ziegler, p. 223.</ref> which he acknowledged as a "prejudice".<ref>Sir Herbert Taylor writing to Lord Grey, 1 May 1832, quoted in Ziegler, p. 224.</ref> He also felt strongly that Britain should not interfere in the internal affairs of other states, which brought him into conflict with the interventionist [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|foreign secretary]], [[Lord Palmerston]].<ref>Ziegler, p. 225.</ref> William supported [[Belgian independence]] and, after unacceptable [[William II of the Netherlands|Dutch]] and [[Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours|French candidates]] were put forward, favoured [[Leopold I of Belgium|Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], the widower of his niece Charlotte, as a candidate for the newly created Belgian throne.<ref>Ziegler, p. 227.</ref>

Though he had a reputation for tactlessness and buffoonery, William could be shrewd and diplomatic. He foresaw that the potential construction of a [[Suez Canal|canal at Suez]] would make good relations with [[Egypt Eyalet|Egypt]] vital to Britain.<ref>William writing to Palmerston, 1 June 1833, quoted in Ziegler, p. 234.</ref> Later in his reign, he flattered the American ambassador at a dinner by announcing that he regretted not being "born a free, independent American, so much did he respect that nation, which had given birth to [[George Washington]], the greatest man that ever lived".<ref>Ziegler, p. 292.</ref> By exercising his personal charm, William assisted in the repair of Anglo-American relations, which had been so deeply damaged during the reign of his father.<ref>Allen, p. 229.</ref>

=== King of Hanover ===
Public perception in Germany was that Britain dictated [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanoverian]] policy. This was not the case. In 1832, Austrian chancellor [[Klemens von Metternich]] introduced laws that curbed fledgling liberal movements in Germany. Lord Palmerston opposed this, and sought William's influence to cause the Hanoverian government to take the same position. The Hanoverian government instead agreed with Metternich, much to Palmerston's dismay, and William declined to intervene. The conflict between William and Palmerston over Hanover was renewed the following year when Metternich called a conference of the German states, to be held in [[Vienna]], and Palmerston wanted Hanover to decline the invitation. Instead, William's brother [[Prince Adolphus]], Viceroy of Hanover, accepted, backed fully by William.<ref>Ziegler, pp. 230f.</ref> In 1833, William signed a new constitution for Hanover, which empowered the middle class, gave limited power to the lower classes, and expanded the role of the parliament. The constitution would later be revoked by his brother and successor in Hanover, [[King Ernest Augustus]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brophy |first=James M. |date=2010 |title=Hanover and Göttingen, 1837 |journal=Victorian Review |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=9–14 |doi=10.1353/vcr.2010.0041 |jstor=41039097 |s2cid=153563169}}</ref>

=== 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>