GOOD NEWS, DR. JUDD, WE FINALLY FOUND HIM THE PERFECT JOB

King wanted: must be able to serve full English breakfast (Jonathan Richards, The Times, June 3rd, 2006)

There are not many kingships for which you can write a job application. Most tend to be bestowed by divine right or, more recently, because one is in the possession of the right set of genes.

Not so in the Kingdom of Piel, a small, treeless island off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, where, in accordance with a 170-year tradition, council authorities are looking for someone to fill the throne.
All that is required of the would-be royal is that he is able to run a pub.

“A unique opportunity” is the way that the position is described on the Barrow council website. “Written expressions of interest, outlining proposals for the future of the island, should be sent to the director of regeneration.” [...]

The title of king dates back to the 15th century, when a merchant’s son called Lambert Simnel landed at Piel and claimed that he was the Earl of Warwick and, therefore, the rightful King of England.

Simnel’s attempt to march on London and seize Henry VII’s throne was foiled — he got as far as Stoke-on-Trent — but the title stuck, and since the land was donated to the people of Barrow by the Duke of Buccleugh in 1920, the landlord of the Ship Inn has formally been named on the lease as “King of Piel”.

“There really is quite a lot of responsibility, but the main reason people want to apply is so that they can be called king,” said Lesley Laver, a barmaid in the Cross Keys pub, Barrow.

Posted by Peter Burnet at June 3, 2006 10:03 AM