So it is if the prince come young to the throne; but the case is worse when he comes to it old or middle-aged. He is then unfit to work. He will then have spent the whole of youth and the first part of manhood in idleness, and it is unnatural to expect him to labour. A pleasure-loving lounger in middle life will not begin to work as George III worked, or as Prince Albert worked. The only fit material for a constitutional king is a prince who begins early to reign⁠—who in his youth is superior to pleasure⁠—who in his youth is willing to labour⁠—who has by nature a genius for discretion. Such kings are among God’s greatest gifts, but they are also among His rarest.