Loyal peer manipulated king, a pretender (4,6)
I believe the answer is:
role player
'a pretender' is the definition.
('role player' can be a synonym of 'pretender')
'loyal peer manipulated king' is the wordplay.
'manipulated' indicates an anagram.
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation of Latin rex).
'loyal'+'peer'='loyalpeer'
'loyalpeer' anagrammed gives 'roleplaye'.
'roleplaye'+'r'='ROLE PLAYER'
I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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