After a period of serious instability, the fifth government in a period of a mere two years secured itself a position in which it would last for the best part of two decades. The process was a particularly curious one, since it involved what has been referred to as a coup d’état by the king against his own government. That succeeded only thanks for the clever work of the monarch, and above all of the man who would become Britain’s youngest Prime Minister ever.

Illustration: ‘Aside he turn’d for envy, yet with jealous leer malign, eyd them askance’, by James Gillray. National Portrait Gallery D12302. Fox on the right glaring at Pitt, second from left.

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License