The Daughter of Wolfgang Court

The Daughter of Wolfgang Court

The Struggle

The royal couple married last spring and despite their tries, producing offspring wasn't easy for them. They did originally start trying a month before the wedding, but stopped early on because they didn't want to risk ruining the wedding. Crown Prince Henry Jordan David Philip Wolfgang and Crown Princess Elizabeth Lucy Margret Wolfgang continued to remain positive till the following November after their wedding, but still no hope.

"David, I don't know what to do." Ellie found herself saying to her husband every few weeks.

Prince Henry went by his middle name, David, in private and Princess Elizabeth went by Ellie.

"I don't see how we can keep trying without any luck. Your mother will worry ever so much if she thinks I'm not suitable for procreation and-" David put his finger to her lips.
"Ellie, you're fine. This is only a small blip in our plans. Mother and Father love you as their own and won't mind it if we take a little more time than normal-"
"David, it's been 8 months. I should be at least 6 months gone by now."

David moved from the sofa they were sitting on and walked over to the portrait that showed the line of succession to the throne. The photo was of The Queen, Prince Henry and the Queen's father (David's grandfather), all huddled together on a balcony. The photo was in black and white and everyone was dressed smartly.

The genetics in this family were strong. Both males had light blonde hair and The Queen was darker blonde/ light brown and all 3 of them had emerald green eyes that sparkled and stood out from a mile away.

Ellie stood beside her husband and put her right arm around his back.
"I'm sorry that I can't give you anything good." She said then kissed his left cheek.
"No, I'm sorry, Ellie. This is just as much of a problem for me as it is for you."
"What do you suppose we do?" She asked.
"Let's just assume this is just fate and we can act on any possible issues next year-"
"We aren't getting any younger, David. We need to do this sooner rather than later."

Just as Ellie finished, there was a knock and a door opened. It was one of Prince Henry's assistants. The old man with greying hair and a balding head bowed in front of the couple and spoke up after one of them addressed him.

"Yes, Mr Townie."

Mr Townie bowed once more before answering. "A telephone call, sir. From Her Majesty the Queen."

Ellie and David looked at each other.
"You go." She said. David kissed his wife's cheek and followed Mr Townie to the telephone.
The phone was old and attached to one of the telephone areas in the current Wing of the castle. David picked the phone up and greeted his mother.
"Mother?"
"David. It's your grandfather."
David already knew what was wrong. "He has perished?"
"Yes." She said without emotion. "Come down to Wagner immediately."

Wagner was where The Queen and her father lived.

"Today?"
"Yes, David. Bring that wife of yours too." The Queen abruptly put the phone down.

"Mr Townie, please go to our room and let Mrs Sung know you need to pack for us to go to Wagner immediately."
"Yes, sir."

Mr Townie left and David returned to Ellie. When he entered she looked out of one of the windows.
"Ellie, my grandfather has passed away." He told her. Neither showed a great amount of emotion, but the pair hugged each other in silence as if they knew this was going to happen already. "Mother wants us to go to Wagner today."
"Of course, should I ask Mrs Sung to-"
"I have already told Mr Townie to give her instructions."

Like Mr Townie, Mrs Sung was one of Ellie's assistants. They were both equally old and smart so they both fit their jobs perfectly.

*

At around 15:00 they were escorted with police protection to Wagner which was in the next town over. While on their journey the news was broken that The Queen's father had passed away at his house in Wagner. By the time they arrived via car, there were large crowds outside of the estate gates along with piles of flowers and letters of condolences. Police officers cleared a path and the driver drove the car through the gates and into the estate. The Queen waited at the door for their arrival.

The Queen wasn't too old, she was only 70 and her now dead father was in his late 90s. A chauffeur opened the car doors for the couple and they both bowed in front of their queen. The Queen led them inside and told someone to fetch them tea in the living room.

