BRITISH MONARCHY AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS

strong one - there were standing armies of nearly 20,000 men in his

kingdoms and he had a revenue of around Ј2 million. Within days of his

succession, James announced the summoning of Parliament in May but he

sounded a warning note: 'the best way to engage me to meet you often is

always to use me well'. A rebellion led by Charles's illegitimate son, the

Duke of Monmouth, was easily crushed after the battle of Sedgemoor in 1685,

and savage punishments were imposed by the infamous Lord Chief Justice,

Judge Jeffreys, at the 'Bloody Assizes'.

James's reaction to the Monmouth rebellion was to plan the increase of

the standing army and the appointment of loyal and experienced Roman

Catholic officers. This, together with James's attempts to give civic

equality to Roman Catholic and Protestant dissenters, led to conflict with

Parliament, as it was seen as James showing favouritism towards Roman

Catholics. Fear of Catholicism was widespread (in 1685, Louis XIV revoked

the Edict of Nantes which gave protection to French Protestants), and the

possibility of a standing army led by Roman Catholic officers produced

protest in Parliament. As a result, James prorogued Parliament in 1685 and

ruled without it.

James attempted to promote the Roman Catholic cause by dismissing judges

and Lord Lieutenants who refused to support the withdrawal of laws

penalising religious dissidents, appointing Catholics to important academic

posts, and to senior military and political positions. Within three years,

the majority of James's subjects had been alienated.

In 1687 James issued the Declaration of Indulgence aiming at religious

toleration; seven bishops who asked James to reconsider were charged with

seditious libel, but later acquitted to popular Anglican acclaim. When his

second (Roman Catholic) wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth on 10 June 1688 to

a son (James Stuart, later known as the 'Old Pretender' and father of

Charles Edward Stuart, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'), it seemed that a Roman

Catholic dynasty would be established. William of Orange, Protestant

husband of James's elder daughter, Mary (by James's first and Protestant

wife, Anne Hyde), was therefore welcomed when he invaded on 5 November

1688. The Army and the Navy (disaffected despite James's investment in

them) deserted to William, and James fled to France.

James's attempt to regain the throne by taking a French army to Ireland

failed - he was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. James spent

the rest of his life in exile in France, dying there in 1701.

WILLIAM III (1689-1702) AND MARY II (1689-94)

In 1689 Parliament declared that James had abdicated by deserting his

kingdom. William (reigned 1689-1702) and Mary (reigned 1689-94) were

offered the throne as joint monarchs. They accepted a Declaration of Rights

(later a Bill), drawn up by a Convention of Parliament, which limited the

Sovereign's power, reaffirmed Parliament's claim to control taxation and

legislation, and provided guarantees against the abuses of power which

James II and the other Stuart Kings had committed. The exclusion of James

II and his heirs was extended to exclude all Catholics from the throne,

since 'it hath been found by experience that it is inconsistent with the

safety and welfare of this protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist

prince'. The Sovereign was required in his coronation oath to swear to

maintain the Protestant religion.

The Bill was designed to ensure Parliament could function free from royal

interference. The Sovereign was forbidden from suspending or dispensing

with laws passed by Parliament, or imposing taxes without Parliamentary

consent. The Sovereign was not allowed to interfere with elections or

freedom of speech, and proceedings in Parliament were not to be questioned

in the courts or in any body outside Parliament itself. (This was the basis

of modern parliamentary privilege.) The Sovereign was required to summon

Parliament frequently (the Triennial Act of 1694 reinforced this by

requiring the regular summoning of Parliaments). Parliament tightened

control over the King's expenditure; the financial settlement reached with

William and Mary deliberately made them dependent upon Parliament, as one

Member of Parliament said, 'when princes have not needed money they have

not needed us'. Finally the King was forbidden to maintain a standing army

in time of peace without Parliament's consent.

The Bill of Rights added further defences of individual rights. The King

was forbidden to establish his own courts or to act as a judge himself, and

the courts were forbidden to impose excessive bail or fines, or cruel and

unusual punishments. However, the Sovereign could still summon and dissolve

Parliament, appoint and dismiss Ministers, veto legislation and declare

war.

The so-called 'Glorious Revolution' has been much debated over the degree

to which it was conservative or radical in character. The result was a

permanent shift in power; although the monarchy remained of central

importance, Parliament had become a permanent feature of political life.

