User blog comment:Burningspidermonkey/Little Becky and Soldier-San/@comment-9673311-20130911171739/@comment-6122161-20130911180846

Dude it's probably obvious to them that there was once another king besides Doflamingo but they don't necessarily remember who he was. Just like it's obvious that Kyros once existed due to the large statue but no one remembers who he was. Doflamingo probably tricked the citizens into believing that the old king was cruel and they believe it because they don't remember the old king.