"I assume my son has informed you, Elizabeth." The Queen said while looking down her nose at Ellie.
"Yes, ma'am. I am very sorry for your loss, I remember when my own father passed and that was-" David shook his head at her. "Sorry-" Ellie realised that now wasn't the time to get emotional.

None of them shed any tears of their father and grandfather and there was a lot of silence while they took turns drinking tea in priceless china cups.
"Your grandfather wrote a will." The Queen said then passed David a piece of paper. As he read it silently, The Queen said it outloud. "For an unknown reason he has left the Wagner house to you, Elizabeth and your future children. Which means I will be moving to the Chopin estate."
Ellie and David looked at each other. "Why?" He asked.
"Don't ask me. I will be leaving here on the 2nd of December so you have until then to prepare for the move."
"You're agreeing to it then?" Ellie asked. "Forgive me, Ma'ma, but you have never seemed the type to listen to anyone, but yourself-" David grabbed her by the wrist to take charge.
The Queen raised an eyebrow and ignored Ellie's question, "You will move here on the 2nd once I leave. And if it was up to me, your grandfather would have never abdicated when he did. He shamed our kingdom, our country and everyone's respect for our family. Good day to you."
"Good day, mother?"
"You'll be staying upstairs and do not bother me until the funeral in 8 days."

David and Ellie stood up, bowed and curtsied then went upstairs to their quarters. Once they entered their new bedroom for the time being, Ellie asked; "When will we tell her?"
"Not now."
"When?"
"Just not now."

The Funeral of The Queens Father

The lead up to the funeral was dull and boring for the Crown Prince and Princess. They ate together, slept together, had tea together and walked around the grounds of Wagner together. The Queen stayed on the ground floor of the Wagner house and even when her son and his wife were on the ground floor, they never saw The Queen around.

8 days passed and that meant it was the funeral of Prince Henrys grandfather. On the morning of, the whole family were informed to have a stiff upper lip about it. Regular people at funeral would never shy away from emotions such as Ellie at her own father’s funeral when she was much younger. She cried and cried and cried, but here at her grandfather in laws funeral she knew she had to behave as if nothing was wrong, which wasn’t actually the most difficult thing as the only time Ellie had met him was at her wedding to his grandson.

Many family extended family members of the royal family arrived at The Abby. The Queen was one of the last to arrive in a black dress which a hat and heels. Others that arrived were The presidents and prime ministers of each country surround this one including cousins of The Queen and Prince Henry. The only family members that were not present were Ellie’s own family as they were only family through marriage and not blood. Some of the senior royal men wore black tunics with numerous meddles attached to it.

As soon as Ellie and David entered The Abby it was like they had walked into a freezer. Ellie could see her own breath when she breathed out and her ears split every time her heels hit the cold tiled floor with a sharp noise. The royals sat side on rather than front on. On the right side sat the Queen and other senior royals and on the left sat Elizabeth, Prince Henry and most of the younger generations of the family. Everyone remained stood up while everyone got seated in their places. They then briefly took their seats until they were alerted that The Queens fathers body was arriving.

The abdicated king was carried from the car outside, up about 18 stairs and through the Abby before anyone could sit again. This took around 10 minutes and once the body had arrived in The Abby, everyone sat, and the service began.

During the service there were songs that were sung that helped everyone remember the late king. Luckily, each seat had a lyric book to use while they sang because a lot of the younger generations weren’t as familiar with the lyrics as older members were. As the funeral went on and on, Ellie did struggle with her emotions, but hid them the best she could. She kept looking over at The Queen and was amazed to see that she was seemingly acting as if she didn’t care that her own father had perished.

*

“Why didn’t she care?” Ellie asked while leaving The Abby.

As soon as the funeral was over, everyone took it in turns to bow in front of the mans coffin before leaving through the back exit of The Abby. Once they were outside, they were all freer to speak openly, but still a little quietly as news sources and other media sources were filming them.