The Toleration Act of 1689 gave all non-conformists except Roman

Catholics freedom of worship, thus rewarding Protestant dissenters for

their refusal to side with James II.

After 1688 there was a rapid development of party, as parliamentary

sessions lengthened and the Triennial Act ensured frequent general

elections. Although the Tories had fully supported the Revolution, it was

the Whigs (traditional critics of the monarchy) who supported William and

consolidated their position. Recognising the advisability of selecting a

Ministry from the political party with the majority in the House of

Commons, William appointed a Ministry in 1696 which was drawn from the

Whigs; known as the Junto, it was regarded with suspicion by Members of

Parliament as it met separately, but it may be regarded as the forerunner

of the modern Cabinet of Ministers.

In 1697, Parliament decided to give an annual grant of Ј700,000 to the

King for life, as a contribution to the expenses of civil government, which

included judges' and ambassadors' salaries, as well as the Royal

Household's expenses.

The Bill of Rights had established the succession with the heirs of Mary

II, Anne and William III in that order, but by 1700 Mary had died

childless, Anne's only surviving child (out of 17 children), the Duke of

Gloucester, had died at the age of 11 and William was dying. The succession

had to be decided.

The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the Protestant

succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for ensuring

parliamentary system of government. According to the Act, succession to the

throne went to Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover and James I's

granddaughter, and her Protestant heirs.

The Act also laid down the conditions under which alone the Crown could

be held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a Roman Catholic, could

hold the English Crown. The Sovereign now had to swear to maintain the

Church of England (and after 1707, the Church of Scotland). The Act of

Settlement not only addressed the dynastic and religious aspects of

succession, it also further restricted the powers and prerogatives of the

Crown.

Under the Act, parliamentary consent had to be given for the Sovereign to

engage in war or leave the country, and judges were to hold office on good

conduct and not at royal pleasure - thus establishing judicial

independence. The Act of Settlement reinforced the Bill of Rights, in that

it strengthened the principle that government was undertaken by the

Sovereign and his or her constitutional advisers (i.e. his or her

Ministers), not by the Sovereign and any personal advisers whom he or she

happened to choose.

One of William's main reasons for accepting the throne was to reinforce

the struggle against Louis XIV. William's foreign policy was dominated by

the priority to contain French expansionism. England and the Dutch joined

the coalition against France during the Nine Years War. Although Louis was

forced to recognise William as King under the Treaty of Ryswick (1697),

William's policy of intervention in Europe was costly in terms of finance

and his popularity. The Bank of England, established in 1694 to raise money

for the war by borrowing, did not loosen the King's financial reliance on

Parliament as the national debt depended on parliamentary guarantees.

William's Dutch advisers were resented, and in 1699 his Dutch Blue Guards

were forced to leave the country.

Never of robust health, William died as a result of complications from a

fall whilst riding at Hampton Court in 1702.

ANNE (1702-14)

Anne, born in 1665, was the second daughter of James II and Anne Hyde.

She played no part in her father's reign, but sided with her sister and

brother-in-law (Mary II and William III) during the Glorious Revolution.

She married George, Prince of Denmark, but the pair failed to produce a

surviving heir. She died at 49 years of age, after a lifelong battle with

the blood disease porphyria.

The untimely death of William III nullified, in effect, the Settlement

Act of 1701: Anne was James' daughter through his Protestant marriage, and

therefore, presented no conflict with the act. Anne refrained from

politically antagonizing Parliament, but was compelled to attend most

Cabinet meetings to keep her half-brother, James the Old Pretender, under

heel. Anne was the last sovereign to veto an act of Parliament, as well as

the final Stuart monarch. The most significant constitutional act in her

reign was the Act of Union in 1707, which created Great Britain by finally

fully uniting England and Scotland (Ireland joined the Union in 1801).

The Stuart trait of relying on favorites was as pronounced in Anne's

reign as it had been in James I's reign. Anne's closest confidant was Sarah

Churchill, who exerted great influence over the king. Sarah's husband was

the Duke of Marlborough, who masterly led the English to several victories

in the War of Spanish Succession. Anne and Sarah were virtually

inseparable: no king's mistress had ever wielded the power granted to the

duchess, but Sarah became too confident in her position. She developed an

overbearing demeanor towards Anne, and berated the Queen in public. In the

meantime, Tory leaders had planted one Abigail Hill in the royal household

to capture Anne's need for sympathy and affection. As Anne increasingly

turned to Abigail, the question of succession rose again, pitting the Queen

and the Marlborough against each other in a heated debate. The relationship

of Anne and the Churchill's fell asunder. Marlborough, despite his war

record, was dismissed from public service and Sarah was shunned in favor of

Abigail.

