Hanging on to Hanover
For over a century, the crowns of Hanover and Great Britain were worn by the same king. While the British public remained largely indifferent to Hanoverian affairs, politicians grew to resent them.
The personal union between the monarchs of Great Britain and the state of Hanover, the outcome of the Protestant Settlement signed in 1701, came to an end with the death of William IV in 1837. The foreign secretary, Lord Palmerston, was delighted:
The Hanoverian Dynasty, and German prejudices which belonged to it, and which for a century have embarrassed and impeded our march both at home and abroad will cease. The Sovereign of England will no longer be hampered by considerations belonging to the petty state of Hanover; and I believe that since the accession of George I, these German politics have more or less continually had their influence on the Councils of England.
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