As the King’s appendicitis was neither man’s fault, Mr Krell successfully argued for the first time in the history of English law that a contract had been frustrated, on the grounds that an implied condition of the contract was that the King would be at the coronation procession. As a result, Mr Krell was not liable to pay any rent.

In a case that is due to be heard in the coming weeks, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is aiming to use this same legal precedent to win a case against landlord Canary Wharf Group so it can break a 25-year lease and move to Amsterdam. In this instance, there is no unforeseen monarchical malaise. Instead, Brexit is at the heart of the case.