Me, Charlie Beer, and Luksy have been tangling with the Honeybee Manor scene with the King. The Japanese title he is given is President/CEO/Manager. I was always under the impression this was President Shinra himself dressing up as a king. But it's now certain that it is not. Then I thought it might be the Shin-Ra Manager. In the original abandoned Honeybee Manor, he appears alongside Palmer on floor 1 (floor 2 became floor 1 in the final version). But it isn't him either. The clues all point to this King being the exact same king as later in the game at the Gold Saucer play.
1. Same model.
2. The Knight is also here.
3. They specifically mention they have come all the way from the Gold Saucer.
4. Cait Sith is also seen in the background with his theme tune playing. It's also extremely likely that's why his (Reeve) parents are also staying at the Manor.
The Japanese title they have given him is simply confusing. In all likelihood, he is just the stage manager for the plays - who also takes the part of the King. I agree with Charlie Beer that the exposition here is simply ridiculously blatant foreshadowing. Despite the fact that the King has not met you at this time, he still goes on about unsheathed sword on a person's back (Cloud/Zax), blue eyes (Cloud/Zax), Promised Land, a resurrected Devil King (Jenova/Sep), and an "ancient" curse.
Charlie Beer has also found that we may have accidentally missed more of the exposition. So I'll be seeing soon if the lines are shown to the player in the game.
Did you skip these words for any reason? They're not 100% necessary, but they have a tiny bit more foreshadowing. Lit. "Destruction... ruin... a person (clad in) black... will lead you.." It's speaking to Cloud directly, referring to Sephiroth's influence.
Edit. Above text is deliberately unused in original Japanese game, so will be left out.