Description:

William IV of England King

Future William IV ALS Mentioning 5 Illegitimate Daughters!

 

3pp ALS on cream watermarked bifold stationery inscribed overall and signed by future King William IV (1765-1837) as "William h" on third page. In very good to near fine condition, with expected toning, wear, and light paper folds. A small piece of typewritten paper adhered to top right of first page, and two paper tabs found on back of blank fourth page. Each page measures 7.25" x 8.75."

 

Future William IV, then the Duke of Clarence, wrote this January 6, 1824 letter from Bushy House, his Georgian royal residence situated in Bushy Park on the outskirts of London. The letter is addressed to an unknown noblewoman referred to as "Madame" and "Your Ladyship," whose daughter Elizabeth was both "lovely and accomplished". In a parental aside to the unknown correspondent, the Duke of Clarence mentioned his own 5 illegitimate daughters!

 

Apparently Lady Elizabeth had tired after too much dancing, and the courtly Duke of Clarence now inquired after her health. "I thought Lady Elizabeth put her hand to her side as if she had danced too much which is my reason for now troubling her. Ladyship, I trust Lady Elizabeth is perfectly recovered of her fatigue and will be able to grace the hall this evening at the Pavillion [sic with her lovely and animating presence. Being myself the father of five daughters I can enter in the nature and amicable excitedness of a tender mother for this torment (?) of her daughter…"

 

The Duke of Clarence did indeed have 5 illegitimate daughters with his longtime mistress, Anglo-Irish actress Dorothea Bland (1761-1816); Sophia (1796-1837), Mary (1798-1864), Elizabeth (1801-1856), Augusta (1803-1865), and Amelia (1807-1858). In the established tradition of illegitimate royal offspring, the daughters were given the surname "FitzClarence". William IV later said about his daughters: "They are all, you know, pretty and lively, and make society in a way that real princesses could not."

 

It is significant that the Duke of Clarence mentioned these children so casually in his correspondence. It was an open secret that he had lived with his mistress for 20 years and fathered 10 children. But his tact left much to be desired, since he had married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in 1818 and the couple struggled to have an heir; they had lost 5 children within a 3-year period.

 

The future William IV never expected to be king. He was the third son of George III, and he ascended the throne in 1830 after the death of his two older brothers. During his 10-year-long reign, William IV enacted many reforms and was much more conscientious than his hedonistic brother George IV. William IV and Adelaide never had any living children, and none of William's illegitimate children were eligible to succeed him. Thus the crown passed to his niece, Victoria.

 

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