William & William: Two British Monarchical Namesakes in NYC

Ten years ago, and just last year, Prince William of the United Kingdom visited NYC. 

Since the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022, William has now become the Prince of Wales, the crowned heir apparent to the throne. If all goes according to plan, he will one day become King William V.

But the to-be King William V isn't the first future British monarch to visit NYC. In fact, his previous namesake, King William IV, was in NYC more than two hundred and forty years earlier -- and this William was, in fact, the first British royal ever to visit the city.

Only he wasn't here as a tourist -- the then-Prince William was a 16-year old officer in the British Navy and he'd been sent to the city in September 1781 to fight in the Revolutionary War. As it turned out, he didn't stay long. Soon the British surrendered at Yorktown, the war coming to an end and American independence soon to arrive. 

But the then-Prince William's brief stay in NYC wasn't without drama. The leader of the Colonial Army, General George Washington, hatched a plot to kidnap the British royal and use him as a hostage for military strategic leverage. The plot failed and soon was no longer necessary.

The irony is that, at the time, no one thought William would ever become King. 

His father, George III, was still in the prime of his literally crazy life. William also had two older brothers who were ahead of him in the line of succession -- William was the spare x 2. And yet family circumstances would lead him to the throne -- after his father died, William's oldest brother became King George IV but he had no legitimate heir. And when their brother Frederick died in 1827 (who also had no legitimate heir), William became the heir to the throne -- and in 1830 George IV died and William became King.

He only ruled for seven years -- he was already 64 year old (the oldest person to become King until the current Charles III in 2022) and his health wasn't great. But during his brief reign, the British parliament enacted major reforms, including the abolition of slavery and the first social welfare programs.

William also had no legitimate heirs and so, after his death in 1837, his 17-year old niece Victoria became Queen, thus beginning the legendary 63-year Victorian age, lasting until the 20th century.

William himself was a bit of a lout -- he loved to drink, party, and he had an Irish actress mistress with whom he fathered ten illegitimate children. He eventually dumped her and made a proper marriage but, with no legitimate heir, his line of the family, the House of Hanover, ended and it would be Victoria's line that would and continues to rule to this day -- including the future William V.