#william iv

Portrait of Lady Augusta FitzClarence Kennedy-Erskine (natural daughter of King William IV) with her children (c. 1830) by John Hayter. House of Dun.

William IV (1711 – 1751) was Prince of Orange from birth and the first hereditary stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 1747 until his death in 1751.

my babykin looks so cute 😭

Philip Ziegler, King William IV

// requested by anonymous

The royal couple welcomed a total of fifteen children together, but sadly not all of them survived into adulthood. Two, Prince Octavius and Prince Alfred, passed away in infancy, at the ages of 2 and 4, respectively, from smallpox. Later on, Princess Amelia also sadly died young, albeit it at the age of 27, after succumbing to tuberculosis. As for when their brood started to arrive, it seems George and Charlotte wasted no time in getting to know one another and less than a year into their marriage, on 12 August 1762

Her parents had already suffered the loss another daughter, Charlotte, who died on the day of her birth, and a miscarriage. Two years after Elizabeth’s death, Adelaide gave birth to stillborn twin boys, and possibly had another miscarriage that same year. Ultimately, they had no surviving children and when William died, the throne passed to his niece, Queen Victoria.