Early January, a candidly blurry picture of a contemplative young man dropped on Instagram. The man? Henry Douglas Lee Butler V. The account user? Anonymous.

Since January 6th, the account (formerly @from_butler_to_prince, then, after his nomination, @from_butler_to_king) loaded twelve photos, depicting everything from the man himself to the vest that his body adorns on a daily basis — something that has become a bit of an iconic sight. The anonymity of the account has caused much excitement around the school — and headache if you’re the guy running around trying to get permission to use quotes and photos.

The excitement of having such a well-organized account with great captions came to a subtle end, however, when senior Juliae Riva posted on her own Instagram account: “The thing I’ll miss most is thinking up captions for @from_butler_to_king. It’s been a good run.”

We may know who was behind it, but if the Oxfordians were correct in assuming Shakespeare was a pen-name for a group of people, it wouldn’t detract from the grandeur of the works’ beauty. The legacy of @from_butler_to_king has not been compromised: only cemented into eternity.

Anonymous Instagram royalty campaigns (which is a bit oxymoronical, because you don’t vote on royalty) are no new phenomena. Beaverton has had several under-the-radar Instagram campaigns itself: Last year’s Prince of Renaissance Hari Vellaipandian ‘16 had several campaigns on multiple platforms prior to being nominated (not that he needed any of them), and I’m sure Demareae has had at least five accounts every dance for the last four years.

Whether or not these accounts are effective in swaying the vote is debatable — some people *cough* jocks and band kids *cough* will always be nominated for everything. This was a big factor in the election of senior Colin Crandal. Despite 2017 Sadie’s King Crandal’s many attributes, popularity is always the deciding factor in these types of things, and there is a strict pattern that most all high schools follow in deciding who falls into which social clique. A sad truth, but a truth all the same.

In the midst of a dark truth, however, a prince-in-shiny-black-armor stands out. Let the record show that that was a joke about his vest, not his ethnicity… Lee is an outstanding individual and a role model for every man-child, woman-child, and child-child at Beaverton High School. He sports a great smile, kind soul, and an enormous intellect.

I am proud to give The Hummer’s belated endorsement to Henry Douglas “Lee” Butler V, and am prouder to call him my friend.

@from_butler_to_king gave us a good laugh here at The Hummer. When messaged via Instagram, the account told us that the photos were sent in from various fans… Photos courtesy of @from_butler_to_king on Instagram.