The present building, a "striking" architectural "pantomime" by the prolific local firm Clayton & Black, dates from the 1930s, but a pub of this name has stood on the site since 1860—making it one of the first developments beyond the boundaries of the ancient village.

[13] Their chosen style for the rebuilding was Mock Tudor, which was fashionable at the time, and the bow-fronted two-storey Georgian exterior was completely changed[14] to form a "striking interwar interloper" amongst neighbouring buildings such as the Neo-Georgian Allied Irish Bank branch and a series of four-storey offices.

[13] Although the King and Queen name was retained, the monarchs represented were changed at this time to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and their images were painted beneath one of the gables.

[9][14] A contemporary report in the Brighton Herald newspaper praised the rebuilt pub, stating that it was "something more than a handsome, spacious building ... it is a gorgeous flight of architectural imagination".

[4] This made it suitable for hosting large events, such as "Miss Miniskirt" contest finals (for several years)[6] and revues; Margaret Thatcher visited one unannounced in 1982 while in Brighton for the Conservative Party conference.

[15] The pub markets itself as a sports bar, with large screen televisions and several pool tables, and as a music venue; local DJ Fatboy Slim has played there, and there is a regular karaoke night.

Clayton & Black's "theatrical rebuilding", completed in 1932, created an architectural "pantomime"[13] of "olde-worlde Tudor"[6] elements incorporating "an impressive array of seemingly authentic details".

[9] The architects used a "wonderful assembly" of features commonly associated with 16th-century Vernacular architecture, selecting those which gave the most decorative appearance and allowed the widest variety of materials to be used.

[2] Projecting forward between the fourth and fifth bays is the stone-dressed exterior of a stair-turret with a pair of Tudor-arched stained glass windows divided by a thick transom and set in a recess with a hood mould.

The top storey, with its intricately decorated gable, is jettied and features painted plaster reliefs of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn with another mullioned and transomed window between them.

The fifth bay, also plaster-clad, has two three-window ranges linked by a timber balustrade pattern and set below an elaborate gable with painted heraldic emblems, coats of arms and similar.

[2][14] Much use is made of decorative ironwork: the ground floor is mostly open in the form of an oak-braced carriage arch with a portcullis, and between the brick piers which divide the wing into a series of bays are entrances with "fearsome wrought iron embellishments".