“Mother did care, Elizabeth.” He said hushed. They walked with linked arms surrounded by other royal members. “She just can’t show it.”
“I showed sadness and I’d only met him once. If it wasn’t for your grandfather she wouldn’t have been alive, he was her father, and she didn’t even shed a tear.”

As they got closer to the cars they stopped speaking, greeted then thanked the chauffeur and were taken back to Wagner.

Back at Wagner they waited in the garden for David’s mother to arrive home. Much time passed until the black Rolls-Royce pulled up, but her majesty wasn’t inside. The prince and princess stood and waited for the chauffeur to open one of the doors, but he remained inside of the car looking straight ahead. David walked over to the drivers side and addressed him.

“Sir, where is my mother?”
The chauffeur’s eyes did not meet with the princes. “The Queen has been held up.”
“Held up?”
“An issue occurred after you left, your Royal Highness.”
Ellie walked over. “Sir?”

The prince and princess stepped back, and the chauffeur stepped out of the car, bowed and removed his hat. A car pulled up just behind this one and Mr Townie and Mrs Sung got out of it.
“Your Royal Highness, The Queen-“ Mr Townie started saying.
“Where is she?”
“A problem occurred in town; your mother has been in a crash.” Mrs Sung said. “She is fine as far as we know-“
“Where is she?” David asked.
“Still in the vehicle. She will be taken to a private hospital as soon as she can. The driver asks that you remain here until further notice and prepare to temporarily take over the upcoming expedition in Africa in January.”
David let out a sigh. “Ok. Let us enter, Elizabeth.” Elizabeth nodded, they linked arms again, walked into the Wagner house and upstairs to their quarters.

As soon as they entered the living area of the quarters, Elizabeth sat down on one of the armchairs. David walked in poured some red wine into a glass then finished it in one go. He then got ready to leave.

“Where are you going?” Ellie asked.
“To pray for my mothers survival.” He left the living space and walked to the prayer room.

The room was located in the basement of Wagner house. It was dark and only lit by candles. There was already a shrine to his grandfather in there, so he made sure to honour him as well as his mother. He sat down cross legged on the floor in front of the shrine and cross and bowed his head.
“Dear Lord let us pray that my grandfather may rejoice in the gift of eternal rest and everlasting life. We pray to the Lord that you’ll take care of my grandfather and look out for my mother and make sure she survives everything that could possibly hurt her, Amen.”

The African Expedition

You’ll be happy to know that The Queen survived the crash and has been recovering well over Christmas in the hospital. She obviously had the best of care and was waited on hand and foot. As the new year started so did the various tasks that were now spread across younger family members as The Queen was unable to partake in them. Coming up was the African Expedition from the 3rd to the 15th of January which would include touring the continent and meeting its people.
Crown Prince and Princess Henry and Elizabeth took a plane to Kenya on the evening of the 2nd of January and arrived in the early evening so they could be ready for the next day.

As soon as the plane hit the runway at the Kenyan airport the high temperature hit the Prince and Princess like a ton of bricks. Luckily, the Prince had been there before and knew what to expect. He changed his clothes on the plane while they flew across the skies into shorts and a light blue shirt. Ellie chose a knee length cream coloured dress and flat shoes. They went straight to dinner when the plane landed and then went to their safe house for the night.

The house was a bungalow in the middle of a grassy area. Obviously, the place was well protected at every angle and was well away from everything else in the town. The bedroom, kitchen, living areas and lavatories were all as they were used to and everything was perfect for the married couple. The organisers were planning on the royal couple having separate bedrooms, but the couple had always been too modern for those sorts of things so they took what would have been Prince Henry's room instead and shared it.

“No fair, your room is so much better than mine.” Ellie said. She checked out all of the rooms as soon as they arrived, she was right in saying that her husband's room was better than hers. “They must know you’re royal blood so you get all the fancy things.”
“You’re royal blood now, my love.” They shared a kiss and got ready for bed.

As they laid next to each other, the topic of children came up again.

