Any serious study of the kings of England would have to conclude that they really were a bunch of creeps. For example, they couldn't even speak English until well into the Hundred Years War. Then, after a period wrestling with the vernacular, they lapsed into German until the middle years in the 18th century. Even today, it is hard to know what they are saying, let alone what they are talking about.
Kings have also had a wildly varied fashion sense down the ages. In the Middle Ages, as far as I can make out, they were relatively close-shaven in a strangely modern way. This sense of style persisted until the end of the Tudor period when the influence of the Beatles was overnight all the rage. In the 150 years or so separating the advent of the Stuarts to the accession of George III, all the monarchs sported the same luscious locks that made it impossible to distinguish, if that is the right word, one from another. Curiously enough, beards only made the briefest of appearances in the shape of Edward VII and George V.
Who were the best and worst kings? George VI was the best; he looked modern and respectable for a start. And the worst? Without a doubt, any one of the Plantagenets in spite of the attractive name of the dynasty. But, then again, Kandahar is a beautiful name too.
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