Cultural depictions of William IV of the United Kingdom

William IV of the United Kingdom has been featured a few times on screen and in some literary works.

Literature

In Patrick O'Brian's final novel of the Aubrey-Maturin series, Captain Jack Aubrey is obliged to accept as midshipman a bastard son of the Duke of Clarence, as a "first voyager". The novel paints a colourful picture of the Duke and acknowledges his reputation as a competent seaman and commander. However, in other novels in the series, the Duke is portrayed in a far less flattering light; indeed, in the penultimate novel of the series, one of the protagonists - Stephen Maturin - characterizes him as "...a bounding, confident, foul-mouthed scrub".

Film and television

On screen, William has been portrayed by Ernst G. Schiffner in the 1936 German film Mädchenjahre einer Königin, based on the play by Geza Silberer about the early life of Queen Victoria, Peter Ustinov in the 2001 TV miniseries Victoria and Albert, and Toby Jones in the 2006 film Amazing Grace, in which he is incorrectly (when still a prince) seen sitting in the House of Commons. He is played by Jim Broadbent in the 2008 film The Young Victoria, which includes his public tirade against the Duchess of Kent nearly verbatim.