Ahaha, I did know about the healing power of the king's touch! (I -- probably? -- first saw this in Tolkien and then had a template for when I saw it later in some sort of historical fiction, I can't remember exactly where.) I only knew about it for English kings, though -- I didn't know it was a French king thing as well! That's hilarious that both sides think the other copied it, and the Byzantine and HRE emperors never claimed this at all.
What counts more - being God's literally Annointed but without a kingdom, or being with a kingdom but not yet with the consecration?
Hee! That's also interesting to me because I would have guessed that the healing would have had a religious flavor, i.e., be connected primarily with the consecration, but this seems to indicate that it wasn't considered (just?) a religious thing, that there may be something about the kingdom itself that confers the ability.
Re: Detour about royals and public eating (and touching)
What counts more - being God's literally Annointed but without a kingdom, or being with a kingdom but not yet with the consecration?
Hee! That's also interesting to me because I would have guessed that the healing would have had a religious flavor, i.e., be connected primarily with the consecration, but this seems to indicate that it wasn't considered (just?) a religious thing, that there may be something about the kingdom itself that confers the ability.