British Kings "Bullet Book," William IV, 1830 - 1837
BillJones
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1835 William IV Sovereign
• William IV never expected to be king. In his youth he did poorly in his studies which earned him the nickname “Silly Billy.” His parents sent him off to join the navy where he excelled. He became a competent naval officer. He became known as “The Sailor King.”
• Despite his turnaround with respect his discipline and education, William continued to flaunt conventional behavior. He lived with actress Dorothea Jordan for 20 years, from 1790 to 1810. During that time they had 10 illegitimate children.
• William dumped poor Dorothea and courted younger women for eight years. In 1818 he married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.
• William became king when George IV died without a leaving an heir.
• William was unable to produce any surviving children with Princess Adelaide.
• The crown passed to his niece, Victoria.
• Victoria was just short of her 18th birthday as the king entered his final days. William was determined to avoid a regency which would have resulted had he died before Victoria was 18. The Duchess of Kent ( Mary Louise Victoria) and her ambitious secretary, John Conroy, would have had control of the government under that arrangement. The old king disliked the Duchess and vowed to stay alive until Victoria reached her majority. The king died less than month after Victoria celebrated her 18th birthday. It was said that “The king dies like an old lion.”
Comments
I'd recommend watching the Victoria series on PBS - the series starts late in the reign of WIV.