“We never got round to telling her about the likelihood of having offspring.”
“No we didn’t. There is still time to try and now some time has passed we can see doctors that can ‘hurry things along.’ “ He said.
“And what do you think they’ll say? If this was going to happen it would have by now.”
“We need to be positive about it all-”
“Being positive won’t make me fertile, David. We have nearly been married for a year and nothing has changed. The older we get the worse it’ll be.”
“You’re fertile, Ellie. You menstruate like every other woman, you do the same things every other woman does, some things just take time! Now, let’s just go to sleep and focus on the expedition for now.”
Ellie sighed. “Ok. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”

*

The next day went smoothly. They had to wake up at 7am local time and meet with numerous different business owners like school teachers, chefs and hospital workers. They spent about 8 hours doing this until they were taken to another part of Africa called the Democratic Republic of The Congo. They had to take a plane there to save time and once they arrived they were greeted by school children. The children who greeted them were really sweet and even brought flowers to the prince and princess.
Ellie let the children lead her to their measly classroom and she helped a few of them with their counting skills while her husband spoke to the teachers and local townspeople.

After they finished what they had to do in Congo it was early evening time so their chauffeur escorted them to their home away from home. This safehouse was just like how the previous one was. The couple ate dinner together and discussed the history of where they were staying.

“This place has been here since 1901.” David told his wife.
“Interesting, who told you that?”
“A lady whose great grandfather helped build it. Her name was Lucille and her great grandfather was called Hedrick.”
“Interesting. Those children I sat with were so gorgeous. They were so smart for their age, I can’t imagine I was ever that intelligent at their age.”
David chuckled. “Africa has a different culture to what we are accustomed too, that’s all.” David left the dinner table and got some red wine out of a cupboard that was up high and locked with a padlock. Ellie watched as he took a large bottle of expensive wine out and poured half of it into a pint glass. It didn’t take long for it all to disappear down David’s throat either.
Ellie raised an eyebrow, “Someone is thirsty. Is it the heat?”
He swallowed again as if swallowing so much left him short of breath. “Something like that- I might go for a walk- I could start a fire outside in the firepit.”
“It’s getting quite dark, David. What about another early night?”
“No, no I’ll make a fire, it’ll be romantic, won’t it?” Before leaving he poured half of what was remaining in the bottle into his pint glass and took it without him outside.

Ellie finished her dinner and worried about her dear husband. She wondered if the stress of being so far from his mother was bothering him or something. By the time Ellie had finished her glass of white wine she could smell the smoke of the fire, so she went outside to check it out.

The fire was really blazing and large puffs of smoke were flooding the nearby skies. She found David sat on the floor with his back to Ellie. He was holding something up to his face, but she couldn’t quite see what. He must have heard her approach from the door because he quickly stood up and hid whatever he was holding behind his back, it was a cigar. Ellie saw the smoke leave her husband's mouth and pouted at him then crossed her arms.

“Is that what I think it is?” She said with an attitude.
“What?”
“You’re smoking again.”
“I’m doing nothing of the sort, my dear. It’s smoke from the fire.”
Ellie walked over to him and sniffed his chest. She pulled a face that made David aware that she knew the truth. “I can smell the smell of a cigar from a mile away, David. Need I remind you that you were basically a chain-smoker when we met?”

He shook his head.

“Good. Now to bed!”
“I only just lit the fire, love. 5 more minutes?”
“You can, but I won’t.” Ellie turned around and re-entered the house and went to bed. A couple minutes later she opened the window that just so happened to be above the door she just entered and said something to David, “Smoking is a very unattractive hobby, David.”
“I’m sure it is, dear. Goodnight all the same.” He then sat back down and continued to smoke his cigar in peace.

The Orphanage

The next day they left the safe house at around 13:00 and went to the northeast of Congo, Bunia to an orphanage.
Since last night the royal couple had cheered up and put last night’s behaviour behind them.

