By George! He Would Be King! Almost.

With so many unpleasant things happening in the royal family; Amelia’s death, the Duke of Cumberland’s scandal, you know something has to give, and it won’t be the Prince.

The death of Princess Amelia, following so closely on the Duke of Cumberland scandal, had a very bad effect on the King. His relapse was so severe than many feared for his life. Even before the relapse, he was almost completely blind and deaf.

No one held serious hopes that he would recover soon; if he recovered at all. That meant that the Regency Bill of 1788 had to be dusted off. The Prince had been behaving in a manner that everyone, except for the women in his life, found exemplary. He kept his mouth shut about his fathers condition, he didn’t seek out big “loans” in exchange for government offices, He didn’t discuss politics at all unless invited to do so.

Everyone was tickled pink that the Prince was behaving like a real grown-up. And then Prime Minister Perceval hit him with the 1788 Regency Bill. There were many restrictions in that bill that the Prince agreed to back then because he had no choice. That was 1788, this was 1810.

The possibility that the King would ever recover were slim to non-existent. Everyone knew that even if they didn’t want to go on record as having said so. The terms of the bill were totally unacceptable to the Prince and he let Perceval know this. To be fair, it’s easy to see why.

Here is how things stood with the original bill. For the first year, the Prince Regent would not be allowed to make peers, except in the case of army and navy officers who had every right to expect such a reward for winning battles. He could make appointments to public offices and grant pensions, but only “for the duration of the Regency and subject, as to their further continuance, to the subsequent pleasure of His Majesty.”

That really defeated, as it was intended to, the purpose of making a big loan to the Prince. But there was more. “The management of the whole of His Majesties household, and the power of appointing the officers and servants of that establishment will be entrusted to The Queen.”

Ouch! He wouldn’t even be in charge of his own house! So what WOULD he be allowed to do? Whatever the Tories saw fit to assign to him. Not much of a Regency. The Prince wouldn’t have any fun at all. The Prince protested loudly and in writing. His brothers even sent letters on his behalf.

Perceval was unmoved. The Prince would abide by the Regency Bill of 1788, unchanged, or the government would not declare his regency at all. An amendment to remove the restrictions was submitted for a vote. It was close, but the amendment was shot down by both houses. The Prince was not a natural born politician or he never would have allowed things to slip so badly.

On January 9th, Lord Grey dropped in at Carlton House to see what could be done. There were ways around the restrictions. They just had to be careful. Political markers were being called in. Favors needed repaying. Political favors were the lifeblood of 18th century government. The government didn’t have to worry about the popular vote. Nobody seriously cared what “The People” thought, except when “The People” decided no one in government was listening to them and engaged in bloody rioting. Which was fairly often.

It was a matter of who you did a favor for, and what was expected in return. There was also the matter of who would, or would not, work with whom. For example, the Prince felt it would be necessary to include George Canning in government, notwithstanding the stories that he was having it off with Princess Caroline. The guy commanded Tory votes, they needed him.

Grey couldn’t stand him. Lord Grenville wanted to be First Lord of the Treasury, but he didn’t want to give up his very profitable job as Auditor of the Exchequer. Could he be both? Grey told him to stuff it.

Lord Holland suggested that perhaps Grenville would like to be Home Secretary? Grenville’s response was, “Sure, as long as I’m still in charge of selling Treasury posts.” He hinted that he might be willing to let that slid if his brother, Thomas, was made First Lord of the Admiralty.

Lord Grey nixed that idea. He had promised First Lord of the Admiralty to his brother-in-law, Lord Whitbread. It went on like this for weeks. Finally, at least on paper, the Prince’s Regency administration was in place. The list was presented to the Prince in the sincere belief that he would do his bit to make it come about. The Prince rejected it in it’s entirety.

It seems that after the Duke of Cumberland was attacked, he took up the Prince’s invitation to recuperate at Carlton House. The Duke also decided to make some walking around money by charging admission to see the blood stained walls of his rooms at St James Palace. While under the Prince’s roof, he decided to further the Tory cause.

He told the Prince that the Tories would always be around so he should just learn to make the best of a bad situation. Besides, what if dad REALLY did get better? What would he say? And don’t forget mom! The Prince, that tower of Strength and Principal, caved completely to his brothers requests. He would accept the restrictions of 1788, he would leave every last Tory in office just in case dad ever came around.

Some Whig leaders were actually relived. It would be easier to work with the Tories if they felt secure in office than if they had been forced out and the new Whig administration could be toppled by the Kings recovery. The Tories weren’t idiots. They knew when, and how, to reward Whigs who would cross the aisle on certain matters.

On the morning of February 9th 1811, the bandsmen of the Grenadier Guards, bearing the regimental colours, marched into the court yard of Carlton House, pitched the colours in the middle of the grand entrance and struck up “God Save The King.” As they played, the Privy Councilors arrived for the swearing-in ceremony.

Everyone was dressed to the nines, every oath administered without a hitch or a sour note. Everyone noticed that Princess Caroline was nowhere to be seen, but no one found it noteworthy.

The Prince was sober as a judge and stayed that way all day, and night long. The moment the Prince had waited for ever since his fathers first illness had finally arrived. King George the Third wasn’t dead, but he could no longer function as king. The moment so many Tories had dreaded and so many Whigs had prayed for had finally arrived. The Regency had officially begun

– Mr. Al