King in Spite of Himself or The reluctant king, D 55

Around May 1883 Chabrier wrote to his publishers that for his next stage work he was hoping to create something like Offenbach's successful 'grand fantaisie' Le roi Carotte. According to Victorin de Joncières, Chabrier had confided to him that he was looking for an amusing book to set. Joncières had been sent Le roi malgré lui, an old vaudeville of 1836 written by Marguerite-Louise Virginie Ancelot (1792–1875), by Ancelot's daughter Mme Lachaud. However, Joncières passed the play to Chabrier, and also introduced Chabrier to Léon Carvalho, to whom Chabrier played some 'audition' pieces, which convinced the Opéra-Comique director to stage his work.