“Good day, darling.” David said while he watched his wife comb her hair and get read for the day. “Would you like me to help zip up your dress?”
“No.” She replied without looking directly at him. Her eyes stayed glued at the dressing table mirror that was positioned at the bottom of the bed. “I need to hurry and meet some locals in the garden to plant a special tree to honour this year’s expedition.” Instead of wearing a dress she picked out some tight fit jeans and wellington boots along with a dark green coat.

While she was gone, canoodling with the locals, David decided to do a spot of reading in the living room. He picked out an environmental book and read as much as the would allow him before being sent off to another location. He ignored the need to smoke again as now wasn’t the time for it. He knew the locals and the media would pick up on it if he was seen doing it.
At around 10:00 in the morning Ellie returned from the tree planting in the garden and the pair had an early lunch of meat and rice which was prepared by a local themselves. Each person got two legs of meat and a couple piles of rice that sat as if they were spooned with an ice cream scoop onto the plate.

“How do you like it?” David asked.
“It was divine.” Ellie replied. She patted her mouth dry with one of the corner of her serviette. “One of the men that helped me plant the tree at the bottom of the garden told me that we will be going to an orphanage today.”
“Excellent! Should we have some wine?” David stood straight up and walked over to the cupboard where he got the wine from last night.

Ellie turned around and pulled a confused face at him. “Good heavens no.” David stopped in his tracks. “I just told you we would be going to see some children and your first thought is to drink alcohol?” David audibly sighed and stood in silence as if he thought that if he was quiet for a minute or two, Ellie would leave him be.
*
Much time passed before they were set to leave for the orphanage in Bunia. They were taken to Rwanda and from there boarded a plane to Bunia. It didn’t take too long, and the pair were actually quite excited to see the children they would meet there.

“Please don’t beg me to allow you to take any home, El.” David said. “We are here for the media photographs, that’s all.”
Ellie knew this, but since they won’t be expecting parents in the near future she didn’t see why she couldn’t play make believe about being a mummy for a mere moment, right?

As soon as the plane landed on the vast sandy empty land they heard cheering and hundreds of single camera clicks. David and Ellie held hands and waited their turn to leave the plane. They waited for some security and chauffeurs to leave first, so vacating the plane and leaving the swarmed area would be as quick as possible.

“You seem nervous.” David whispered.
“Nonsense, I’m fine.”

They held each other’s hands tighter, and the prince was the first to walk through the door. Just outside of the door was some large stairs that would allow people to leave and entre safely. The crowd cheered louder as soon as they saw him and watched as he bowed before them. The cheers only grew louder when Elizabeth followed quickly behind him and curtsied.

“May we see a kiss, Your Highness?” A man who held a large camera shouted.

Prince Henry and Elizabeth smiled and quickly pecked each other on the lips. As soon as they did the crowed cheered even louder still. They were soon ushered down the steps and into a black car.

The car was a totally black Daimler. Almost as good as a Rolls-Royce, but not quite. They got inside and sat in the cushioned cream-coloured seats. The journey was quick, and you best believe that David found the champagne that was tucked away and chilled in one of the built-in fridges inside one of the arm rests. He offered Ellie a glass, but she politely declined. Just as he finished his first glass they pulled up in front of the orphanage.

The chauffeur got out and opened the door for them. Ellie got out first and David followed. They both greeted the owner of the orphanage and allowed her to lead them inside.

The orphanage was very different to how the married couple expected it to be on the inside. The walls were bare, and all of the children were crowding around a little table in the very centre of the room. They all stopped once they realised that adults had entered the room. They all looked up at the royal couple with big smiles on their faces even though a few seemed unsure. The owner said something to them in their native language and they all stood up and lined up in what would be assumed age order.

Ellie and David went down the line and introduced themselves to each child. “Hello, I am Princess Elizabeth.” Ellie said as she shook hands which each child. David did much the same, “Good afternoon, I am Prince Henry.”

