Though Clarence and the Duchess (Princess Adelaide) returned ashore by barge on the evening of the 27th to dine and stay at Mount Edgcumbe, on 31 July he sailed with the squadron and, in effect, became unaccountable for 10 days. His action was seen as a direct constitutional challenge for which, on return, George IV was required to admonish him and the Duke of Wellington, as Prime Minister, forced his immediate resignation as Lord High Admiral. Until it was conferred on HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 2011, Clarence was the only personal holder of the post after the death of Prince George, husband of Queen Anne, in 1708, though he reassumed it ex-officio (as sovereign) when he succeeded to the throne as William IV in 1830. Having been a professional naval officer in his youth, including under his friend Captain Horatio Nelson, he became known as the 'sailor king' and was always interested in naval matters. He always liked meeting seafaring men on easy terms and, as king (1830–1837), one of his pleasures was regular visits to Greenwich Hospital under the Governerships of his old friend Sir Richard Keats (to 1834) and then Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy.