Clown discovered King and Queen at home (9)

I believe the answer is:

harlequin

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'clown' is the definition.
(I know that harlequin is a type of clown)

'discovered king and queen at home' is the wordplay.
'discovered' says to take the centre (dis-covered - outer letters removed).
'king' becomes 'Charles' (King Charles I, II or III).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'queen at home' becomes 'quin' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The middle of 'charles' is 'harle'.
'harle'+'quin'='HARLEQUIN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for harlequin that I've seen before include "London rugby player" , "Northern duck" , "Commedia dell'arte clown" , "Pantomime character with Columbine - rugby player" , "Character in a diamond-patterned costume - variegated" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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