Nauticus
This is a grossly caricatured portrait of Prince William, Duke of Clarence as a naval boy-toy. It was certainly influenced by his earlier reputation abroad, but prompted by his much discussed pursuit of the well known actress, Dorothea Jordan.
© Trustees of the British Museum
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As the 3rd son of King George III and Queen Charlotte, William was early intended for service in the Royal Navy. He became a midshipman at the age of 13, a lieutenant when he was 20, and was given command of his own ship, the HMS Pegasus, at 21 (hence the title, "Nauticus").
Although later praised for his competence and service by Horatio Nelson, as a young captain stationed in the West Indies, he seems to have led the life of an all-too-common sailor—getting drunk, trashing houses, and contracting venereal diseases from the local women. It was this reputation that prompted Gillray's print of the 22 year old Prince in Wouski (1788) with his legs around a buxom black woman in a navy hammock.
In October 1791, however, the talk of the town was of the young Prince and the famous actress, Mrs. Jordan, who left her lover of five years to take up with the Prince. Here is one example from the London World on October 29:
A certain sailor has left the raging Main to engage in the Theatre. If he conceives any of the Performers defective in their obedience to Little Pickle [one of Mrs. Jordan's popular roles], he personally engages them. It is not enough that they obey the Manager, they must obey the man who fords the Jordan. (p.2)
As royal liaisons go, it was mostly a success. Mrs Jordan and the Duke lived together for twenty years and she bore him 10 children. But like his older brother George, William was an inveterate gambler, and, unable to live on his own income (even supplemented with that from Mrs. Jordan's continuing acting caereer) he eventually abandoned her to marry the wealthy Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on Nauticus
- "William IV of the United Kingdom," Wikipedia
- "Times Past: Prince William Henry" from The Caribbean Beat.
- "Dorothea Jordan," Wikipedia
- Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #477
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