By George! Dad’s Going Down Again.

Last week Prince George IV rediscovered his first wife, and his languishing politics. Was this a good thing?

And what were these two events referred to in my previous post? The first was that his old enemy, Prime Minister Pitt, was forced to resign over the issue of emancipation for Irish Catholics. Pitt was for it more or less as a matter of realpolitic. Trying to govern Ireland while suppressing the Catholic Church there did not make sense. Particularly if the British army found itself tied up in Europe fighting the French. And that was a very real possibility.

His Majesty was vehemently opposed not only as a matter of principle, but as head of the Church of England, to support it would have violated his coronation oath. Pitt would not back down and the King didn’t have to. Pitt resigned. Henry Addington, Speaker of the House of Commons, took his place. He was a doctors son and something of a political non-entity, but he firmly supported the King and was a devote Anglican. Dad’s kinda guy.

The second event, in February of 1801 was of much greater consequence. The King fell ill again. By the end of the month his condition had deteriorated to the point where “doctor” Willis was called in again. Since Willis senior was too old to administer to His Majesty, he was eighty-four, His sons took over the case.

The Prince seemed to have learned something from his father’s first illness. For one thing, he steered clear of the drawing room intrigues with potential placeholders that made him look more like a bookie than an heir to the throne. For another, he was not going to get into a pissing match with Parliament over the extent of his Regency powers.

Pitt, whom the Prince consulted because he still officially held the Seals of Office, told him the Regency would be his only if he agreed to the restrictions of 1789. His Highness didn’t care for that at all. However, he was prevailed upon by calmer councils to accept the restrictions and move on. It was just as well that he did because in April the Kings condition improved to the point that he felt himself equal to taking up the tasks of government.

The King praised his heir for being much more business-like than he had been during the first illness. He told the Prince that it helped his peace of mind to no small degree to know that his boy was, well…at least more ready to take on the burden of government than he had been before.

His Majesty was also ready to tackle a rather more personal problem while he still had the power to do so. In May, several members of the family expressed their apprehension that the King was really well. In truth, he wasn’t, but he was, more or less back in the saddle. The Willises, however thought the King needed a lot more of the kind of “treatment” they specialized in.

Without so much as a “by your leave” they showed up a Kew, where the King was convalescing and basically kidnapped him. For several weeks the King was held prisoner while the Willises and their “helpers” forcibly bleed, cupped and purged him. If he resisted, he got “the throne.” The family, as usual, was kept at arms length and the Prince was not allowed to see him at all.

There was a difference this time around. Many people, including the Queen were not so willing to believe the reports the Willises issued regarding His Majesties health. Neither was His Majesty. When told that he would not be allowed to visit the Queen’s apartments to celebrate her birthday, his response was to go on strike.

He said that as long as these restrictions were in force, he would leave off all government business. No papers requiring his signature would be signed. His Majesties ministers took this threat very seriously. They told the Willises to back off and stay off. When the Queens birthday arrived, May 19, the King walked to her apartments without a single Willis in attendance.

He then moved on to Weymouth to continue convalescing with the help of the sea baths he enjoyed so much. No Willises went along. It also helped the Kings peace of mind that the Prince seemed to be finally acting like a grown-up. True, the Prince and his wife had yet to be reconciled, but there was reason to hope.

Politically, the Prince got on much better with Prime Minister Addington than he ever had with Pitt. If anything, Pitt hated him more now that he was out of office than he ever did while in. Addington, on the other hand, was willing to meet His Highness halfway and was willing to discuss matters of mutual interest with an eye toward settling them. He was even willing to discuss a coalition with some of the Prince’s Whig buddies. Fox’s response to this was along the lines of, “Please, your Highness, PLEASE do not spit in the soup now. Let’s take this one day at a time and be nicey-nice to EVERYONE. Okay?” Or words to that effect.
Quite a change from Pitt, who dismissed the Prince out of hand as a drunken bounder. The reconciliation could not have come at a better time for His Highness. He had a small matter to settle and needed Parliament’s stamp of approval to do so.

– Mr. Al