# How Hard a Job was It To Be a King? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 1, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252 "2010-09-01T13:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/21 "2010-09-03T21:40:44Z")
Since, like any good American, I get all my information on English monarchy from movies ;), I love _Mrs. Brown_ and, more recently, _The Queen_, depicting Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II, respectively. While neither was an absolute monarch, these movies showed how the rulership was/is a _job_, with specific things that had to be done each day, each week, each month… The King/Queen is something like the CEO of a country. Like CEOs of companies, some are in at 6am and stay until 9, doing stuff like answering important phonecalls and writing letters and sitting in meetings and whatnot. Others take 20 weeks of vacation a year, “work” from home and leave all that stuff to their staff and assistants, only coming in to work when the shit is hitting the fan so hard that only their personal presence will suffice. Some countries/times prefer the former and some the later. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/22 "2010-09-04T02:55:49Z")
> [@seanchai](#): > > One of my favourite English history questions is: what are the job requirements for being the King/Queen of England?[…] > There is ONE criteria: you must (nowadays) be Protestant. Assuming you mean the King/Queen of the United Kingdom (there has been no monarch of England since 1707), and since you’ve put the qualifier “nowadays,” the job requirement is as follows: you must be the senior living heir of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, who is neither Catholic nor has married a Catholic (nor has abdicated the throne). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/23 "2010-09-04T04:17:22Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Assuming you mean the King/Queen of the United Kingdom (there has been no monarch of England since 1707), and since you’ve put the qualifier “nowadays,” the job requirement is as follows: you must be the senior living heir of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, who is neither Catholic nor has married a Catholic (nor has abdicated the throne). If that were true then Count Carl Johan Bernadotte (who was born in 1916 and is the senior living Protestant descendant of Sophia of Hanover) would be the King. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/24 "2010-09-04T04:26:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@matt\_mcl](#): > > > > Assuming you mean the King/Queen of the United Kingdom (there has been no monarch of England since 1707), and since you’ve put the qualifier “nowadays,” the job requirement is as follows: you must be the senior living heir of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, who is neither Catholic nor has married a Catholic (nor has abdicated the throne). > > If that were true then Count Carl Johan Bernadotte (who was born in 1916 and is the senior living Protestant descendant of Sophia of Hanover) would be the King. I did say senior _heir_, not senior descendent – not just the oldest person (which is what I assume you meant – your post isn’t very clear), but the person to whom the heritage has descended via male-preference primogeniture, always excluding from the order of succession, illegitimate children, Catholics, those having married Catholics, and those who have renounced the succession. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/25 "2010-09-04T04:37:46Z")
For reference: George I was the eldest son of Sophia; George II was his eldest son; George III was the eldest son of George II’s eldest son (who predeceased George II); George IV was George III’s eldest son; William IV was George III’s next eldest surviving son (George IV had no surviving issue); Victoria was the daughter of George III’s next eldest son (William IV also had no issue, and her father, Prince Edward, had no sons, and predeceased William IV); Edward VII was Victoria’s eldest son; George V was Edward VII’s eldest surviving son; Edward VIII was George V’s eldest son; George VI was George V’s next eldest son (Edward VIII had abdicated and renounced all succession rights, and had no children anyway); Elizabeth II is George VI’s eldest daughter (he had no sons). So, there’s the job requirement: you have to inherit the throne, with all the conditions I mentioned, from the previous occupant via male-preference primogeniture. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/26 "2010-09-04T13:50:06Z")
Well, there’s a historically been a pretty high rate for death by violence. For example, of the 41 English & UK monarchs since 1066, 8 have died violent deaths: William II (killed by an arrow while hunting) Richard I (killed by an arrow while besieging a castle) Edward II (died under mysterious circumstances while imprisoned) Richard II (ditto) Edward V (ditto) Richard III (killed in battle) Henry VI (died under mysterious circumstances while imprisoned) Charles I (executed for High Treason) That’s about a 20% violent death rate. Of course, the violent death rate has dropped considerably since the execution of Charles I, with no violent deaths since the mid-17th century. This marked improvement is no doubt due to much better occupational health and safety laws, coupled with greater awareness campaigns about the risks of the job, and the need for circumspection. For example, it’s rumoured that in her private quarters at Buck House, Her Majesty has a sign: “United Kingdom: No regicides since 1649. Let’s keep it that way!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/27 "2010-09-04T16:06:11Z")
There’s also a sign in every king’s bathroom – “Monarchs Must Wash Hands Before Returning to Reign or Before Executing a Savior” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/28 "2010-09-04T17:19:50Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > For example, it’s rumoured that in her private quarters at Buck House, Her Majesty has a sign: “United Kingdom: No regicides since 1649. Let’s keep it that way!” It’s actually a whiteboard with a marker that says “131,765 days since the last regicide”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/29 "2010-09-04T17:35:56Z")
Not technically true – you’d have to specify the last _English_ regicide. ---
**Author:** ![Dpimi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Dpimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dpimi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/30 "2010-09-04T19:23:54Z")
Do this Do that To the dungeon OFF with his head Seems like a pretty easy gig unless you have a wife like Marie Antoinette ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/31 "2010-09-04T19:34:44Z")
Is it easy being President, Prime Minister or indeed the Head of State or Government at any time in human history? Many Kings absolutly hated their jobs, George VI of Great Britain and Ireland for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/32 "2010-09-04T20:16:15Z")
> [@Dpimi](#): > > Do this > > Do that > > To the dungeon > > OFF with his head > > Seems like a pretty easy gig unless you have a wife like Marie Antoinette Wives of kings aren’t exempt from a disciplinary beheading, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/33 "2010-09-05T00:33:18Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > For example, it’s rumoured that in her private quarters at Buck House, Her Majesty has a sign: “United Kingdom: No regicides since 1649. Let’s keep it that way!” > > It’s actually a whiteboard with a marker that says “131,765 days since the last regicide”. And in the toilet stall, there’s some graffiti that says “For a good time, call Oliver Cromwell’s Mom” - which I think is just mean-spirited. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/34 "2010-09-05T00:41:21Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > If that were true then Count Carl Johan Bernadotte (who was born in 1916 and is the senior living Protestant descendant of Sophia of Hanover) would be the King. > > I did say senior _heir_, not senior descendent – not just the oldest person (which is what I assume you meant – your post isn’t very clear), but the person to whom the heritage has descended via male-preference primogeniture, always excluding from the order of succession, illegitimate children, Catholics, those having married Catholics, and those who have renounced the succession. I assumed from the way you wrote it that you were saying everyone who was a descendant of Sophia was a potential heir. And Carl Johan, being the oldest living one, would be the senior heir. And I was just having fun - I didn’t think that was actually what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/35 "2010-09-05T03:19:20Z")
Depends on the king and the kingdom, the era, the amount of intrigue, the competency of the monarch and their ministers. There were long lines of kings (see Spain) who were insane - under those circumstances the kingdom was run by ministers and the JOB of being king basically involved producing the next heir. Other monarchs worked very hard to be excellent rulers (to whatever their definition of excellent was). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/36 "2010-09-10T03:14:35Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Many Kings absolutly hated their jobs, George VI of Great Britain and Ireland for instance. George VI was never king of Great Britain and Ireland. He was king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252/37 "2010-09-10T07:47:33Z")
^ Actually [yes he was](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_of_the_British_sovereign#Styles_of_British_sovereigns). _“By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hard-a-job-was-it-to-be-a-king/552252.md?page=1)