Ortho
“the Rambam rules CLEARLY that a king is only able to be a king if a Navi and beis din approve him”
The lashon of the Rambam is אין מעמידין מלך בתחילה אלא על פי בית דין של שבעים זקנים ועל פי נביא, and I think (I’m not 100% sure of this, but I think that’s the way it’s mashma in the gemoro although I can’t now find where) that the word בתחילה means a new line of kings. But that these rules may not apply to a descendant of Dovid.
If I am indeed wrong – and I may be – why does the Rambam write בתחילה?