Regents, stand-ins for monarchs who are too young or incapacitated, feature prominently in the history books. Scotland managed six regents for the young David II during the 1330s. Then there’s Richard III’s brief period as lord protector for (and deposer of?) his 12-year-old nephew, Edward.

There’s not much call for regents these days. But new research reminded me that modern ones, of sorts, exist in the corporate world. So-called placeholder CEOs are common in family........

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