Many of the internal conflicts in English society were simply the birth

pains of the two-party system of government. The Whig and Tory Parties,

fully enfranchised by the last years of Anne's reign, fought for control of

Parliament and influence over the Queen. Anne was torn personally as well

as politically by the succession question: her Stuart upbringing compelled

her to choose as heir her half-brother, the Old Pretender and favorite of

the Tories, but she had already elected to side with Whigs when supporting

Mary and William over James II. In the end, Anne abided by the Act of

Settlement, and the Whigs paved the way for the succession of their

candidate, George of Hanover.

Anne's reign may be considered successful, but somewhat lackluster in

comparison to the rest of the Stuart line. 1066 and All That, describes her

with its usual tongue-in-cheek manner: "Finally the Orange... was succeeded

by the memorable dead queen, Anne. Queen Anne was considered rather a

remarkable woman and hence was usually referred to as Great Anna, or Annus

Mirabilis. The Queen had many favourites (all women), the most memorable of

whom were Sarah Jenkins and Mrs Smashems, who were the first wig and the

first Tory... the Whigs being the first to realize that the Queen had been

dead all the time chose George I as King."

THE HANOVERIANS

The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set

to undermine the stability of British society. The first of their Kings,

George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but the nearest Protestant

according the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of James II, the deposed

Stuart King, threatened to take the throne and were supported by a number

of 'Jacobites' throughout the realm.

The Hanoverian period for all that, was remarkably stable, not least

because of the longevity of its Kings. From 1714 through to 1837, there

were only five, one of whom, George III, remains the longest reigning King

in British History. The period was also one of political stability, and the

development of constitutional monarchy. For vast tracts of the eighteenth

century politics were dominated by the great Whig families, while the early

nineteenth century saw Tory domination. Britain's first 'Prime' Minister,

Robert Walpole, dates from this period, while income tax was introduced.

Towards the end of the reign, the Great Reform Act was passed, which

amongst other things widened the electorate.

It was in this period that Britain came to acquire much of her overseas

Empire, despite the loss of the American colonies, largely through foreign

conquest in the various wars of the century. At the end of the Hanoverian

period the British empire covered a third of the globe while the theme of

longevity was set to continue, as the longest reigning monarch in British

history, Queen Victoria, prepared to take the throne.

THE HANOVERIANS

1714 - 1837

GEORGE I =

Sophia Dorothea, dau. of Duke of Brunswick and Celle

(1714–1727)

GEORGE

II = Caroline, dau. of Margrave of

(1727–1760) Brandenburg-Anspach

Augusta of =

Frederick Lewis,

Saxe-Gotha-Altenberg Prince of

Wales

GEORGE III = Sophia Charlotte of

(1760–1820) Mecklenburg-Strelitz

GEORGE IV WILLIAM IV

Edward, = Victoria

(1820–1830) (1830–1837)

Duke of Kent of Saxe-

Coburg

VICTORIA

(1837–1901)

GEORGE I (1714-27)

George I was born March 28, 1660, son of Ernest, Elector of Hanover and

Sophia, granddaughter of James I. He was raised in the royal court of

Hanover, a German province, and married Sophia, Princess of Zelle, in 1682.

The marriage produced one son (the future George II) and one daughter

(Sophia Dorothea, who married her cousin, Frederick William I, King of

Prussia). After ruling England for thirteen years, George I died of a

stroke on a journey to his beloved Hanover on October 11, 1727.

George, Elector of Hanover since 1698, ascended the throne upon the death

of Queen Anne, under the terms of the 1701 Act of Settlement. His mother

had recently died and he meticulously settled his affairs in Hanover before

coming to England. He realized his position and considered the better of

two evils to be the Whigs (the other alternative was the Catholic son of

James II by Mary of Modena, James Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender). George

knew that any decision was bound to offend at least half of the British

population. His character and mannerisms were strictly German; he never

troubled himself to learn the English language, and spent at least half of

his time in Hanover.

