No Rules Night is Over

May 02, 2023 – Westminster, UK

When the kids were young we would have occasional No Rules Nights.  If they wanted to scream at the top of their lungs, jump on the bed, or eat nothing but ice cream for supper, they were free to do so, without consequences.  As a parenting exercise it may not have been the best strategy, but it seems to have worked.  All of our kids have grown up to be law-abiding citizens.  

Knowing where the boundaries are, and testing them once in a while, seems to have worked in their favour. Our kids figured out early that following rules was preferable to breaking them.  After only a few No Rules Night sessions they voluntarily abandoned the practice.

I bring this up because our nation is currently in a “No Rules” interval, but few people are aware of it.

During the Middle Ages, the period after a monarch died and before the coronation of the next was referred to as ILL Week.  For that period of time between monarchs, many people held the convenient belief that the laws of the land were suspended.  Treaties were broken and crimes were committed on the assumption that, without a monarch, rules did not apply.

Between the death of Queen Elizabeth 1^st on 25 March 1603, and the coronation of King James V1 on 26 July 1603, lawlessness was so widespread that most crimes committed during that four month period were never prosecuted.  Laws were broken without punishment or consequence.  

ILL Week eventually fell out of practice. People realized that a world of law and order is preferable to one without, just like our kids did.

But ILL Week has never been officially rescinded. If you want to break a contract, cheat on your taxes, or steal the neighbours car, you have three more days to do it.  

Once Chuck officially becomes King, 

… No Rules Night is Over.

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