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The king is the first adult the little prince comes across on his journey after leaving his home planet. With an immense sense of ownership and entitlement, the king personifies the desire for power, authority, and obedience. Though alone on his planet, he is obsessed with having subjects to rule over and is thrilled when the little prince arrives, feeling "consumingly proud of being at last a king over somebody." Above all else, he desires an inferior to command. He begs the little prince to stay and, symbolized by the planet's solitary rat, imagines a corrupt justice system in which his subjects' lives depend entirely on the king's will.
Though technically a monarch, the king's power is entirely superficial. He claims to have power over things that he cannot actually control, including the stars and whether or not the little prince yawns. He may present himself as an absolute monarch, but it’s clear he is merely grasping at the illusion of power, maintaining an inflated sense of authority and making preposterous, comical commands. The king is therefore a satirical representation of the absurdity of power, underscoring the nonsensical nature of the adult world.
Throughout the text, Saint-Exupéry critiques adulthood, highlighting how adults often shed their childlike qualities because they are considered unsuitable for a mature existence. However, the mature adult world is riddled with contradictions and folly. Through the king, Saint-Exupéry crafts a compelling commentary on the emptiness of power, suggesting that the adult world is often more absurd than the childlike one. The little prince's encounter with the king prompts him to reflect, "The grown-ups are very strange."
