Special Collectors Set 9

King William IV

Limited to 250 sets - Issued in 1975

The third son of George III, William was king of both the United Kindom, and Hanover, until his death.   Because of his early naval career, he was known as "The Sailor King".   He was very susceptible to female charms, continually falling in love from the age of fourteen, until his death.   This doll shows him dressed far differently from how we normally think of him, in his famous Coronation Robes portrait

After several rebuffs, Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg and Meiningen gave in, and married William.   She bore him two daughters, both of whom died in early childhood.   In later life, she became much respected for her charitable works

Mrs Jordan, born Dorothea Bland, near Waterford, Ireland, adopted the name, "Mrs Jordan", to lend her stage career an air of respectability.   There was no Mr Jordan, and she never married - Though as the Mistress of King William IV, she bore him ten children!

Five years before his marriage to Adelaide, William had wooed the twenty-five year old widowed Duchess, sister of the Emperor of Russia.   Catherine was not impressed by his vulgar familiarity, and was very critical of the British Royal Family.

All the dolls shown here are samples showing the approved design standard to be achieved in production.   They show how the finished dolls should look when correctly dressed and finished.

The complete set consisted of the following four dolls :

  • LE/60 - King William IV
  • LE/61 - Queen Adelaide
  • LE/62 - Mrs Dorothea Jordan
  • LE/63 - Grand Duchess Catherine of Oldenburg

The slideshow below displays the entire "King William IV" doll collection

The doll pictures will auto run as a slide show in the window above.

Press F5 (function key 5 on your keyboard), to re-start the slide show.

Alternatively, you may control the slideshow manually – follow the steps below :

  • Place the cursor at the bottom of the window to access thumbnail and navigation control bar
  • Click on the “?” (question mark) symbol (bottom left hand side of the control bar) for a detailed explanation of the controls
  • See a full screen slideshow by clicking on the “Square with Arrow” symbol (2nd from right on the control bar)
  • Use the keyboard arrow keys to move forward and back through the slideshow, as desired
  • Use the “ESC” key to leave full screen mode

News

21st September 2023

 

Important Announcement

 

My dear wife, Christine, passed away on the 8th December, 2021, after 8 weeks in hospital. I was by her side, when she slipped away from me peacefully, with no pain or suffering.

 

Chris had been struggling with a slow decline in health, associated with a progressive, untreatable, and ultimately terminal lung disease, and finally succumbed to her old adversary, Pneumonia.

 

We had been friends for 55 years, together as a couple for 50 years, and married just a month short of 48 years, when she died.   

 

This website was Chris's idea, and I did all the technical stuff, to make it work.   After news of Chris's passing reached her close friends in the doll collecting world, I was deeply touched and gratified to hear their tributes to my dear wife, and I must thank them all for their kindness and support.   Ultimately, it was her doll friends that gave me the courage to continue with the website.

 

In the months before her eventual hospitalisation, Chris had outlined a number of additions and changes she wanted to make to the website, and it is my intention to honour those wishes, and to implement the changes we had considered, over the coming weeks and months.

 

I must apologise to all those who have written to us via the website, only to have your emails go unanswered.   Unfortunately, the email system had been hacked aroung the time Chris was going into hospital, and many emails must have been lost, as a result.

 

As you might imagine, I felt completely broken by Chris's loss, and it is only now, almost 22 months after her passing, that I have felt strong enough to even look at the website again.   

 

My aim is to continue with the website, and to implement Chris's aims for her many new ideas as soon as I can.   In the meantime, I have hopefully got the email system sorted out, and I will attempt to answer any enquiries as soon as I can, and to send replies with the same high degree of accuracy that a reply from Chris would have had.

 

From now on, I will be flying solo, whilst my co-pilot and guide will be soaring much higher, (though she is always in my heart, and in my thoughts).

 

My thanks to all our website visitors for your continued support

 

Dave (also known as Arthur), and Chris, (my lost love, Guinevere)

 

Christine Poulten

25th December 1949 - 8th December 2021