King Ralph

Phipps: Sir Cedric! Sir Cedric! Good news. We've finally found an heir!
Sir Cedric Willingham: That's wonderful, Duncan. Who is he?
Phipps: His name is Jones. Ralph Jones.
Sir Cedric Willingham: A good man?
Phipps: Well. He has his strengths and his weaknesses. You see, he's ... American.
Sir Cedric Willingham: Quickly, Duncan! The strengths!

After a freak accident wipes out most of the British royal family, the only heir that can be found is American lounge singer Ralph Jones. Accepting the job assuming he won't really have to do anything, Ralph soon learns there's more expected of him. He struggles to become a good king with the help of his chief advisor, Sir Cedric Willingham. A burgeoning romance with Miranda Greene causes problems. She is from a working-class family and is not considered an acceptable match for a king. He also has to deal with the machinations of Lord Percival Graves, who is certain he could become king himself if only he could get Ralph to abdicate, and hopes to use Miranda to do so.

Tropes used in King Ralph include:
  • Adipose Rex
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Lord Graves
  • Arranged Marriage: One is planned between Ralph and Princess Anna of Finland.
  • Artistic License: The British aristocracy has hundreds of potential heirs in line for the throne, rather than the two dozen seen here. If every single one of them was to either die or be disqualified in some way, the monarch who is most closely related (currently, the King of Norway) would take control of the kingdom.
  • Babies Ever After
  • Disaster Dominoes: At the banquet with Finland's royal family, Ralph's attempt to cut into a roasted miniature chicken causes it to shoot off his plate, knocking over his drinking glass. The chicken and glass set off a chain reaction that topples all the other glasses from one end of the very long table to the other.
    • If just one of the snooty toffs had grabbed their glass out of the way instead of squealing, it wouldn't have gone as far.
  • Ermine Cape Effect: Averted. When not on state business, Ralph continues to dress the same way he used to.
  • Everything's Better with Princesses: Subverted. Ralph has no interest in Princess Anna.

Sir Cedric Willingham: How's it going, Your Majesty?
Ralph: Great. We've got nothing in common and she's got a voice like a tuba. If she had her way, we'd have sex on a bed of nails on national television. But at least the party stinks.

Graves: This is an outrage! A vile piece of slander! I demand to know the source of these allegations!
Ralph: We have the signed confession of a royal page, Gordon Halliwell, who worked with Lord Graves.
Graves: I know no such man!
Ralph: And several cheques made out to the photographers who took the pictures, signed by Lord Graves. Whose fingerprints were also on the photographs.
Graves: So! I saw them at the ball!
Ralph: And Scotland Yard found the negatives at his house this morning.
Graves: By what right can you order my arrest!
Ralph: By the Treason Act of 1702, forbidding interference in the proper succesion of a monarch. Enacted by...[pause, as he recites the Order of the Kings poem to himself] William the Third!

  • Knighting: Ralph almost cuts off a man's ear during the ceremony.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: The royal family is called the Windhams. The Finnish royal family also appears when another country's royals are needed. (In real life, Finland has never had one, being ruled instead by Sweden and then Russia.)
    • Averted with Lord Graves, who is descended from the house of Stuart.
  • No OSHA Compliance: Totally played for laughs and purely as a plot device - in reality, the photographers would never have been so lackadaisical about having their electrics in several inches of water, and if so, they would need beheading on the spot!
  • One of Us: In the film, working class people quickly take a liking to Ralph.
  • One Steve Limit: Played with: discussing the official naming of the king, Sir Cedric says he can't really think of any notable Ralphs, prompting His Majesty to rattle off a few.

Ralph: Oh sure. Ralph Warren. Ralph Macchio. Ralph Cramden...

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