Benjamin Hudson

His Royal Majesty King Benjamin I
Reign 3rd January, 1991 —
Preceded by	King Henry VI
Born	21st October, 1968 Hudson Palace, Taerkast City, Taerkasten
Consort	Queen Consort Jennifer I
Title	His Royal Majesty The King
Religion	Christian
Languages	English

Benjamin I (Benjamin James Hudson, born October 25th, 1968) is the reigning king of the Royal Kingdom of Taerkasten. He ascended the throne on 3rd January, 1984, succeeding his father Henry VI after he died from terminal cancer.

As of October 27th, 1990, he has been married to Queen Jennifer, Duchess of Keblos. To date, the couple have had one child, Princess Laura, Heir Apparent, who was born December 3rd, 1993.

Early Life

Born of King Henry VI and his consort, Queen Helena, Prince Benjamin (or "Benjy" as he was known to his family and friends) on 25th October, 1968, a date which caused some controversy in itself. King Henry's father, King John, had died on that date exactly one year earlier, and Benjamin's parents were unsure of how he would take the news. In an effort to pay tribute to the anniversary, Benjamin was officially Christened Benjamin John Hudson, in honour of his grandfather. King Henry was said to be pleased, and took an instant liking to his new grandson.

Growing up alongside his younger brother, Prince James, Benjamin attended the prestigious Bartholomew's Private School for Boys, where he quickly garnered a reputation as being skilled in science, military history, and physical education. Unfortunately his life outside of school was somewhat more troubled; as was common in Royal households in the early and mid twentieth century, his parents very rarely spent any time at home, and he took their avoidance personally. He and his carer frequently clashed in arguments, and his brother was unable to intervene. On the occasion when his parents did return, Benjamin found his father to be more concerned with disciplining him over his bickering with his carer than spending any manner of quality time with him. Combined with experiences in his later life, a wedge was plunged between Prince Benjamin and the rest of his family, and to this day he reportedly finds it difficult to trust them.

Heir Apparent versus Heir Presumptive

In one of the biggest scandals to ever hit the Hudson family, in 1990 Prince James made an attempt to covertly seize the position of Heir Apparent from his older brother by assassinating him. By enquiring with various underworld sources under the guise of a terrorist leader, Prince James was eventually able to hire an elite team of bounty hunters and helped them to infiltrate the Royal Guard unit assigned to the two princes' summer residence. In this way, he was able to appoint trained assassins to heir's personal guards, and in doing so believed his plan to be foolproof. By blaming the assassination on a known terrorist organisation of the era, Prince James would be absolved of culpability and would become the new Heir Apparent.

Originally these bounty hunters attempted to slowly and discretely murder Benjamin by poisoning him, in an effort to make the murder appear more innocent; however, the Prince's doctor quickly discovered this somewhat crude poisoning attempt when he complained of ill health. While the poisoning had been discovered, the culprits had not, and so the Prince returned to his summer residence with his brother and girlfriend to recover. Not dissuaded, the bounty hunters decided to take a more direct route; they took the loyal guards of the residence by surprise and defeated them all, and then placed the residence under lock-down to prevent any immediate reinforcements. At this point they began a palace-wide hunt for their mark, and quickly discovered him. They were somewhat surprised to find the Prince armed with a hunting rifle and able to defend himself with remarkable competence, and a brutal battle ensued.

Trapped in the palace with his girlfriend, Jennifer May, the Prince was gradually forced towards the roof by his attackers, where he finally managed to kill the last two bounty hunters in a fire-fight across the old battlements. When the two believed their ordeal to be over, Prince James suddenly emerged with a pistol, aimed squarely at his brother. Prince James broke down into tears as he explained to his older brother his motivations and methods for murdering him, and expressed regret that he had to carry out the execution with his own hands. Meanwhile, however, Jennifer was able to evade his attentions, and acquired the sidearm of one of the fallen bounty hunters. Despite offering him the chance to surrender, she was forced to kill the Prince when he turned to fire on her. She was injured by his shot, but survived, while Prince James was killed instantly.

The following day an official announcement was made to the nation, and at the behest of Prince Benjamin, King Henry made no attempt to cover-up the event as he had intended to, and told their subjects the truth of Prince James' betrayal. This turned out to be a positive decision; though the scandal caused uproar, Prince Benjamin himself received unprecedented levels of sympathy from the nation, and proved to be more popular than ever before.

Following the traumatic events, Prince Benjamin and Jennifer were married, and Jennifer was granted the title Duchess of Keblos to affirm her royal standing.

Coronation and rule

In 1991 King Henry died of natural causes, and King Benjamin I ascended the throne in a grand ceremony. For the first time in Taerkast history, King Benjamin I allowed both the press and members of the public to attend the ceremony itself, and so many were in attendance that the entire event was conducted in Taerkast Proper Nature Reserve, where sufficient space could be allocated.

In his early years as King, Benjamin made great strides to improve the civil rights of his subjects, and in combination with his earlier ordeal, he gradually became one of the most popular rulers of Taerkast history. His policy of total honesty with the public quickly won him a few critics, but a great many supporters - in essence, he believed that the people had the right to hear about the state of the nation truthfully, and without spin, regardless of whether it was good or bad news. As his economic reforms brought about high levels of growth, and Taerkasten continued to remain in peaceful isolation, there were fortunately few items of bad news for him to report on.

Towards the latter half of 1993, King Benjamin and Queen Jennifer became the parents of Princess Laura, Heir Apparent. Unlike previous monarchs, King Benjamin made a concerted effort to be around his daughter as much as was possible, even to the point where Queen Jennifer was given the powers to perform some of his duties for him on occasion - which was itself an unprecedented constitutional reform. The young Princess was immediately the object of public affections, and she became known as the 'Darling of the Nation' as the entire country kept an eye on her growth.

The King's earlier experiences in life have also given him something of a paranoid outlook on life, and an overly protective nature in regards to his family. Membership in the Royal Guard is perhaps more exclusive than any other military organisation in the world, with incredibly rigorous examinations just in the initial applications phase. He also introduced a requirement that Royal Guard officers must have served in the Army for at least five years before joining, which not only gave rise to a more skilful force, but also reduced the chance of rogue elements being able to manipulate the organisation. Lastly, he introduced the concept of a rotating guard, which meant that no single Guard officer was stationed in one location for a particularly long period of time. Moreover, he personally checked and verified any Guard officer that was to be placed in any manner of proximity to his wife and child, and would only allow his most trusted officers to even enter the same room as them.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles

• 1968 - 1991: His Royal Majesty Prince Benjamin I of Taerkasten, Heir Apparent
• 1981 - 1989: His Royal Highness Duke Benjamin of Taerkast Proper
• 1991 - present: His Royal Majesty The King

Styles

During his years as Heir Apparent, Benjamin held the style His Royal Majesty Prince Benjamin I of Taerkasten, Heir Apparent, although this was typically shortened to His Majesty Prince Benjamin I of Taerkasten, or simply His Majesty Prince Benjamin in less formal settings. For a brief period between 1981 and 1989 he also held the style His Royal Highness Duke Benjamin of Taerkast Proper. Although common in other countries, it is unusual for a Taerkast hereditary monarch to hold a dukedom, with the exception of consorts, and this honour was only bestowed upon him because the proper heir to the title was too young to take the position. He formally resigned as Duke of Taerkast Proper when its present duke reached the age of eighteen.

As of the moment of his father's death in 1991, he became formally known as His Royal Majesty, by Grace of God, Defender of Taerkasten and Upholder of the Faith, King Benjamin Hudson the First, which is almost always shortened to its normal style, His Royal Majesty King Benjamin I.