Smoking diminishes a monarch’s authority in my view. It’s like seeing them play scratch off lottery. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, it’s just a reminder they’re subject to mundane personal weaknesses like everyone else. An interesting picture though!

I don’t disagree. As Julius Evola would no doubt explain the more relatable the sovereign is to ‘ordinary people’, the more mundane they are seen to be the less of a mystique they have and in short move from the sacred realm to the profane. A monarch’s true role isn’t to be liked or to be in touch with his or her subjects but is to be the link between the earthly and divine space.