Verence II of Lancre

Infobox Discworld character|

name=Verence II of Lancre
description=King brought up to be Fool
associations=Magrat Garlick
location=Lancre
firstseen="Wyrd Sisters"
alsoin="Lords and Ladies"
"Carpe Jugulum"
notes=

Verence II of Lancre is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series.

Fictional character biography

He first appears in the sixth novel of the series, "Wyrd Sisters", as the court jester of the monarch of Lancre, Duke Felmet. He was previously the Fool to King Verence I, as his father and grandfather were before him. Over the course of the book, the Fool meets and falls in love with Magrat Garlick and stands up to the Duke, admitting he saw the murder of Verence I.

At the end of the book Verence I's hidden heir, Tomjon, rejects the throne. Nanny Ogg then tells everyone that the Fool is Tomjon's older half-brother. It is assumed that this means he is the son of the elder Fool's wife and Verence I (who was fond of exercising his "droit de seigneur"), and he is duly crowned Verence II. However, given how well the Queen got on with the elder Fool, there is another interpretation...

In "Lords and Ladies" Verence and Magrat finally marry, and in "Carpe Jugulum" they have a daughter; Princess Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre. It wasn't intended to be that way but the priest performing the naming ceremony said those words and by then it was far too late.

Verence II is a very well-meaning king, who takes running a kingdom very seriously (he takes most things seriously, having learnt at a very early age that being a Fool was no laughing matter), but things seldom turn out the way he might want. The most noticeable results of his attempts at modernising the kingdom have been a Parliament that no-one attends, a handy pocket knife that needs to be carried by a cart, and an invasion of vampires due to a diplomatic gaffe. It has been suggested that while his subjects appreciate his attempts to make life better, they would really prefer a king who orders them around and carouses a lot. At least you know where you are with them.

It is possible that Verence may be a subtle parody of Charles, Prince of Wales.

Other media

Verence was voiced by Andrew Branch in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of "Wyrd Sisters", and by Les Dennis in the Cosgrove Hall animation.