Who was Mrs Jordan

Q. So he never married her

A. Oh no. Kings don't do things like that! I expect you would like a full biography of both parties

Q. Yes please.

A. William IV reigned 1830-1837. He was born on 21 August, 1765, the third son of George III and Sophia. He lived with Mrs Dorothea Jordan, an actress, from 1791-1811. Dorothea - sometimes called Dorothy or Dora - bore him 10 illegitimate children.

Q. So far so good. What next

A. His brother George IV had but one heir, Princess Charlotte. She died - so there were no next-generation heirs. William, the Duke of Clarence, was quickly needed to make arrangements to produce an heir for the Hanoverian succession. Mrs Jordan was abandoned and he married Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg and Meinengein.

Q. Did they have any children

A. Yes - two daughters. Charlotte Augusta Louisa was born on 27 March, 1819, and died the same day. Elizabeth Georgina Adelaide was born on 20 December, 1820, and died on 4 March, 1821.

Q. No heirs, then. What happened next

A. William succeeded his brother, George IV, in 1830 and was welcomed by a British public weary of the King's excesses. William had an unassuming character, disdain for pomp and ceremony and was somewhat tactless. But he was considered to have an upright personal life - despite the 10 bastards by an actress. His reign was a time of change. The Reform Act of 1832 extended the voting franchise to middle-class landowners and became the basis for universal suffrage.

William IV died of pneumonia on June 20, 1837, leaving no legitimate children. The Spectator said in its eulogy: 'His late Majesty, though at times a jovial and, for a king, an honest man, was a weak, ignorant, commonplace sort of person.' His niece Victoria, daughter of his brother the Duke of Kent, became Queen. William was also King of Hanover, which followed the Salic - men-only - rule of succession, so his brother Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, took the crown there.

Q. How about Mrs Jordan, then

A. She was born near Waterford, Ireland, on 22 November, 1761. Her mother Grace Phillips, also known as Mrs Frances, was a Dublin actress. Her father, named Bland, was probably a stagehand. Dorothea made her stage debut as Phoebe in As You Like It, in Dublin in 1777 and she played in Fielding's farce The Virgin Unmasked at the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin, in 1779. She later became a great comic favourite among the London audiences - and the love of William's life. Their relationship started about 1790 and lasted 20 years. They set up home at Bushy House, near Hampton Court, Middlesex, and their 10 illegitimate children bore the surname FitzClarence.

Q. And are their names known

A. Yes. Sophia (1792-1837); George Augustus Frederick, Earl of Munster (1794-1842); Henry (1795-1817); Mary (1798-1864); Frederick (1799-1854); Elizabeth (1801-1856); Adolphus (1802-1856); Augusta (1803-1865); Augustus (1805-1854); and Amelia (1807-1858).

Q. Phew! And were they well provided for

A. Yes - and the eldest son had a title. Dorothea was given an allowance of 4,500 a year, but spent much of that on her two daughters by a previous lover. She died alone and in poverty in St Cloud, France, on 3 July, 1816.

Q. Without a thought from the King

A. He wasn't the king then - but still Clarence. However, he felt a great guilt about the love of his life. In 1786 John Hoppner produced a portrait - Mrs Jordan as the Comic Muse - of her at the height of her fame. William bought it in the 1830s. In 1830 he commissioned the sculpture Mrs Jordan and Two Children, by Francis Chantrey, and asked to put it in Westminster Abbey. This was refused. One of his descendants bequeathed it to The Queen in 1975. It is now in Buckingham Palace - a place Mrs Jordan was never allowed to enter.

Q. So was the Jordan affair a scandal

A. Not really. She was a well-loved actress. Occasionally, when William was under fire from satirists, they would remind readers that Jordan was nickname for a chamber pot.

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By Steve Cunningham