Cultural depictions of William IV

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William IV of the United Kingdom has been featured in artworks.

Literature

In Patrick O'Brian's final novel of the Aubrey-Maturin series, Captain Jack Aubrey is obliged to accept as midshipman a bastard son of the Duke of Clarence, as a "first voyager". The novel paints a colourful picture of the Duke and acknowledges his reputation as a competent seaman and commander. However, in other novels in the series, the Duke is portrayed in a far less flattering light; indeed, in the penultimate novel of the series, one of the protagonists - Stephen Maturin - characterizes him as "...a bounding, confident, foul-mouthed scrub".

Bernard Bastable's "Mozart Mysteries" - Dead, Mr. Mozart and Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart - involve an alternate version of Wolfgang Mozart who survives in the 1820s and has settled in England, where odd circumstances draw him into Hanoverian intrigue and cover-ups. William IV is a major character in the second book, where he effectively makes Mozart his personal spy against rival factions within the royal family.

Film and television

On screen, William has been portrayed as king by Ernst G. Schiffner in the 1936 German film Mädchenjahre einer Königin, based on the play by Geza Silberer about Queen Victoria's early life, Peter Ustinov in the 2001 TV miniseries Victoria and Albert and by Jim Broadbent in the 2009 film The Young Victoria.

He has been depicted as a prince by Scott Forbes in Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947), by Tom Gill in The First Gentleman (1948), by Toby Jones in Amazing Grace (2006), which included a historical inaccuracy, in that Prince William was depicted sitting in the House of Commons, and by Seamus Dillane in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023).

Sculpture

There are several extant statues of the king: the Statue of William IV at Greenwich Park, London; at Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham; and on the Wilhelmsplatz, Göttingen, Germany.

v t e Cultural depictions of English and British monarchs
Kingdom of the English 886–1066	Alfred the Great Edward the Elder Æthelflæd Ælfweard Athelstan the Glorious Edmund the Magnificent Eadred Eadwig the Fair Edgar the Peaceable Edward the Martyr Æthelred the Unready Sweyn Forkbeard Edmund Ironside Cnut Harold Harefoot Harthacnut Edward the Confessor Harold Godwinson Edgar the Ætheling
Kingdom of England 1066–1649	William I William II Henry I Stephen Matilda Henry II Henry the Young King Richard I John Henry III Edward I Edward II Edward III Richard II Henry IV Henry V Henry VI Edward IV Edward V Richard III Henry VII Henry VIII Edward VI Jane Mary I with Philip Elizabeth I James I Charles I
Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland 1653–1659	Oliver Cromwell Richard Cromwell
Kingdom of England 1660–1707	Charles II James II William III and Mary II Anne
Kingdom of Scotland 843–1707 (traditional)	Kenneth I MacAlpin Donald I Constantine I (II) Áed Giric Eochaid Donald II Constantine II (III) Malcolm I Indulf Dub Cuilén Amlaíb Kenneth II Constantine III (IV) Kenneth III Malcolm II Duncan I Macbeth Lulach Malcolm III Canmore Donald III Duncan II Donald III Edgar Alexander I David I Malcolm IV William I the Lion Alexander II Alexander III Margaret John Robert I David II Robert II Robert III James I James II James III James IV James V Mary I James VI Charles I Charles II James VII Mary II William III Anne
British monarchs after the Acts of Union 1707	Anne George I George II George III George IV William IV Victoria Edward VII George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II Charles III
Overlord of Britain. Also ruler of Ireland. Also ruler of Scotland and Ireland. Lord Protector. Also ruler of England and Ireland. Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.

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