Page 13 of The English Queen

“No, I would never say that. I’ve always, always tried to support you to help mitigate things. I agree her outburst with Beth was totally out of character. And to pick a fight with Louis? It was so bizarre. Why do that?”

“I’m frankly… scared something is wrong. She got like this before she told us about the cancer. Baby, what if something is terribly wrong?”

“I have said the same. You know I said the same–something isn’t right. You can’t fix it no matter what you do, Robert,” Vanna said. “Just see what she has to say… and leave it.”

Robbie nodded.

“I know you love her. I know you love your siblings. I know your whole raison d’etre in this is to be the glue that holds us together. However, she’s still the monarch and matriarch. She still makes her own–often shitty–choices. Some things are even beyond you, baby.”

Robbie nodded, knowing his wife–as usual–was right.

“Beth’s wedding will be beautiful, Robbie. It will be.”

“It will. Louis’s government is sparing no expense. The thing just gets bigger and bigger.”

“He’s the first monarch to marry in how long?”

“Ages. At least fifty years.”

“It is a huge deal. And she’s one of ours. Say what they will, Beth has a very, very recognisable face. She’s already popular over there.”

“Having her friend design her dresses is… it’s causing some controversy, though. Surprisingly, the Belgian designers are offended.”

Vanna laughed. “They’ll get over it. They’ve been dressing her for a couple of months. They’ll get their chance. I offended so many British designers by not choosing them. Royal bridal dresses are fraught, and Rita isn’t going with a British designer for her big dress. Why should she?”

“Well, the British designers are offended as well. That’s the rumour mill. Like I care about dresses?! But now I must.”

“She has a friend who makes evening gowns. A friend whose shoes she wears all the time. A friend who is well known in Paris. So what? I’d have given Rita the chance to make my wedding dress if she could do the job. I would have felt far more comfortable with someone I could trust.”

“It is dicey. Louis seems to be letting her choose every detail without contributing. That’s a relief, honestly.”

Vanna giggled. “Louis won’t care as long as Beth shows up for the ceremony. He is not a primadonna. Thankfully, Beth is the type to have strong opinions. They say you marry your father, or you marry your mother? I think Louis is marrying his mother.”

“Did you marry your father, Vanora?”

“I sort of did in some ways. You are very kind, a wonderful listener, and a loving father. You did not marry your mother.”

“I did not, no. I am too much like my mother–like it or not–to make that work. Instead, I married my father, I think. You have patience in spades and a much better sense of people. You can put everyone at ease. Thankfully, there are two of us.”

“Well, that’s what Louis will have–the enigmatic wife and then he can focus on doing the shit he needs to do. Unless he minds being upstaged… I do not think he does… well, Bethy is perfect.”

“He doesn’t. That man is King of Awkward. Hell, I love that people love you more,” Robbie said. “Makes my job simple. And he hates public speaking, but Beth would perform a song and dance.”

“She just must learn Flemish. She is spending four hours a day learning it. Poor darling. I’m having flashbacks to learning Welsh and, for me, it was a labour of love as a Welsh citizen. It must be frustrating as she already speaks one official language perfectly.”

“Dutch is easier than Welsh, I suspect, my love,” Robbie assured. “Welsh is widely known to be one of the most difficult languages to master. Granted, you had heard it spoken as a child and your mother is fluent. That had to help.”

“I wish she would have raised me speaking it. Would have been easier. We should teach the children more Welsh,” Vanna sighed. “I am failing.”

“You have enough beyond teaching them Welsh, my darling. Just hang in there and don’t think about teaching them Welsh.”

Vanna leaned over and gave him a kiss. “Fine, fine. I love you. Very much. Thank you for taking the time. I just needed a break to be myself again. I had been sucked into an endless pool of motherhood feeling quite undesirable.”

“Nah,” Robbie said. “You are plenty tempting–tempting as ever. I’m sorry I’ve been so distracted.”

It’s Back

Robbie sat for tea in his mother’s private sitting room at Buckingham Palace. His parents looked dour if not downright maudlin. The only thing shared with Robbie prior to this meeting was his mother “needed to talk”. This line came in an email from her personal secretary with a last-minute meeting request. Robbie was exhausted. He had worked late and fell asleep before Kiersten started fussing. After getting up to hand a dummy back to her, Robbie struggled to fall back to sleep. He operated for the third day on about four hours of sleep. He could not even be jealous of Vanna. She was up at 4:30 with Kiersten and then picked up a sick child in Windsor and take her to the surgery for what was likely an ear infection. It was a nightmare day.

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