How to punish a naughty prince
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
October 2, 2018 11:10am CST
This is King Henry VIII of England, when he had only been on the throne for four years and was aged 22. He looked a lot different in later life!
When even younger he was not the best behaved of boys - and it might well be said that things did not improve much as he got older.
One reason for that might be the form of punishment used to discipline him. Because a commoner could not strike a prince of the royal blood, he had a stand-in for this purpose. This was his "whipping boy" who took the punishment on his behalf!
How odd is that? I feel very sorry for the poor kid who got whipped every time young Henry did something amiss, and I also have grave doubts about how this was supposed to improve Henry's behavior!
4 people like this
6 responses
@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
3 Oct 18
This story seems to ring a bell. How strangely familiar this sounds to me.
@DesirousDreamer (34776)
• Peoria, Arizona
2 Oct 18
Whipping boys were very common even into the 1800s. It is terrible but no one can choose where your blood comes from and I'm sure other royalty must have shared remorse as for King Henry the 8th he was just not okay to begin with.
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (93194)
• Bangalore, India
2 Oct 18
That is so sad. Poor boy got punished because he was born as a common person while prince could get away with his misbehavior because of his royal blood. A classic case of discrimination. What a shame!
1 person likes this
@a_jerobon (2317)
• Eldoret, Kenya
2 Oct 18
That is so sad for the little boy and it definitely won't have any effect in changing Henry's behaviour.
I read your post and remembered a certain movie I was watching about such an arrogant and misbehaved prince. There was nothing to be done to change his behaviour until one day a witch cursed him to be a beast and the only way to break the spell and make him human again was when his behaviour changes and learns to love unconditionally and respect everyone in the kingdom.
1 person likes this
