king of the castle

[A] throng of children came pouring from school. […] [T]hey were storming the sand-heap, pelting a king of the castle, who pelted back with handfuls.

Mr. Matthews, usually nonjudgmental when writing about O'Connor's domestic relations, can't resist calling him "the king of the castle, the smug possessor of a bevy of three fine women absolutely de-voted to him."