Categotry Archives: Geroge IV – King
By George! It’s the Bitter End
Alas. This week’s installment of By Geroge!, Mr. Al’s discussion of the life and times of George IV, brings this series to an end. Thank you for well over a year fo entertaining history, Mr. Al. There will be other series in the future. Drop by next week to discuss it. Among all the paraphernalia acquired over a lifetime of profligate spending were packets of love letters. Big packets of love letters. And among the letters were found “quantities of […]
By George! The King is Dead. Time to Party!
AUTHORS NOTE: I know I said this would be the last George blog, but I lied. My summing up will have to wait until next week because I haven’t dealt with His Majesties funeral or anything! My bad. 🙁 Said The Times of his Majesties passing: “There never was an individual less regretted by his fellow creatures than the deceased King. What eye has wept for him? What heart has heaved one throb of unmercenary sorrow?…For the Leviathan of the […]
By George! I’ll Give This to You, and That to You, and…
While there may have been some who viewed the George IV’s imminent demise with sorrow, this outlook was not shared by many of those who knew him best. Which certainly says something. His brothers were beside themselves at the prospect of better days. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the government spend real money on them for a change? The people the King counted as real friends were pretty much gone. Fox had died long ago, the Earl of Moira, […]
By George! They’re on His “Manbits”
The year 1829 closed with little of His Majesty’s situation changed. This was as he preferred it. He still dodged official business. Indeed, he would go so far as to ask parliament to appoint someone to act and sign papers in his name. Parliament told him that the only way they could legally do so would be with reports from His Majesty’s doctors that he was beyond help. Such reports would have to made public. You know, like the situation […]
By George! How to Rule from Bed
The year of 1829 marked both a high and low for his Majesty. While his health continued to deteriorate, his relations with his Ministers improved. At least after the contentious Catholic Relief Act was finally passed. But the improvement was quite gradual, and not all Ministers were treated equally. At Ascot he had “a whole party of Canningites in his house (box) and not one Minister. He gave a bad reception to all the friends of government who went to […]
By George! Wellington It Is.
When last we saw His Majesty, he had exiled himself to his bed chamber. The physical reasons were the usual, gout and rheumatism. Various other ailments. This lasted all through January and well into February of 1828. And, as usual, the physical ailments were a wonderful excuse to avoid political problems, of which he had a basket full. Harriette Wilson made a re-appearance at this point. She had published her memoirs in Holland in four small volumes in 1825. These […]
By George! It’s One Man After Another
In the few short years after finally becoming king, and not merely regent, George IV had a devil of a time finding good people to fill the post of Prime Minister. The death of Canning meant, of course, that his Majesty needed to find yet another Prime Minister. Such a bother, particularly since his Majesties priorities were not necessarily those of the government. This was something that all concerned were deeply, painfully aware of. As the Duke of Wellington had […]
