By George!

The Duke of Sussex, meeting the cast of Hamilton backstage, sportingly sang a snatch from one of its popular numbers. “You say…” he sang. That was it, but it was enough. They are the first words of “You’ll Be Back”, a song on the lips of George III, the Duke’s great-greatgreat-great-great grandfather. The lyrics are not dextrous; Cole Porter it ain’t. The joke is to put the rift between King and Colonies in terms of a madly murderous lovers’ estrangement. It’s a pity, just as we’d got used to a lovable George III from Alan Bennett’s play, to hear him portrayed as a risible psycho-despot. But perhaps a musical is not to be taken too seriously. We should give thanks that, unlike many a modern state where heads roll at the slighting of a dynasty, our constitutional monarchy allows for an occasional amateur dramatic role.