The pale little 54 year-old man arrived in Greenwich on September 29,

1714, with a full retinue of German friends, advisors and servants (two of

which, Mohamet and Mustapha, were Negroes captured during a Turkish

campaign). All were determined to profit from the venture, with George

leading the way. He also arrived with two mistresses and no wife - Sophia

had been imprisoned for adultery. The English population was unkind to the

two mistresses, labeling the tall, thin Ehrengard Melusina von Schulenberg

as the "maypole", and the short, fat Charlotte Sophia Kielmansegge as the

"elephant". Thackeray remarked, "Take what you can get was the old

monarch's maxim... The German women plundered, the German secretaries

plundered, the German cooks and attendants plundered, even Mustapha and

Mohamet... had a share in the booty."

The Jacobites, legitimist Tories, attempted to depose George and replace

him with the Old Pretender in 1715. The rebellion was a dismal failure. The

Old Pretender failed to arrive in Britain until it was over and French

backing evaporated with the death of Louis XIV. After the rebellion,

England settled into a much needed time of peace, with internal politics

and foreign affairs coming to the fore.

George's ignorance of the English language and customs actually became

the cornerstone of his style of rule: leave England to it's own devices and

live in Hanover as much as possible. Cabinet positions became of the utmost

importance; the king's ministers represented the executive branch of

government, while Parliament represented the legislative. George's frequent

absences required the creation of the post of Prime Minister, the majority

leader in the House of Commons who acted in the king's stead. The first was

Robert Walpole, whose political mettle was tried in 1720 with the South Sea

Company debacle. The South Sea Company was a highly speculative venture

(one of many that was currently plaguing British economics at that time),

whose investors cajoled government participation. Walpole resisted from the

beginning, and after the venture collapsed and thousands were financially

ruined, he worked feverishly to restore public credit and confidence in

George's government. His success put him in the position of dominating

British politics for the next 20 years, and the reliance on an executive

Cabinet marked an important step in the formation of a modern

constitutional monarchy in England.

George avoided entering European conflicts by establishing a complex web

of continental alliances. He and his Whig ministers were quite skillful;

the realm managed to stay out of war until George II declared war on Spain

in 1739. George I and his son, George II, literally hated each other, a

fact that the Tory party used to gain political strength. George I, on his

many trips to Hanover, never placed the leadership of government in his

son's hands, preferring to rely on his ministers when he was abroad. This

disdain between father and son was a blight which became a tradition in the

House of Hanover.

Thackeray, in The Four Georges, allows both a glimpse of George I's

character, and the circumstances under which he ruled England: "Though a

despot in Hanover, he was a moderate ruler in England. His aim was to leave

it to itself as much as possible, and to live out of it as much as he

could. His heart was in Hanover. He was more than fifty-four years of age

when he came amongst us: we took him because we wanted him, because he

served our turn; we laughed at his uncouth German ways, and sneered at him.

He took our loyalty for what it was worth; laid hands on what money he

could; kept us assuredly from Popery and wooden shoes. I, for one, would

have been on his side in those days. Cynical, and selfish, as he was, he

was better than a king out of St. Germains [the Old Pretender] with a

French King's orders in his pocket, and a swarm of Jesuits in his train."

GEORGE II (1727-60)

George II was born November 10, 1683, the only son of George I and

Sophia. His youth was spent in the Hanoverian court in Germany, and he

married Caroline of Anspach in 1705. He was truly devoted to Caroline; she

bore him three sons and five daughters, and actively participated in

government affairs, before she died in 1737. Like his father, George was

very much a German prince, but at the age of 30 when George I ascended the

throne, he was young enough to absorb the English culture that escaped his

father. George II died of a stroke on October 25, 1760.

George possessed three passions: the army, music and his wife. He was

exceptionally brave and has the distinction of being the last British

sovereign to command troops in the field (at Dettingen against the French

in 1743). He inherited his father's love of opera, particularly the work of

George Frederick Handel, who had been George I's court musician in Hanover.

Caroline proved to be his greatest asset. She revived traditional court

life (which had all but vanished under George I, was fiercely intelligent

and an ardent supporter of Robert Walpole. Walpole continued in the role of

Prime Minister at Caroline's behest, as George was loathe keeping his

father's head Cabinet member. The hatred George felt towards his father was

reciprocated by his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died in 1751.