One of the most shocking and upsetting things about these children were their varied ages and the different amounts of sadness in their little glossy eyes. Some seemed very happy to meet the Prince and Princess and even gave out hugs to them, but others shied away from the royal couple. It wasn’t until Ellie and David finished greeting all of the children when they were allowed one on one time with them.

A couple of the older children fetched a couple of cushions for the couple to sit on and a few children sat beside the pair and asked them questions, mainly the little girls. Ellie and David enjoyed telling stories about their homeland to the children.
“And that was very sad, by now we are here and very happy!” Ellie said after explaining the recent death of her husband’s grandfather to the little girls.

“When d-did yew get married?” One of the littlest girls asked.
“Nearly a year ago, last March.” Ellie told them and the little girls got existed.
“Did you wear a fancy dress?”
“I did, Prince Henry opted for a nice smart suit.” Ellie joked. David didn’t seem too interested but nodded and smiled.

*
The afternoon went very well, and the royal couple enjoyed colouring and painting with the children all the way until there was unexpected call than was sent from Wagner, from The Queen.

The Queens Call

A door swung open and a Mr Townie, the prince’s assistant, came rushing in then bowed. “Your Royal Highness-“David nodded at the man and he spoke up, “I have received an important telephone call from Wagner, your mother is still unwell and the Prime Minister of Stravinsky is due to visit any day now.”
“A new Prime Minister?”
“Yes, your excellency.”
David turned to watch his wife sat on the floor being surrounded by children with pain smothered all over their arms and hands. “Am I allowed to go alone or with Elizabeth?”
“It’d be better with the pair of you, sir.”
“Ok, Mr Townie. Pack our bags and we’ll meet you at the plane in, I don’t know… 2 hours?”
“Yes, sir. Good day to you and your wife.”

Prince Henry sat back down with the children and whispered into Ellie’s ear what Mr Townie told him.

*
“But The Queen instructed us to come here-“
“Yes, and now she wants us home.”
Ellie sighed and rolled her eyes, “I know she is your mother, but she really needs to take some sort of control for herself, she’s done nothing since the funeral. I bet she’ll be the one abdicating soon-“She grumbled.
David half ignored her and asked her if she’d hurry up and be ready to leave ASAP.

*
They reached home within a 7 hours and went straight from the airport to Wagner. The prince’s mother was tucked up in her four poster bed as if nothing was the matter when they arrived home.

“Mother?”
“David!” She said as if she was delighted to see him again. “I’m so glad you arrived!”
“Elizabeth is here too.” He said, but his mother wasn’t too bothered about her just now.
“The Prime Minister of Stravinsky will be coming soon.”
“Today?” Ellie asked.
The Queen basically ignored her. “Erm, some time soon. Anyway, where have you two silly sausages been?” The Queen became almost animated.
“We were in Africa, you told us to go because you couldn’t.”
“Mhm. And how was it?”
“Fine…”
“Good, good!”
Ellie sat silently with wide eyes. “I need to go to the lavatory, excuse me.” She eventually said then quickly left, locked herself into one of the downstairs toilets and sat down with the lid still on the toilet. She rested her elbows on her knees and stared at the bathroom door. ‘What the hell have I got myself into?’ She thought.
“Mother, are you sure you are ok?”
“Yes, silly boy. What did you get up to in Africa?”
“The usual stuff…” David noticed a small see-through box on the bedside table that was partly covered with an unravelled roll of bandages. David moved the roll away and saw multiple yellow bottles of pills. “Are you taking all of these, mother?”
“A few every few hours, why ask such a thing?”
“Maybe it’s too much for you at 70.”
“Nonsense.”
He stood up. “Well, Mother-“
“Why don’t you call me mummy anymore?”

