Can the king in Chapter 10 of Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince be compared to any historic or contemporary figures?

The interesting thing about the
king in Chapter 10 is that he is completely
incapable of either passing a reasonable
law or upholding any unreasonable laws.
Every decision he makes is formed with the intent of pacifying his
subjects; however, he really has no subjects. He is really king over no
one. There are probably many public figures we can accuse of making decisions with the
sole intent of pacifying others; however, literary critics have actually considered the
king to be a reference to the French government just prior
to and during World War II, particularly acclaimed French World War I general
Henri Philippe Petain who governed France
during Nazi occupation.

Once France surrendered to the
Germans as soon as 1940, the Nazis established a new French government in Vichy that was
run by Henri Philippe Petain. It is noted that the French
allowed the Germans to plunder their resourced and even agreed to sending French
citizens to Nazi labor camps. Prior to France's surrender, France, along with Great
Britain and Italy, signed the Munich Pact, allowing Germany to invade Czechoslovakia,
with the intention of pacifying the Germans. France's early
surrender can also be seen as an effort to pacify the Germans. In addition, it is said
that they allowed German occupation because they "hoped to preserve at least some small
amount of French sovereignty" ( href="http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/france-facts/france-history/france-during-world-war-2.htm">"France
History -- France during World War II"). Since all of France's political
moves, especially under Henri Philippe Petain, were aimed at pacifying Germany rather
than creating any real sovereignty for themselves, we can easily see how the king in
Chapter 10 directly reflects France at this time
period.

Saint-Exupery was a pilot in the
French Air Force during World War II and was sent to the US with the intent of
convincing the US to enter into the war against Germany ( title=""Biography of Antoine de Saint-Exupery," poemhunter.com"
href="http://www.poemhunter.com/antoine-de-saint-exupery/biography/">"Biography of
Antoine de Saint-Exupery"). As a French citizen and a member of the French Air
Force, his government's actions would be very important to him. Hence, it is not a
stretch to interpret the king as being representative of France or of Henri Philippe
Petain in particular.