By George! How to be a Thorn in a King’s Side

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For one thing, it meant that he could be easily persuaded by those closest to him. If he were hanging out with the usual rakehells, the result would likely go up in the next day’s papers and cause some more embarrassment. If, however, those closest to him happened to be the Kings political opponents, that was another tankard of ale altogether.

And the Prince, simply by virtue of being the Prince, attracted dads opponents like a dead fish attracts flies. This did suit the Prince. He needed money and he could never hope to get it in the amounts he wanted without political help. Besides, it was almost a law of nature that the Prince of Wales would be for whatever the King was against.

Dad was a Tory of the most reactionary kind. Not so surprising, really. The Prince, therefore, was a Whig. Not the most extreme variety of that species to be sure, but he could strike the pose when called upon to do so. Nothing struck fear into the callused hearts of the kings Tory ministers like the vision of the Lesser Sorts becoming politically organized.

In a perverse way it made life simpler for everyone. Not more enjoyable, but definitely simpler.

The problem with a tool as malleable as the Prince was keeping him on message. As mentioned earlier, the Prince was not stupid, but keeping his attention on one thing long enough for him to grasp the details was a daunting task.

It didn’t help that he had no real interest in politics. At least politics that didn’t involve increasing his allowance or voting him money to pay off his debts. It also did not help that the Prince was a post-dated check, so to speak. His political value came from what he could deliver to potential placeholders once he became king. Or Regent.

As long as dad sat on the throne with his wits intact, the Prince wielded no political power whatsoever. Actually, that’s not entirely true.  He did wield negative political power. He could not help those Whig politicians who sought lucrative posts within government, but he could do his bit to help the Whigs thwart their Tory opponents.

So the Prince had nuisance value. And no one appreciated this more than that jolly old statesmen, Charles James Fox. I shall try not to stray too far off the track with some of these other political persons. It would be an easy thing indeed to run off on a tangent about the movers and shakers of the day. The Georgian period, the Regency in particular, was just chock full of colorful characters.

That said, one cannot talk about the Prince without talking about fellows like Fox. Without Fox, the Prince would have found himself in very deep water. While the Prince did inject himself into some issues that did not touch on him personally, he was, by and large, absent from the political stage. And I do mean stage.

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I get the feeling old Georgie boy would feel right at home on the stage.  Didn’t he throw himself on his mother’s feet last week?  And faint upon confessing his transgressions?  Imagine him in the middle of parliament!  Oh boy.

Thank you Mr. Al.  Please put some calluses on your fingertips and write me some more.

Alice