By George! Who Leads the King Now?

Last week George IV went off to Scotland at Lord Castlereagh’s suggestion for a royal vacation. When George returned, the man was dead.

It would seem that Castlereagh’s suicide was not entirely a surprise. Before the King left for Scotland he had had several talks with Lord Liverpool about Castlereagh’s behavior. In one conversation he stated that “either I am mad or Lord Castlereagh is mad.” The Duke of Wellington expressed concern, Castlereagh’s brother, Lord Stewart, “had never seen a man in such a state.”

As a precaution, “all his razors and all his pistols had been removed from his dressing room; but making use of a little nail-knife which he carried in his pocketbook he had cut his carotid artery with anatomical accuracy.” This left the King in a very bad position. Castlereagh was not just Foreign Secretary, he also ran interference between His Majesty and the rest of the Cabinet. This was not a job many men had the stomach or skill for.

The King was keenly aware that Liverpool had a replacement in mind. The choice was more political than personal. Lord Liverpool thought highly of this fellow. He was a Whig, but that was an important point. Whig membership in the Commons was growing, Parliament was no longer an exclusive Tory preserve. Whig demands for representation in His Majesties Cabinet could no longer be ignored. This fellow also had much practical experience. In fact, he was preparing to sail to India to take matters in hand there.

Unfortunately for The King, the man was George Canning. Mr Canning was one of the many fellows the King suspected of having it off with his wife. In this, His Majesty was probably correct. Many people in a position to know assumed it to be true. Not long after her troubles with her husband began in earnest, Princess Caroline grew very attached to Mr. Canning and his political advice. Mr Canning, in turn, grew very attached to the political damage he could visit upon the Prince Regent’s head via his wife. Plus, he had a new girlfriend, but that was just icing on the cake.

His Majesty never forgot any of that. But His Majesty had painted himself into a corner. The prestige and financial gain of being a Cabinet Minister hardly, in the eyes of many qualified lords, outweighed the frustrations and difficulties of working for a man like the King. Lord Liverpool refused to consider any other candidate. He wanted Canning. The Whigs demanded that one of the number have a seat at the table. It had to be an important post, no window dressing. And they were in a position to make such demands.

Liverpool wanted someone he could work with who also knew the job. Besides, he liked Canning. It wasn’t as though Canning had slept with HIS wife. The next strongest candidate, Home Secretary, Robert Peel, was championed by the King. A strong Tory, he knew his stuff well enough to get along until he grew into the roll. What was wrong with Peel? Nothing, except that Peel didn’t want the job if Canning was the first choice.

His Majesty went to the Duke of Wellington, here was a fellow who knew foreign affairs and hadn’t boffed Caroline, that he knew of, and he was a national hero! Wellington didn’t want the job either. The Duke disliked Canning even more that His Majesty did, but not for the same reasons. But he had to admit that Canning was the best man for the job. The Duke told His Majesty to take his medicine like a big boy and get on with his life. They all had a country to run and this shilly-shallying was bad for business.

The King sent a letter to Liverpool. If Canning means this much to you, fine. Hire him. He sent another letter to Canning himself. His Majesty considered it “the brightest ornament of his crown” to extend “grace and favor to any subject who may have incurred his displeasure.” This really toasted Canning’s muffins. He never asked for the job in the first place! It was “just as though he had been given a ticket to Almack’s and found written on the back: “Admit the rogue.”

Liverpool stepped in to smooth ruffled feathers. His Majesty is always that way, he doesn’t know any better. You know how he is, saying the first thing that pops into his head without giving it a moment’s thought. He is the King, after all. You’ll get used to it, we all have. To Peel, Liverpool wrote that he considered the King’s letter “expressed with as much delicacy as, considering The King’s strong personal feelings, reasonably as could be expected.

Indeed. Convincing a fellow like The King to give a very important job to a guy who slept with his wife… the phrase “thankless task” comes to mind.

– Mr. Al