On May 11th, 2010, the Conservative Party's leader David Cameron was driven to Buckingham Palace to meet with the Queen of England. The private audience was largely symbolic, as the electorate had already determined their prime minister through votes in the ballot box. Nevertheless, Elizabeth II was duty-bound to ask Mr Cameron to form a government on her behalf. As soon as Mr Cameron agreed, they were both rulers of the country; as monarch and as its political head of state.
Yet those with an eye on geneaology were also seeing something very interesting. Maybe the ghost of George III was smiling unseen on that handshake. If so, it would have been a proud moment for him, as Queen Elizabeth II and her Prime Minister David Cameron are both his descendents. Surprisingly, Mr Cameron's lineage is the more direct, hence his family should have been on the throne. But there was one small detail stopping them, his branch was illegitimate.
The British Monarchy: George III's Royal Marriage Act of 1772
KIng George III ruled for 60 years. These days, he is mostly famous as 'the king who lost America' or else for the madness that he suffered at the end of his life. There is much more to the story than that. One of the important aspects, as regards his descendents, was his tendency to become highly involved in politics.
Worried about unsuitable unions being made by his brothers and sons, George III was instrumental in causing a law to be passed through Parliament. The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 stated that no descendent of George II (his father) could marry without the consent of the reigning monarch. To do so would automatically render that marriage null and void.
The Royal Family: William IV and Dorothea Jordan
This became a problem almost immediately. George III's third son, William, had met a young Irish lady named Dorothea Bland. He was deeply in love with her and lived with her for twenty years in Clarence House. They had ten children together, which William acknowledged as his own and bestowed upon them the surname FitzClarence. They were all readily accepted into the nobility.
However, Dorothea Bland was a commoner and a stage actress who had worked under the professional name of Mrs Dorothy Jordan. There never had been a Mr. Jordan, but George III didn't care. He refused consent for a marriage and, with the ink barely dry on the Royal Marriages Act, there was nothing that William could do about it. All of his children were illegitimate, and therefore ineligible to take their place in the line of succession. They had already been born by the time William IV became monarch himself, hence it was already too late.
The Royal Family: Prince Edward and Princess Victoria
Prince Edward was the fourth son of George III. He was styled Duke of Kent and Strathearn, but never became king. He had been heir to the throne, despite his elder brother William's ten children, simply because they were all born out of wedlock. However, he also died before both George III and William IV did.
Edward had married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1818. In 1820, he died of pneumonia. Those two short years had produced a single daughter, who was now the sole legitimate grandchild of George III. Her name was Princess Alexandrina Victoria. Her grandfather's Royal Marriages Act now forced William to name his niece, not his eldest son, as his successor.
When William IV died, on 20 June 1837, Alexandrina was able to by-pass all of her older cousins in order to take the throne. She became Queen Victoria.
The British Monarchy: Queen Elizabeth II and David Cameron.
Britain's Queen and prime minister are fifth cousins, twice removed. Mr Cameron is a descendent of one of William IV's daughters, Elizabeth FitzClarence. Queen Elizabeth II is a descendent of Prince Edward's daughter, Queen Victoria.
Had it not been for 18th century politics, it could well have been one of David Cameron's near relatives welcoming the new prime minister into Buckingham Palace. Instead, he merely got to rule the country.
Sources:
- Channel 4: The Queen, the PM, William IV and his Mistress.
- Legislation.gov.uk: Royal Marriages Act 1772.
- The Official Website of the British Monarchy: The Hanoverians.
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
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