Sentimental old lady having desire to embrace king (7)
I believe the answer is:
mawkish
'sentimental' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'old lady having desire to embrace king' is the wordplay.
'old lady' becomes 'ma'.
'having' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'desire' becomes 'wish' (wishing is a kind of desiring).
'to embrace' indicates putting letters inside.
'king' becomes 'k'.
'wish' enclosing 'k' is 'wkish'.
'ma'+'wkish'='MAWKISH'
(Other definitions for mawkish that I've seen before include "Feebly sentimental" , "Falsely sentimental" , "Sentimental in maudlin way" , "Soppy" , "Insipid; maudlin" .)