The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown. —Shakespeare, Hamlet Lèse-majesté translates as “injury to majesty”, or an insult to the dignity of the monarch. It was first made a crime during the Roman Empire. The last prosecution for the offence in the UK was in 1715. France created another variation of the law in 1789 that was known as lèse-nation, to protect the new values of the Revolution; the law still stands. Lèse-majesté was enforced in Japan until 1946, and in Norway, where defamation of the king could get you five years in prison, as…