William IV of The United Kingdom - Early Life

Early Life

William was born in the early hours of the morning on 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House, the third child and son of King George III and Queen Charlotte. He had two elder brothers, George and Frederick, and was not expected to inherit the Crown. He was baptised in the Great Council Chamber of St James's Palace on 20 September 1765. His godparents were his paternal uncles, the Duke of Gloucester and Prince Henry (later Duke of Cumberland), and his paternal aunt, Princess Augusta, then Hereditary Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Most of his early life was spent at Richmond and Kew Palace, where he was educated by private tutors. At the age of thirteen, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman, and was present at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1780. His experiences in the navy seem to have been little different from those of other midshipmen (though a tutor accompanied him on board ship) doing his share of the cooking and getting arrested with his shipmates after a drunken brawl on Gibraltar (he was hastily released when his identity became known). He served in New York during the American War of Independence. While the prince was in America, George Washington approved a plot to kidnap him, writing "The spirit of enterprise so conspicuous in your plan for surprising in their quarters and bringing off the Prince William Henry and Admiral Digby merits applause; and you have my authority to make the attempt in any manner, and at such a time, as your judgment may direct. I am fully persuaded, that it is unnecessary to caution you against offering insult or indignity to the persons of the Prince or Admiral..." The plot did not come to fruition; the British heard of it and assigned guards to the prince, who had up till then walked around New York unescorted.

William became a Lieutenant in 1785 and Captain of HMS Pegasus the following year. In late 1786, he was stationed in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson, who wrote of William, "In his professional line, he is superior to two-thirds, I am sure, of the list; and in attention to orders, and respect to his superior officer, I hardly know his equal." The two were great friends, and dined together almost nightly. At Nelson's wedding, the prince insisted on giving the bride away. He was given command of the frigate HMS Andromeda in 1788, and was promoted to Rear-Admiral in command of HMS Valiant the following year.

William sought to be made a Duke like his elder brothers, and to receive a similar Parliamentary grant, but his father was reluctant. To put pressure on him, William threatened to stand for the House of Commons for the constituency of Totnes in Devon. Appalled at the prospect of his son making his case to the voters, George III created him Duke of Clarence and St Andrews and Earl of Munster on 16 May 1789, supposedly saying, "I well know it is another vote added to the Opposition." Although he allied himself publicly with the Whigs and his elder brothers (who were known for their conflict with their father), the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, William's record was inconsistent and, like many politicians of the time, cannot be certainly ascribed to a single party.