Walpole retired in 1742, after establishing the foundation of the modern

constitutional monarchy: a Cabinet responsible to a Parliament, which was,

in turn, responsible to an electorate. At that time, the system was far

from truly democratic; the electorate was essentially the voice of wealthy

landowners and mercantilists. The Whig party was firmly in control,

although legitimist Tories attempted one last Jacobite rebellion in 1745,

by again trying to restore a Stuart to the throne. Prince Charles Edward

Stuart, known as the Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie, landed in

Scotland and marched as far south as Derby, causing yet another wave of

Anti-Catholicism to wash over England. The Scots retreated, and in 1746,

were butchered by the Royal Army at Culloden Moor. Bonnie Prince Charlie

escaped to France and died in Rome. The Tories became suspect due to their

associations with Jacobitism, ensuring oligarchic Whig rule for the

following fifty years.

Walpole managed to keep George out of continental conflicts for the first

twelve years of the reign, but George declared war on Spain in 1739,

against Walpole's wishes. The Spanish war extended into the 1740's as a

component of the War of Austrian Succession, in which England fought

against French dominance in Europe. George shrank away from the situation

quickly: he negotiated a hasty peace with France, to protect Hanover. The

1750's found England again at war with France, this time over imperial

claims. Fighting was intense in Europe, but North America and India were

also theatres of the war. Government faltering in response to the French

crisis brought William Pitt the Elder, later Earl of Chatham, to the

forefront of British politics.

Thackeray describes George II and Walpole as such, in The Four Georges

"... how he was a choleric little sovereign; how he shook his fist in the

face of his father's courtiers; how he kicked his coat and wig about in his

rages; and called everybody thief, liar, rascal with whom he differed: you

will read in all the history books; and how he speedily and shrewdly

reconciled himself with the bold minister, whom he had hated during his

father's life, and by whom he was served during fifteen years of his own

with admirable prudence, fidelity, and success. But for Robert Walpole, we

should have had the Pretender back again."

GEORGE III (r. 1760-1820)

George III was born on 4 June 1738 in London, the eldest son of

Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. He became

heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his

grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the third Hanoverian monarch and

the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first

language.

George III is widely remembered for two things: losing the American

colonies and going mad. This is far from the whole truth. George's direct

responsibility for the loss of the colonies is not great. He opposed their

bid for independence to the end, but he did not develop the policies (such

as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties of 1767 on tea, paper and

other products) which led to war in 1775-76 and which had the support of

Parliament. These policies were largely due to the financial burdens of

garrisoning and administering the vast expansion of territory brought under

the British Crown in America, the costs of a series of wars with France and

Spain in North America, and the loans given to the East India Company (then

responsible for administering India). By the 1770s, and at a time when

there was no income tax, the national debt required an annual revenue of Ј4

million to service it.

The declaration of American independence on 4 July 1776, the end of the

war with the surrender by British forces in 1782, and the defeat which the

loss of the American colonies represented, could have threatened the

Hanoverian throne. However, George's strong defence of what he saw as the

national interest and the prospect of long war with revolutionary France

made him, if anything, more popular than before.

The American war, its political aftermath and family anxieties placed

great strain on George in the 1780s. After serious bouts of illness in 1788-

89 and again in 1801, George became permanently deranged in 1810. He was

mentally unfit to rule in the last decade of his reign; his eldest son -

the later George IV - acted as Prince Regent from 1811. Some medical

historians have said that George III's mental instability was caused by a

hereditary physical disorder called porphyria.

George's accession in 1760 marked a significant change in royal finances.

Since 1697, the monarch had received an annual grant of Ј700,000 from

Parliament as a contribution to the Civil List, i.e. civil government costs

(such as judges' and ambassadors' salaries) and the expenses of the Royal

Household. In 1760, it was decided that the whole cost of the Civil List

should be provided by Parliament in return for the surrender of the

hereditary revenues by the King for the duration of his reign. (This

arrangement still applies today, although civil government costs are now

paid by Parliament, rather than financed directly by the monarch from the

Civil List.)

The first 25 years of George's reign were politically controversial for

reasons other than the conflict with America. The King was accused by some

critics, particularly Whigs (a leading political grouping), of attempting

to reassert royal authority in an unconstitutional manner. In fact, George

took a conventional view of the constitution and the powers left to the

Crown after the conflicts between Crown and Parliament in the 17th century.

Although he was careful not to exceed his powers, George's limited

ability and lack of subtlety in dealing with the shifting alliances within

the Tory and Whig political groupings in Parliament meant that he found it

difficult to bring together ministries which could enjoy the support of the

House of Commons. His problem was solved first by the long-lasting ministry

of Lord North (1770-82) and then, from 1783, by Pitt the Younger, whose

ministry lasted until 1801.

