By George! The Power Behind the Throne

George IV celebrated the death of his wife, Queen Caroline. What kind of mischief could he get into?

At least His Majesty could take some measure of solace in the arms of a new girlfriend. He still had his old girlfriend, Lady Hurtford, but that was getting a bit stale. What with his detested wife dead and all, time for something new. Lady Conyngham was the something new. She was “a fat, kindly, religious, rich and rapacious woman of fifty-two.” She was also married (of course) with four grown children. If His Majesty was aware that he was all to predictable in his tastes in women, he didn’t let it bother him. Lady Hurtford was decidedly put out over her beau’s new attachment. His Majesty didn’t let that bother him either.

According to one description of Lady Conyngham, “her beauty was beginning to fade, and she never had been amusing or particularly intelligent, though she was much more shrewd than people supposed. The king adored her.” And why shouldn’t he? He was a free man after all. He fussed over her, held her hand (under the table) at State Dinners, kept her at his side during balls and caused one unkind observer to note, “Quaffing their claret, then mingling their lips, Or tickling the fat about each others hips.”

And he bought her jewelry. In fact, he gave her a great sapphire surrounded by diamonds that had belonged to King Charles the Second. It had first been given to Princess Charlotte as a wedding gift. After her death, Prince Leopold took possession of it. His Majesty informed his son-in-law that the gem was Crown Property and that he in fact wanted it back so he could make it the centerpiece of the crown he had commissioned for his coronation.

Hard to argue with that. Leopold forked it over and His Majesty presented it to Lady Conyngham, who turned it into the buckle of a diamond studded belt. To be fair, I should point out that she returned it to the Keeper of the Privy Purse after the Kings death, saying that “she had reason to doubt that His Majesty ought to have given it away.” That said, she kept all the other jewelry he gave her, worth, by one estimate, “over 100,000 pounds” One rope of pearls alone costing 3,150 pounds.

For all that, most observers were convinced there was nothing, or very little sexual about the King’s latest affair. The King wanted someone, that is, someone other than Lady Hurtford, to fuss over him and cater to his seemingly insatiable need to be mothered. And as we have seen, such mothering didn’t come cheap. But His Majesty couldn’t be bothered with such trifles when True Love called.

Nor could he be bothered with the niceties of the law. To show the entire Conyngham family how much he loved all of them, he proposed that the Rev Charles Richard Sumner, former tutor to the Conyngham children, should be appointed to a vacant canonry at Windsor. A nice gesture, and who could possibly object? Unfortunately, such appointments were made by His Majesties Cabinet, not by him. And, surprise! His Majesty had not bothered to consult them before making his promise.

It was pointed out to His Majesty that his Cabinet had legitimate government functions to fulfill. While they were ever mindful of his Majesties desires, they did not exist simply to rubber-stamp the Kings every whim. Nor would they allow His Majesty to usurp their lawful functions for the sake of handing out goodies to his latest girlfriends family. His Majesty begged to differ. The King and his Cabinet remained at daggers drawn until Rev Sumner himself wrote to the King, asking him to withdraw his name from consideration. He did not want to be responsible for such a fuss.

No sooner had this blown over than another vacancy appeared in the office of Lord Chamberlain to the King’s Household. That office, held by Lady Hurtford’s husband, became vacant when the Marquess quit in disgust over the way his wife was being treated by the man who was cuckolding him.

His Majesty thought this the perfect opportunity to assert himself and show the Conynghams how much he cared. Prime Minister Liverpool, still smarting from the last run-in, reminded His Majesty that damned near everything connected with His Majesties household was a Matter of State; and that the State made the appointments to said household.

Of course, His Majesties wishes would be given all due consideration, but considering what a pain in the State’s behind His Majesty had been recently, the State was in no mood to give anyone named Conyngham a moments consideration for any post other than Emptier of the Royal Bedpans. Lord Conyngham did not get the job. And Lord Liverpool did not lose his. As much as it galled the King to have to “obey” the likes of Prime Minister Liverpool, and it did gall him to the point of making insulting remarks about him to visiting dignitaries at official functions, he had no choice but to retain him. His Majesty needed guidance as badly as his father did.

Unlike dad, who eventually learned to run his own kingdom, after a fashion, because of his poor choices in prime ministers, King George IV had no such option. He could never interact with the government without help, and Lord Liverpool did a better job than many past Prime Ministers. The blunt truth was, Lord Liverpool did not need the King, but the King needed him.

— Mr Al