• Hi Guest!

    The costs of running this forum are covered by Sea Lion Press. If you'd like to help support the company and the forum, visit patreon.com/sealionpress

King Ernest Augustus

Aznavour

Well-known member
Published by SLP
Ernest Augustus of Hannover (1771-1851), fifth son of Mad King George III, Duke of Cumberland, King of Hannover (1837-1851), was perhaps born to be Britain's most controversial king that never was: raised in Germany, fought in the French Revolutionary Wars -form which he apropiately received a scar to the face-, spent most of his political career as a Tory Extremist in the House of Lords opposing things such as Catholic Emancipation and the Reform Act of 1832, while in his private life embroiled in scandals, from a happy but somewhat scandalous marriage to infidelity, accusations of murder, alleged incest and secret children, etc.

As such, one can imagine the trepidation of the British public and political class regarding the possibility of such a man inheriting the throne of Britain and Ireland, which not even the birth of Victoria in 1819 could fully alleviate. So, let's imagine that the worst comes to be: Victoria is stillborn -or dies from some childhood illness, those are always good-, meaning that upon the death of William IV, Ernest Augustus becomes King (Ernest Augustus I?, George V? William V?), in what is arguably one of Britain's most crucial decades: the late 30s to 1840s.

So, what issues would the King of Britain, Ireland and Hanniver be facing? The Most Unpopular Man in Britain by a large margin after Napoleon's death, he was loathed by the Whigs and Whig Press, accused of all manners of crimes and ill conduct, not particularly liked by either the Tories, the Peers or even his own family, he was not a skilled orator, tactician or courtier, although he was a hard worker and had some support from, amongst others.

In addition to his own short-comings, there's ,Lord Melbourne and the Whigs in Parliament, traitorous Catholic-loving Peel splitting the Tories and betraying the Orange, Ireland, the Potato Blight and the Great Famine, the Corn laws, the Chartists, the Revolutions of 1848 (which, given his unpopularity and politics, might just spread to Britain ITTL)

Of course, there's always the possibility that he doesn't make it out of 1837-1838 as the scandals pile on and his inability to deal with Peel and Melbourne brings down the government and Ernest Augustus with it.
 
Ernst Augustus is definitely the best chance you've got of seeing Britain with a 'revolutionary' period in the 1840s/50s on the scale of that of the rest of Europe. Of course it depends on the extent to which Parliament decide to just completely cut him out of the loop entirely- Augustus, Duke of Sussex was very much a liberal but had scandalised the court by marrying without permission, the next brother was Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge who served as Viceroy of Hanover for long periods but I'm not sure on the politics.

It would be quite the monumental act to just get rid of the King in favour of his brother, but if Ernst comes to the throne and is immediately to conservative even for most of the Conservatives? Well it could be possible- perhaps Augustus gets a deal along the lines of 'you get to be king, your son gets to inherit the Duchy, but not the Crown'?
 
Ernest Augustus vs. The Whole Body Politic would make for an interest final act in the whole Monarchy vs. Parliament struggle Britain had lived since Cromwell/Simon de Montfort/whenever. Although it does have the potential to be anti-climactic, if Parliament just crushes the King in 1837-1838, which is plausible, given his lack of political support and unpopularity.

On the other hand, there’s always the possibility of making him king in the 1820s, and have the 1830 revolutions spread to the isles.
 
I'd love to do a timeline where the First French Republic survives, then twenty or thirty years later the British Monarchy collapses.

Mainly because it'd be a chance to do a ridiculous 'early cold war' timeline where Europe is divided down the middle between traditional Christian, conservative states and the west is dominated by dangerous, radical republicans.

You could even do a Sino-Soviet split analogue where France continues to progress along more and more left-wing lines, leading to Britain and the US denouncing them from departing from the 'Principles of 1789.'
 
Back
Top