I've heard conflicting things. Let's say the king is a character, and the POV character is a relative. Dialog tags could be: he said said her father said the king said the King Also, there is mentioning him in the prose: The king walked in The King walked in When do you capitalize "king"? Always? Never? Side question, when you have a single word or title in quotation marks at the end of a sentence, does the punctuation go in or out of the marks? Please and thanks.
I think it is up to the writer. I have capitalized ranks in my story, but I suppose they don't have to be. Not sure there is a 'right or wrong' in this instance. Go with the one you feel best suits the story. As for your second. Do you mean? 'word'. or 'word.' For dialogue it should be inside. For narration it should be outside. (Hope a Grammar Master shows up, that can tell you for sure on this matter.)
Capitalize "king" when it is used as part of his title (King Robert). Do not capitalize "king" if you say, "the king walked in" or "my father, the king ..."
After 28 years of teaching Reading and English (Sorry - make that American.) to middle schoolers, I picked up a thing or two.
It's actually more complicated - at least in the UK, and I'm guessing other countries with a monarch. The Queen is capitalised because the Queen is her name as well as her title. So it would be "The Queen walked in."
That's how I had been using "King" in my WIP, because there is only one that anyone would be talking about, and they are always referring directly to him.
Keep going with that - K Mcintyre's rule doesn't apply here. These examples are from the excerpt from a Penguin Randomhouse book, The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir (the first book I checked, because it's the first royal-y book I thought of): Elizabeth’s very existence had caused her untold pain and suffering, and it was because of Elizabeth’s mother, that great whore, Anne Boleyn, that Mary had lost all that she held dear in life: her own mother, the late sainted Queen Katherine, her rank, her prospects of a throne and marriage, and the love of her father the King. ... The King your father has ordered it,” he said carefully. “Why?” asked the child, her dark eyes narrowing. “The King’s orders must always be obeyed,” he declared. ... “I’m sure the King has very good reasons,” answered Lady Bryan in a tone that forbade further discussion. “Now, where are those dolls you were playing with earlier?” ... Elizabeth often sat with her governess, being taught the things that all well-brought-up little girls needed to know. They might look at the vivid pictures in one of the beautifully illuminated books that the King had provided, or sort through embroidery silks, Lady Bryan allowing the child to pick the colors herself. Then she would teach Elizabeth how to make rows of different stitches. Elizabeth learned this quickly, as she learned everything. Already, she knew her alphabet, and her numbers up to one hundred, and in chapel she was already striving to understand the Latin rubric of the Mass. ... [This is the only time 'King' isn't capitalised, because the King is talking about 'a' king rather than himself. It would have been capitalised if it were *the* young King] “I will tell you something, Bessy,” he said once. “When I was a young king, I did not wish to be at my prayers or attending to state affairs; I wanted to enjoy life. So can you guess what I did? I would sneak out of the palace by a back stair and go hunting, and my councillors would never know I had gone.” You can read the excerpt here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/188193/the-lady-elizabeth-by-alison-weir/9780345495365/
