Today is one of those days when two prompts ask almost the same question and by answering one, you come very close to answering the other. Well, sort of, anyway.
The WordPress Daily Prompt ask us “What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?” And Di (Pensitivity101), in today’s Truthful Tuesday prompt, asks us, “If you could be King (or Queen) for a day, how would you spend it?”
Okay, they are not exactly the same question, but pretty damn close. The WordPress question is more open ended, whereas Di’s question specifies being King or Queen. But both questions talk about holding that job for just one day. So, even though I’ve never really thought about being, or even wanted to be, a king, I’m going to run with that.
I’m patterning my kingship after my perception of the King of England. Or is it Great Britain? Who knows? Anyway, as an American, the position of King of England (or Great Britain) seems to be mostly a ceremonial position, full of pomp and circumstance. So I would play dress-up day, don my crown, and meet and greet dignitaries from around the globe. We’d have tea and crumpets, discuss the thrill of fox hunting, and talk about important matters that I, as King, have no control over and very little influence upon.
I’d offer a grand tour of the palace, enjoy bountiful meals prepared by the kingdom’s greatest chefs and served to me and my many guest by skilled butlers and handmaidens.
When it’s time to retire at the end of the long, taxing day of schmoozing and eating, I will go to my king’s chamber, where my personal valet shall undress me and my chamber maids will bathe me. After my bath, my valet will assist me with my nightgown and I will get into my luxurious king size bed and fall asleep comforted by the fact that I fulfilled my kingly duties for the day and will, when I wake up in the morning, once again just be a regular person.
I hope those of you from England or the British Commonwealth countries take no offense at this post. It was all in fun, and I admit to ignorance when it comes to the day-to-day activities and responsibilities of the King of England. Or is it Great Britain? Who knows?
This, That, and the Other 
I’d have to be a god or goddess. That way I could REALLY clean the muck that is world politics, retire a lot of people who deserve to be at home watching TV and raving on Twitter … and perhaps jail a few who fully deserve it. Then, pass gun control. Maybe, make guns and other shooting weapons vanish. Put the trees back where they belong. Clean up the oceans and the rivers.
I think I’d need at least a week.
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I’ll give you seven days.
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Thanks. When’s the coronation? Do I get the carriage and the fancy steeds, crown and throne? Or do I have to clamber up into the clouds and find a place to sit up there? Being a god could get complicated. Do I get worshippers?
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Being the king sounds like a nice gig, as long as the sword of Damocles is not hanging over your head.
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Do you really think you’d opt for the sponge bath?
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Depends upon the chambermaids. 😉
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😵💫
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Ha! Love this Fandango and Christine’s comment above. Fun indeed. I hope you wouldn’t get indigestion with all that food, or get tipsy with all the toasts! Such a lot to squeeze into 24 hours.
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Don’t worry, I expect most people would do what you did. I’m a Brit, and I take no offence.
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Phew! Thanks.
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I hope fox hunting doesn’t give one too much of a thrill =(
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No real live foxes in fox hunts. However, real birds involved in shooting. The countryside is a bit macabre.
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There was an animation years ago, and it was about English side type animals. It was really depressing, I don’t know why we’d watch it, lol
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I found myself pissed off at the recent coronation (which I didn’t watch).
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lol – I cannot imagine anyone taking offense. The British view of royalty varies (much like everything else). There are some devoted royalists, there are some staunch anti-monarchy peeps. There are a massive amount of people who are in between – they liked and respected the Queen. They don’t agree necessarily with upper class toffs or elitists…but they quite like the royals when they do something that makes them seem down to earth, kind and relatable. The more endearing and human the royal family can make themselves out to be most of the time, the more the public are ok with special events when they bring out all the trumpets and razzle dazzle.
I was talking to a friend about it the other day. The thing is, you learn at primary school that Oliver Cromwell came along and got rid of the King and had him beheaded…and as a child you think “oooh, that’s a bit harsh”, and tend to feel sorry for royalty and think politicians are dangerous.
Then when you are at high school, you learn about what happened in France – that they attempted to guillotine their entire aristocracy – which sort of makes Oliver Cromwell seem a bit of softie compared to what the neighbours did.
At some point your mind starts to make sense of all the history of the British empire generally plundering and oppressing – colonialism, slave trade, factories in the north of England where people worked in abysmal conditions, debtors prisons, squalid conditions in parts of London and on the estates of wealthy land owners…just generally corrupt and unjust conditions both here and overseas, and the finger seems to point at those in charge. But for most people, those in charge are the politicians, and royalty are seen as something separate – a tourist attraction, a diplomatic asset, a way to boost media attention on the work of charities and good causes.
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Thanks, Mel, for taking the time to give me this background and insight. I appreciate it.
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Yeah, interesting.
And here, we are pretty much told that, as long as we don’t have a king or queen, we’re pretty safe… as if we don’t need to govern in a way that rules out people (or corporations or foundations) grabbing or being handed more and more control.
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