William had no surviving legitimate children at the time of his death, so he was succeeded by his niece Victoria in the United Kingdom and his brother Ernest Augustus in Hanover.

William was born in the early hours of the morning on 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House, the third child and son of King George III and Queen Charlotte.

I am fully persuaded, that it is unnecessary to caution you against offering insult or indignity to the persons of the Prince or Admiral...[9] The plot did not come to fruition; the British heard of it and assigned guards to William, who had until then walked around New York unescorted.

Appalled at the prospect of his son making his case to the voters, the King created him Duke of Clarence and St Andrews and Earl of Munster on 19 May 1789,[16][17] supposedly saying: "I well know it is another vote added to the Opposition.

[25] Instead of serving at sea, William spent time in the House of Lords, where he spoke in opposition to the abolition of slavery, which still existed in the British colonies.

[26] His experience in the Caribbean, where he "quickly absorbed the plantation owners' views about slavery",[27] lent weight to his position, which was perceived as well-argued and just by some of his contemporaries.

"[38] The couple, while living quietly, enjoyed entertaining, with Mrs. Jordan writing in late 1809: "We shall have a full and merry house this Christmas, 'tis what the dear Duke delights in.

[49] Following the death of William's niece Princess Charlotte of Wales, then second-in-line to the British throne, in 1817, George III was left with twelve children but no legitimate grandchildren.

Reformed since his marriage, William walked for hours, ate relatively frugally, and the only drink he imbibed in quantity was barley water flavoured with lemon.

Later that year, the incoming prime minister, George Canning, appointed him to the office of Lord High Admiral, which had been in commission (that is, exercised by a board rather than by a single individual) since 1709.

Things finally came to a head in 1828 when, as Lord High Admiral, he put to sea with a squadron of ships, leaving no word of where they were going, and remained away for ten days.

He abolished the cat o' nine tails for most offences other than mutiny, attempted to improve the standard of naval gunnery, and required regular reports of the condition and preparedness of each ship.

In contrast to George IV, who tended to spend most of his time in Windsor Castle, William was known, especially early in his reign, to walk, unaccompanied, through London or Brighton.

Charlotte Williams-Wynn wrote shortly after his accession: "Hitherto the King has been indefatigable in his efforts to make himself popular, and do good natured and amiable things in every possible instance.

[80] When the First Reform Bill was defeated in the House of Commons in 1831, Grey's ministry urged William to dissolve Parliament, which would lead to a new general election.

At first, William hesitated to exercise his prerogative powers to dissolve Parliament because elections had just been held the year before and the country was in a state of high excitement which might boil over into violence.

[87] When traditionalist Tories threatened to boycott what they called the "Half Crown-nation",[88] the King retorted that they should go ahead, and that he anticipated "greater convenience of room and less heat".

In the face of popular excitement, the Grey ministry refused to accept defeat, and re-introduced the Bill, despite the continued opposition of peers in the House of Lords.

Frustrated by the Lords' obdurate attitude, Grey suggested that the King create a sufficient number of new peers to ensure the passage of the Reform Bill.

[95] He also felt strongly that Britain should not interfere in the internal affairs of other states, which brought him into conflict with the interventionist foreign secretary, Lord Palmerston.

[102] For the remainder of his reign, William interfered actively in politics only once, in 1834, when he became the last British sovereign to choose a prime minister contrary to the will of Parliament.

In 1834, the ministry was facing increasing unpopularity and Lord Grey retired; the home secretary, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, replaced him.

Melbourne was reappointed as prime minister, remaining there for the rest of William's reign, and the King was forced to accept Russell as Commons leader.

Melbourne's government mooted more ideas to introduce greater democracy, such as the devolution of powers to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, which greatly alarmed the King, who feared it would eventually lead to the loss of the colony.

Their attempts to forge a close relationship with the girl were frustrated by the conflict between the King and Victoria's widowed mother, the Duchess of Kent and Strathearn.

"[113] The speech was so shocking that Victoria burst into tears, while her mother sat in silence and was only with difficulty persuaded not to leave immediately after dinner (the two left the next day).

[118] William died in the early hours of the morning of 20 June 1837 at Windsor Castle, where he was buried in the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel.

[56] Although William is not the direct ancestor of the later monarchs of the United Kingdom, he has many notable descendants through his illegitimate children with Mrs Jordan, including British prime minister David Cameron,[120] TV presenter Adam Hart-Davis, and author and statesman Duff Cooper.

During the reign of George III, the king could have dismissed one ministry, appointed another, dissolved Parliament, and expected the electorate to vote in favour of the new administration.

A modern interpretation sees him as failing to satisfy either political extreme by trying to find a compromise between two bitterly opposed factions, but in the process proving himself more capable as a constitutional monarch than many had supposed.