I always thought the saying was,
The King is dead.
Long live the King.
It never made sense to me. This year, last year, I learned I had been saying it wrong all these years. Last year, Queen Elizabeth passed away after one of the longest reigns in history. My friend who lives in Scotland told me remarked to me
The Queen is dead.
Long live the King.
So, it depends on who was the reigning monarch and who was the next monarch. That makes more sense.
When I was in eighth grade, I really like Edgar Allen Poe poetry and stories. He wrote in his poem, “The Haunted Palace,”
Round about a throne where, sitting
(Porphyrogene!)
I spent a lot of time looking up that word. There was no internet back in the 1970s. Prophyrogene is a word that Poe made up based on the actual word porphyrogenite. (Thank you Oxford English Dictionary) A porphyrogenite is a person who was born while their parent was the reigning monarch. King Charles was literally a porphyrogenite, as were his siblings. His own children, Princes Harry and William are not.
Lots of things changed in 2022. Just as lots of things change every year. Just as many things will change next year.
I switched careers last year. At least I hope I did. You’ll see a lot more writing from me this year. And hopefully we’ll all make 2023 a better year than 2022 was.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren. Order Miscellany III A Collection of Holiday Short Stories, an anthology including his latest short story, “You Can Call Me Dan” here
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