George IV

George IV., eldest son of George III., was born in London on August 12, 1762. Naturally prone to vice, he broke loose in his nineteenth year from the restraint in which he had hitherto been held, and entered on a career of reckless dissipation. At the same time, out of a spirit of opposition to his father, he began to associate on friendly terms with the Whig leaders, Fox and Sheridan. At the age of 20 he secretly married Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic widow, thereby forfeiting his title to the throne, in accordance with the terms of the Royal Marriage Act of 1772. He disowned the marriage, however, and in 1795 was persuaded to marry the Princess Caroline (q.v.) of Brunswick, Parliament undertaking to pay his debts and increase his income. In 1811 Parliament declared his father incapable of governing, and a bill was passed constituting him Regent. In spite of his early leanings towards the Whigs, he continued the Tory Government of George III. (q.v.). The death of his only daughter, the Princess Charlotte (q.v.), in 1817 affected him to a degree which showed that he was not altogether devoid of natural feeling.

He ascended the throne on the death of George HI. on January 29, 1820. His first act as king was to create a public scandal by attempting to obtain a divorce from his wrife, who was refused a share in his pompous coronation (July, 1821). She died in the following month. During the reign of George IV. the Government remained in the hands of the Tories. Lord Liverpool, who resigned in 1827, was succeeded by Canning (1827), Lord Goderich (1827-28), and the Duke of Wellington (1828-30). The king opposed the Catholic Relief Bill, but was finally induced to consent to it by the representations of the Duke of Wellington (1829).

He died, worn out by his debaucheries, on June 26, 1830.