MCM: William IV

I’m still working my way through all the British kings! William IV seems super random to bother with a whole post about him, but I tried to pack him into my recent post on George I & II and Trystan thought the jump was weird. So blame her!

William (1765-1837) was king of Britain between his elder brother George IV and Queen Victoria. He married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, didn’t get as involved in politics as his predecessors but was nonetheless king during an era of reform, including the abolition of slavery. None of his children survived him, so his niece (daughter of his younger brother) Victoria succeeded him.

William is another relatively minor king on screen; he shows up in:

• Ernst G. Schiffner in Mädchenjahre einer Königin (1936)
• Tom Gill in The First Gentleman (1948)

Plus:

Scott Forbes in Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947)

A film about the relationship between the future George IV and his mistress/morganatic wife, Maria Fitzherbert. William was George’s younger brother.

Peter Ustinov in Victoria and Albert (2001)

William was, of course, king before Queen Victoria, so he shows up in this bio-series as an elderly man to kick things off.

Toby Jones in Amazing Grace (2006)

William, while still prince, is around for various Parliamentary shenanigans during the fight against the slave trade.

Jim Broadbent in The Young Victoria (2009)

Once again, you gotta have the Old King at the beginning of any Queen Victoria biopic, apparently!

Seamus Dillane in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)

One of the early-20s louche, layabout sons shown at the end of this very fictionalized biopic about William’s mother, Queen Charlotte, is William.

Have you ever noticed William IV on screen in frock flicks? Do tell!