William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne fall. The king and the Duke of Wellington urged him to stay on as prime minister. After Norton failed in court, Melbourne was vindicated, but he did stop seeing Norton. Nonetheless, as historian Boyd Hilton concludes, "it is irrefutable that Melbourne's personal life was problematic. Spanking sessions with aristocratic ladies were harmless, not so the whippings administered to orphan girls taken into his household as objects of charity." Melbourne was Prime Minister when Queen Victoria came to the throne (June 1837). Barely eighteen, she was only just breaking free from the domineering influence of her mother, the Duchess of Kent,
William Drummond, 1st Viscount Strathallan William Drummond, 1st Viscount Strathallan William Drummond, 1st Viscount of Strathallan, Lord Drummond of Cromlix (1617?–1688), was a Scottish soldier and politician. He served as a Commissioner for Perthshire in the parliaments of 1669-74, 1681-2 and 1685-6, and at the Convention of Estates of 1678. Drummond was a Royalist general and held a command in the Engagement of 1648. He served in Ireland under the Marquis of Ormonde and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Worcester, but escaped. He served as Lieutenant-General in the Muscovite army. After the Restoration he was appointed Major-General of the forces in Scotland (1666).