Dealing with the Spanish Bourbon family was difficult during the Peninsular War because both Ferdinand VII and Charles IV, as well as a good deal of the immediate Bourbon family, were "guests" of Napoleon living under house arrest in Valençay. Napoleon released Ferdinand VII in early 1814 as a ploy to sow discord in the Peninsula, and it was then that both Wellington as well as the Spanish cortes had their first direct interactions with the rightful Bourbon king of Spain.

Wellington was not terribly impressed by Ferdinand VII. The released Bourbon king rescinded the constitution of 1812, dismissed the cortes,and began a purge and imprisonment of various liberales figures. This neo-absolutist turn disturbed a number of British officials and Wellington went to Madrid in May 1814 to settle the situation. In a letter to Liverpool, Wellington outlined his intentions in going to Madrid:

in order to try whether I cannot prevail upon all parties to be more moderate, and to adopt a constitution more likely to be practicable and to contribute to the peace and happiness of the nation.

While Wellington had very little love for the cortes or various liberales, he saw that Ferdinand VII's coup as counterproductive to both British interests as well as for restoring order to Spain and its now rebelling empire. He noted in private correspondence to Castlereagh that the restored Bourbons were more likely to tack to a pro-French position on the continent in the immediate future. Wellington sent the King an official memorandum in June that advised Ferdinand VII to tread cautiously in the immediate future given the parlous state of Spain's economy and the rebellion of its colonies. Wellington proposed to Ferdinand VII that Spain turn its colonies into either dependencies or federated states and focus upon rational forms of government. Privately, Wellington lectured the Minister of War and other Spanish grandees in the court on the importance of the rule of law and the need for moderation in light of Ferdinand VII's neo-absolutism.

Wellington's reception by Ferdinand VII was of cordial frostiness. The King confirmed all of Wellington's honors and the Spanish public celebrated the general. But beneath these fetes, Wellington was pessimistic. In a June letter to Castlereagh, he wrote, "I have been well-received by the King and his ministers, but I fear I have done but little good." Wellington's letter went on to note that he had prevailed upon the Spanish Secretary of State Duque de San Carlos, José Miguel de Carvajal and Manrique, to restore the cortes, grant clemency to most of the political prisoners, and confirm the independence of the judiciary, but the Duke sourly concluded to Castlereagh "nothing has yet been done on any of these points."

Ferdinand VII's regressive politics became an albatross around Wellington's neck and those of his supporters in the years after the Spanish Bourbon restoration. The radical press in Great Britain attacked the government's betrayal of liberales by supporting Ferdinand VII. The press could easily use the Spanish King's absolutism for political fodder since it meshed well with pre-existing anti-foreign and anti-Catholic stereotypes, such as this Cruikshank cartoon Ferdinand the Beloved & his Secret Advisers!, where the tyrannical King gets advice both from the Church and Satan. The radical press after the Peterloo massacre likewise used Wellington's connection with Ferdinand VII's restoration to undermine the Duke's military victories by claiming they were vain pursuits of military glory and treasure without anything of true value to the average Englishman. Even the hagiography that sprung up around Wellington tended to treat Ferdinand VII as a man who betrayed Wellington's trust and ignored the Duke's sensible advice.

The confusing and violent turn of Spanish politics of the 1820s did prove Wellington correct on a number of fronts. He noted in his correspondence that Ferdinand VII's initial policies like suspending the constitution were popular, but that they held dim prospects for the future. The French intervention in 1823 after Ferdinand VII's policies caused a revolt also proved Wellington correct on the geopolitical realignment on the continent towards despite Britain's long involvement in the Peninsula and memories of Napoleon. But Wellington was caught on the horns of dilemma in that while there was little he could do to change Ferdinand VII's behavior, much of his reputation was connected to the outcome of the Peninsular War. While his military victories gradually overtook the poor political outcome in Spain in the British public memory, Wellington's connection to Spain was a political liability in the early postwar years.

Sources

Muir, Rory. Wellington: Waterloo and the fortunes of peace 1814-1852. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015.

Wilson, John Marius. A Memoir of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington Vol. 2. London: Fullarton, 1854.

Wright, G. N. Life and Campaigns of Arthur, Duke of Wellington. London: Fisher, 1841.