Frank and Helen - Rulers of Narnia

Rulers of Narnia

Of the party that were now landed in Narnia, Frank was the only one who had complete command of himself (although this was partly because he didn't realize that they were in a different world and seemed to think that they had, instead, fallen down a hole of some sort). He urged everyone to remain calm, and suggested that they ought to "pass the time" by singing a hymn. This he proceeded to do, choosing Come Ye Thankful People, Come, but only the two children joined in. He later broke off singing when Aslan began to sing his own song of creation--a song that Frank liked, to the point of chiding the others for talking when he wanted to listen. Only the children and the horse enjoyed the song as much as he.

When at length Aslan had Narnia laid out and the first animals created, Frank was surprised to see his own horse "awakened" to become a Talking Horse. Frank's first discussion with his old cab horse was inauspicious at first, because the horse remembered being a slave, a memory the horse did not find pleasant. Frank eventually confessed that he never liked working in London, which was no place for him or his horse.

When Aslan called his first council-of-war to deal with the Jadis situation, Digory announced his desire to seek an audience with Aslan, in the hope that Aslan might give him some kind of cure for his ailing mother. Frank offered to accompany the children, because he wanted to see Aslan himself.

When he first saw Aslan face to face, Frank doffed his hat in respect--and when he finally spoke to Aslan, he began to lose the harsh Cockney accent he had affected in London and to speak with the accent of the country dweller. Frank also realized, when Aslan asked him, that he knew Aslan, though not in Aslan's present aspect; Aslan told him,

You know me better than you think you know, and you shall come to know me better yet.

Aslan asked him whether he, Frank, would enjoy living in Narnia for life, and Frank hesitated, only because he was married and his wife was not present. So Aslan, by singing a single pure note, brought Frank's wife to stand by his side. Aslan then dumbfounded Frank by announcing that he and Helen would become the first King and Queen of Narnia. Frank protested that he lacked sufficient education for such a job--but Aslan helped him to realize that he had every qualification that a King of Narnia would require--facility with the practices of agriculture, a basic sense of justice, and a willingness to try his courage in war, when war would inevitably come. Frank accepted, and he and Helen celebrated their coronation after Digory brought back an apple and used it to plant the Tree of Protection.

Their descendants became the original Kings and Queens of Narnia.

Jadis, the White Witch, took over Narnia 900 years after their reign began and ruled a reign of tyranny for 100 years, but illegitimately (as she was not a Daughter of Eve, but of a race native to Charn), before finally being defeated by Aslan and the Pevensie children, who were then themselves proclaimed Kings and Queens of Narnia.

King Frank later appears in "The Last Battle" with Queen Helen at the end of time.