by The Laird o’Thistle
February 19 2006
The St. Valentine’s Day delivery of the newest child of Tory Leader David Cameron reminded me of some news items from a couple of months ago. At the time it was being noted that Mr. Cameron is of relatively recent royal descent. He is a great-great-great-great-great-grandson of King William IV. (I did say “relatively” recent! Only 165 years prior to Mr. Cameron’s 1966 birth.) That initial item renewed my interest in “the Sailor King” who immediately preceded Queen Victoria. So I delved into some research and found several fascinating bits.
William IV, who reigned 1830-1837, is the last British monarch to have openly acknowledged having illegitimate children. Like Charles II he did not manage to have any surviving legitimate offspring who could succeed him. But also like Charles II he did manage to have a large brood outside of the bonds of matrimony, many of whose descendants married into the peerage and upper echelons of British Society. What is also rather remarkable is that despite her somewhat undeserved reputation as a bit of a prude, accounts indicate that Queen Victoria seems to have gotten on reasonably well with her Fitzclarence cousins.
Like several of his brothers, that era’s Prince William – who was made Duke of Clarence and Earl of Munster – avoided a dynastic marriage for as long as possible. He did not marry the future Queen Adelaide until 1818. But back around 1790, he entered into a long term relationship with Dorthea Bland, an actress who went by the stage name “Mrs. Jordan.” Together they had ten children who took the surname of FitzClarence:
George FitzClarence (1794-1842), created 1st Earl of Munster (new creation) after his father became king. He married a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Egremont.
Lord Henry FitzClarence (1795-1817)
Lady Sophia FitzClarence (1796-1837), who married Philip Sidney, 1st Baron de Lisle.
Lady Mary FitzClarence (1798-1864), who married General Charles Fox, a son of 3rd Lord Holland.
Lt.-Gen. Lord Frederick FitzClarence (1799-1854). He married a daughter of the 4th Earl of Glasgow.
Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence (1801-1856), who married the 18th Earl of Erroll
Rear Admiral Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence (1802-1856).
Lady Augusta FitzClarence (1803-1865), who married Lord John Kennedy-Erskineof Dun, son of the 1st Mqs. of Ailsa.
Rev. Lord Augustus FitzClarence (1805-1854). He married a granddaughter of the 9th Mqs. of Huntly.
Lady Amelia FitzClarence (1807-1858), who married the 10th Viscount Falkland.
From these children, and particularly from the Erroll lineage, a rather impressive family tree has sprung. The list of peerages currently held by descendants of King William IV includes:
- Duke: Fife
- Marquesses: Bute, Townshend
- Earls: Erroll, Gainsborough, Portland, Liverpool
- Viscounts: De L’isle, Norwich
- Baron: Kilmarnock
It should also be noted that the seventh and last Earl of Munster passed away as recently as 2000. And, Ninian Bertie, the 78th Grand Master of the Knights of Malta was also a descendant.
There are a surprising number of Scottish connections evident in the above lists. And that is further reflected in the fact that six of William IV’s lineage are current members of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs: The Earl of Erroll (Clan Hay), Lord Kilmarnock (Clan Boyd), Moncreiffe of Moncreiffe, Wemyss of Wemyss, the Duke of Fife (Carnegie), and the Mqs. of Bute (Stuart of Bute).
In addition to the various peers and chiefs, the FitzClarence lineage includes some social and political notables. Duff Cooper, who became the first Viscount Norwich, was a prominent figure back in the era of King Edward VIII and King George VI. Duff Cooper’s sister was the great-grandmother of the new Tory leader, David Cameron. Duff Cooper’s son, who goes by the name John Julius Norwich, has been a major figure in the arts.
Thus far only one descendant of William IV has married back into the Royal Family. Alexander Duff, the first Duke of Fife, married the eldest daughter of King Edward VII, Princess Louise. The Queen still considers their grandson, the current 3rd Duke, to be a member of the extended Royal Family.
There is one person in particular who is notably NOT a descendant of King William IV, and that is the future King William V. Back when Prince William was born the late Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, H.M.’s Albany Herald in the Lyon Court of Scotland and a noted heraldry expert and genealogist, brought out a book called ROYAL HIGHNESS: Ancestry of the Royal Child. In that delightful book “the Ilk” notes that the ONLY sovereign of Britain who has known living descendants from whom Prince William is NOT descended is William IV. (Sir Iain, one of my semi-heroes as a bona fide “character” and eccentric, was NOT a William IV descendant either, but his children via the late Countess of Erroll are.)
Though David Cameron has been rather careful to downplay his ties to privilege, especially the politically fatal hereditary kind, it will be interesting when the first occasion arises for him to stay at Windsor Castle or some other royal venue where his own ancestor once lived and reigned. Hopefully, H.M. will pull some William IV memorabilia down for a show in the royal library. And if life peerages manage to survive into the future, perhaps the day will eventually come when Baron Cameron can claim the privilege of being officially addressed by the sovereign as “cousin.” In the meantime, though, we are apparently still several generations off, at best, from any chance of William IV’s family ever making it to the throne.
For a’ that….
– Ken Cuthbertson