George III was the most attractive of the Hanoverian monarchs. He was a

good family man (there were 15 children) and devoted to his wife, Charlotte

of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom he bought the Queen's House (later

enlarged to become Buckingham Palace). However, his sons disappointed him

and, after his brothers made unsuitable secret marriages, the Royal

Marriages Act of 1772 was passed at George's insistence. (Under this Act,

the Sovereign must give consent to the marriage of any lineal descendant of

George II, with certain exceptions.)

Being extremely conscientious, George read all government papers and

sometimes annoyed his ministers by taking such a prominent interest in

government and policy. His political influence could be decisive. In 1801,

he forced Pitt the Younger to resign when the two men disagreed about

whether Roman Catholics should have full civil rights. George III, because

of his coronation oath to maintain the rights and privileges of the Church

of England, was against the proposed measure.

One of the most cultured of monarchs, George started a new royal

collection of books (65,000 of his books were later given to the British

Museum, as the nucleus of a national library) and opened his library to

scholars. In 1768, George founded and paid the initial costs of the Royal

Academy of Arts (now famous for its exhibitions). He was the first king to

study science as part of his education (he had his own astronomical

observatory), and examples of his collection of scientific instruments can

now be seen in the Science Museum.

George III also took a keen interest in agriculture, particularly on the

crown estates at Richmond and Windsor, being known as 'Farmer George'. In

his last years, physical as well as mental powers deserted him and he

became blind. He died at Windsor Castle on 29 January 1820, after a reign

of almost 60 years - the second longest in British history.

GEORGE IV (1820-30)

George IV was 48 when he became Regent in 1811. He had secretly and

illegally married a Roman Catholic, Mrs Fitzherbert. In 1795 he officially

married Princess Caroline of Brunswick, but the marriage was a failure and

he tried unsuccessfully to divorce her after his accession in 1820

(Caroline died in 1821). Their only child Princess Charlotte died giving

birth to a stillborn child.

An outstanding, if extravagant, collector and builder, George IV acquired

many important works of art (now in the Royal Collection), built the Royal

Pavilion at Brighton, and transformed Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

George's fondness for pageantry helped to develop the ceremonial side of

monarchy. After his father's long illness, George resumed royal visits; he

visited Hanover in 1821 (it had not been visited by its ruler since the

1750s), and Ireland and Scotland over the next couple of years.

Beset by debts, George was in a weak position in relation to his Cabinet

of ministers. His concern for royal prerogative was sporadic; when the

Prime Minister Lord Liverpool fell ill in 1827, George at one stage

suggested that ministers should choose Liverpool's successor. In 1829,

George IV was forced by his ministers, much against his will and his

interpretation of his coronation oath, to agree to Catholic Emancipation.

By reducing religious discrimination, this emancipation enabled the

monarchy to play a more national role.

George's profligacy and marriage difficulties meant that he never

regained much popularity, and he spent his final years in seclusion at

Windsor, dying at the age of 67.

WILLIAM IV (1830-37)

At the age of 13, William became a midshipman and began a career in the

Royal Navy. In 1789, he was made duke of Clarence. He retired from the Navy

in 1790. Between 1791 and 1811 he lived with his mistress, the actress Mrs

Jordan, and the growing family of their children known as the

Fitzclarences. William married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in 1818,

but their children died in infancy. The third son of George III, William

became heir apparent at the age of 62 when his older brother died.

William's reign (reigned 1830-37) was dominated by the Reform crisis,

beginning almost immediately when Wellington's Tory government (which

William supported) lost the general election in August 1830. Pledged to

parliamentary reform, Grey's Whig government won a further election which

William had to call in 1831 and then pushed through a reform bill against

the opposition of the Tories and the House of Lords, using the threat of

the creation of 50 or more peers to do so. The failure of the Tories to

form an alternative government in 1832 meant that William had to sign the

Great Reform Bill. Control of peerages had been used as a party weapon, and

the royal prerogative had been damaged.

The Reform Bill abolished some of the worst abuses of the electoral

system (for example, representation for so called 'rotten boroughs', which

had long ceased to be of any importance, was stopped, and new industrial

towns obtained representation). The Reform Act also introduced standardised

rules for the franchise (different boroughs had previously had varying

franchise rules) and, by extending the franchise to the middle classes,

greatly increased the role of public opinion in the political process.

