Prince William Henry, third son of King George III, entered the Navy during the War of American Independence and first met young Captain Nelson at New York while a midshipman in Lord Hood’s flagship there. He became a competent officer but lacked tact and judgement. As captain of the frigate ‘Pegasus’ he later served under Nelson in the West Indies in 1784-85, at a time when Nelson was making himself unpopular trying to enforce the Navigation Acts that forbade direct trade between British possessions and the newly independent United States. Nelson also backed the Prince in an intemperate dispute with his first lieutenant, which further dented his reputation at the Admiralty and at Court, where William was out of favour. The prince, later King William IV, remained a loyal friend of Nelson all his life.