William Duke Of Clarence

1765-1827

When Queen Charlotte, consort of George III, visited Bath in 1817, she was accompanied by her third son William, Duke of Clarence, who lodged at 103 Sydney Place. The visit was a brief one, marred by the news of the death, in childbirth, of Princess Charlotte, the daughter of the Prince Regent. The royal party left for Windsor almost immediately. Princess Charlotte’s death had a special significance for the Duke of Clarence. Because almost all of George III’s children were dead, and Charlotte was the only child of the Prince Regent, his prospects of eventually succeeding to the throne were considerably enhanced. He did, in fact, become William IV on the death of his brother, then George IV, in 1830. A bronze tablet on the facade of the house in Sydney Place commemorates his brief stay there.