Crossword Genius

King surrounded by menservants or knaves (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

varlets

'knaves' is the definition.
('varlet' can be a synonym of 'knave')

'king surrounded by menservants' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'surrounded by' is an insertion indicator.
'menservants' becomes 'valets' (valet is a kind of manservant).
'r' going into 'valets' is 'VARLETS'.

'or' acts as a link.

(Another definition for varlets that I've seen is " Travels around with old rogues".)

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