Character Analysis
Nobody's Perfect
Although King Phillip is the leader of the Kingdom of Dor, he can be pretty silly. He's a bit prone to overreacting.
The king, as I have already mentioned, had several faults. He was nearsighted. He made ridiculous, unreasonable, difficult-to-enforce laws. And, much in the way of Miggery Sow, he was not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. (41.5)
When his wife dies after a rat falls into her soup for example, the king decides that he'll outlaw soup and rats. That seems a bit excessive, doesn't it? Not to mention unrealistic.
A Family Man
Despite his flaws though, the king isn't a bad guy. He might not be a perfect ruler, but he's a very good husband and father. He loves his wife with all his heart, and treats his daughter with that same adoration and care:
But there was one extraordinary, wonderful, admirable thing about the king. He was a man who was able and willing to love with the whole of his heart. And just as he had loved the queen with the whole of his heart, so, too, he loved his daughter with the whole of it, even more than the whole. He loved Princess Pea with every particle of his being, and she had been taken from him. (41.6)
Even though Queen Rosemary has died, the king makes sure that his daughter feels loved and cared for; he doesn't let her deal with her grief alone. He plays the guitar for her at bedtime, which must be a difficult time for a child who lost her mother. That makes him a lovely father, and someone who Princess Pea can always depend on.