King George IV died on 16 June 1830 in his newly completed apartments at Windsor Castle, where, increasingly dropsical and reclusive, he had retired with his rapacious mistress, Lady Conyngham, and a small group of devoted attendants. George bequeathed to his successors a vast array of furniture and works of art, assembled during a lifetime of omnivorous collecting, as well as unfinished building projects in Windsor and London.
Tim Knox, Director of the Royal Collection, traces the afterlife of George IV’s myriad collections and building projects, and discovers how his sometimes reluctant heirs coped with his prodigious legacy. These include William IV and Queen Adelaide, Victoria and Albert, Edward VII, George V and Queen Mary.
Tim Knox was appointed Director of the Royal Collection by Queen Elizabeth II in 2018. Previous to that he was Director and Marlay Curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge 2013-2018. Between 2005 and 2013, he was Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, and from 2002-2005 he was Head Curator of the National Trust.
He regularly lectures and writes on country houses, architecture, sculpture and the history of collecting. Publications include Sir John Soane’s Museum London (2010), and The British Ambassador’s Residence Paris (2011).
Image: Brighton Pavillion
Photo By Qmin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35813629