William understood the theory of the more limited monarchy, once saying

'I have my view of things, and I tell them to my ministers. If they do not

adopt them, I cannot help it. I have done my duty.' William died a month

after Victoria had come of age, thus avoiding another regency.

VICTORIA (1837-1901)

Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on 24 May 1819. She was

the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. Her

father died shortly after her birth and she became heir to the throne

because the three uncles who were ahead of her in succession - George IV,

Frederick Duke of York, and William IV - had no legitimate children who

survived. Warmhearted and lively, Victoria had a gift for drawing and

painting; educated by a governess at home, she was a natural diarist and

kept a regular journal throughout her life. On William IV's death in 1837,

she became Queen at the age of 18.

Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great age of industrial

expansion, economic progress and - especially - empire. At her death, it

was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set.

In the early part of her reign, she was influenced by two men: her first

Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and her husband, Prince Albert, whom she

married in 1840. Both men taught her much about how to be a ruler in a

'constitutional monarchy' where the monarch had very few powers but could

use much influence. Albert took an active interest in the arts, science,

trade and industry; the project for which he is best remembered was the

Great Exhibition of 1851, the profits from which helped to establish the

South Kensington museums complex in London.

Her marriage to Prince Albert brought nine children between 1840 and

1857. Most of her children married into other royal families of Europe:

Edward VII (born 1841, married Alexandra, daughter of Christian IX of

Denmark); Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born

1844, married Marie of Russia); Arthur, Duke of Connaught (born 1850,

married Louise Margaret of Prussia); Leopold, Duke of Albany (born 1853,

married Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont); Victoria, Princess Royal (born 1840,

married Friedrich III, German Emperor); Alice (born 1843, married Ludwig

IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine); Helena (born 1846, married Christian

of Schleswig-Holstein); Louise (born 1848, married John Campbell, 9th Duke

of Argyll); Beatrice (born 1857, married Henry of Battenberg). Victoria

bought Osborne House (later presented to the nation by Edward VII) on the

Isle of Wight as a family home in 1845, and Albert bought Balmoral in 1852.

Victoria was deeply attached to her husband and she sank into depression

after he died, aged 42, in 1861. She had lost a devoted husband and her

principal trusted adviser in affairs of state. For the rest of her reign

she wore black. Until the late 1860s she rarely appeared in public;

although she never neglected her official Correspondence, and continued to

give audiences to her ministers and official visitors, she was reluctant to

resume a full public life. She was persuaded to open Parliament in person

in 1866 and 1867, but she was widely criticised for living in seclusion and

quite a strong republican movement developed. (Seven attempts were made on

Victoria's life, between 1840 and 1882 - her courageous attitude towards

these attacks greatly strengthened her popularity.) With time, the private

urgings of her family and the flattering attention of Benjamin Disraeli,

Prime Minister in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880, the Queen gradually resumed

her public duties.

In foreign policy, the Queen's influence during the middle years of her

reign was generally used to support peace and reconciliation. In 1864,

Victoria pressed her ministers not to intervene in the Prussia-Austria-

Denmark war, and her letter to the German Emperor (whose son had married

her daughter) in 1875 helped to avert a second Franco-German war. On the

Eastern Question in the 1870s - the issue of Britain's policy towards the

declining Turkish Empire in Europe - Victoria (unlike Gladstone) believed

that Britain, while pressing for necessary reforms, ought to uphold Turkish

hegemony as a bulwark of stability against Russia, and maintain bi-

partisanship at a time when Britain could be involved in war.

Victoria's popularity grew with the increasing imperial sentiment from

the 1870s onwards. After the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the government of India

was transferred from the East India Company to the Crown with the position

of Governor General upgraded to Viceroy, and in 1877 Victoria became

Empress of India under the Royal Titles Act passed by Disraeli's

government.

During Victoria's long reign, direct political power moved away from the

sovereign. A series of Acts broadened the social and economic base of the

electorate. These acts included the Second Reform Act of 1867; the

introduction of the secret ballot in 1872, which made it impossible to

pressurise voters by bribery or intimidation; and the Representation of the

Peoples Act of 1884 - all householders and lodgers in accommodation worth

at least Ј10 a year, and occupiers of land worth Ј10 a year, were entitled

to vote.

Despite this decline in the Sovereign's power, Victoria showed that a

monarch who had a high level of prestige and who was prepared to master the

details of political life could exert an important influence. This was

demonstrated by her mediation between the Commons and the Lords, during the

acrimonious passing of the Irish Church Disestablishment Act of 1869 and

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