The Weight of a Crown

The Prince had found something better than a crown.

I can't give you his name for legal reasons, and, truth be told, I rather like my neck the length it is.

Suffice to say, he hurried home to his palace after a tough day of getting on and off planes, wearing suits, looking serious in newspapers, and visiting hospitals... and he was very keen to take the thing off. Perhaps, if you're never been the heir to a throne, you won't understand. One hears there are an awful lot of such folk about. It probably shouldn't be allowed.

Look at it this way, itt was probably the Royal Male equivalent of taking your bra off after a long day of having breasts.

He doesn't have to wear it 24/7, you know. He couldn't wear it to bed, or on the toilet. It is, when it comes right down to it, just a shiny, spiky hat.

It is a weighty thing though, much heavier than the slopping over the side of a tub might suggest. He put it in a drawer where he couldn't see it, though it throbbed insistently like a second heart.

Then he puts on the special VR headset, and resumes his life as "frogginginWindsor69". He has, if you'll mind the pun, a brand new pad. It's tranquil here, where the believable sun glints off the too-beautiful-to-be-real pond.

There are bugs aplenty. Their buzz in the balmy air is a welcome sound. It's... well... Simple. If he gets bored here on the lily pad, there are lush meadows just a short hop away. Each one is crowded with wildflowers.

There is a whole community of people like him. He's a member on r/ribbit, "FroggLife" and "The Pad". He has his own blog documenting his increasingly frequent forays into life as a frog. He has quite a following. He uploads video of himself living as a frog. He talks to his fans, few and nutty though they may be.

He is seriously considering giving it all up for the life of a frog.