King Charles initially leads without difficulty (5)
I believe the answer is:
clear
'without difficulty' is the definition.
(as in a clear path)
'king charles initially' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'lear' (King Lear).
'charles' becomes 'c' (this might be a standard abbreviation of which I'm unaware).
'initially' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'lear' after 'c' is 'CLEAR'.
'leads' is the link.
This may not be right. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clear that I've seen before include "Leap over" , "Get net" , "Bold" , "beyond doubt" , "Understandable" .)