“Because I’m not 6, mother. I’m a man now. I better go and check on Elizabeth, see you later.” He left the room and walking down the corridor he saw one of his wife’s assistants, Ms Sung walking away down the corridor. “Ms Sung, may I ask something?” He shouted, she turned around and rushed to him.
“Yes, sir.” She curtsied.
“Have you seen the number of pills my mother had been given?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you don’t think it’s too much?”
“She has had the best of care, sir. Her doctors know more than I.”
“So, you don’t think it’s too much for her age?”
“I wouldn’t be able to say, sir.”
“Ok, sorry. Have you seen my wife by any chance?”
“Not while you’ve been back, sir.”
“Right, good day.”
“Yes, sir.” Ms Sung curtsied once again then walked back down the corridor once more.
Not long later, Ellie left the lavatory and bumped into her husband as he stood in the empty corridor. “Henry, is your mother resting now?”
“Yes, did she seem… a bit eccentric to you?”
She shrugged. “I suppose so.” Ellie seemed a little distant. “When will the Prime Minister be coming?”
“I’ll ask Mr Townie to find out for us, Mother seemed too out of it to cooperate.”
They held hands and walked upstairs to where they stayed before the funeral took place.
“Is The Queen going to stay here? She did say that she’d leave on the 2nd of December to the Chopin Estate?”
“I guess since she’s ill she wants to be close to us-“
“You, you mean. She can’t stand me.”
“Cheer up, darling. Mother is only being her usual self with a little bit of looniness due to the drugs…”

The Prime Ministers Visit

The new Prime Minister arrive at 10:30am the following morning. They were supposed to arrive at 9:30am, but there was apparently a mix-up over at the local Town Hall.

The Prime Minister was seemingly kind and very happy to meet at Wagner rather than at the Town Hall like normal. He was very tall and very fat, but he seemed healthy. He had grey hair that wasn’t far off turning white with a matching beard that fit him well. The beard wasn’t long, but long enough to show grey in it. He wore a black suit with a white shirt under with a black tie to pull the look together. He actually brought his wife with him, she was the opposite of her husband, she was tall, skinny, very beautiful and young. Her skin was olive, and her hair was a nice brown colour that looked like caramel. They greeted Prince Henry first and her and Ellie were shocked by their accents.

“Your Royal Highness- “The man said in a very particular Welsh accent. “Rhys McDonald is the name!” He shook the Prince and Princess’ hands firmly.
When his wife shook hands and introduced herself, her accent was different again. “Your Royal Highnesses- “She curtsied. Her accent was Spanish sounding which matched her appearance. “I’m Camila McDonald.”
David led them inside and Ellie followed closely behind. They sat down in the downstairs living area and Ms Sung offered everyone a drink.

Ellie requested some tea, Camila requested some white wine, Rhys requested coffee and David requested some wine also. Ellie was personally shocked that David would ask for whine at 10:30am, but she remained tight lipped.

“May I ask how The Queen is?” Rhys asked the prince.
“She is recovering well- Speak of the devil.”
The double doors swung open, and The Queen was stood behind them. She was dressed in a lavender coloured nighty and all of her hair was sticking up as if she was a clown. She rushed inside at a speed neither David nor Ellie had seen her move at ever before and plonked herself on the sofa between Rhys and Camila. Her smiled beamed at their pair of them and Ellie and David watched on as they saw her flood Camila with compliments.
“Your name, dear?” The Queen asked.
“Camila, and yours?”
“The Queen!” She boldly said.
Camila’s jaw dropped, she stood up and quickly curtsied. “My apologies, Ma’am.” She sat back down and looked ever so flustered.
“May I say you look beautiful.” The Queen told her as she carefully inspected her face. “See, Elizabeth, this what beauty looks like.”
Ellie frowned and stared at her husband.
“Mother, please can you not- “
“Shhh, I’m speaking to Camila. How long have you and Mr…”?
I’m Rhys McDonald, Your Majesty.” Rhys said.
“McDonald, aha, like the children’s nursery rhyme.”
David grinned but tried to stop his mother once again. “Mother, please excuse us- “
“Shh, David. I am speaking to the Prime Minister and his darling wife. How long have you been married?”
“Maybe erm… 18 months.” Camila replied. She looked at her husband for reassurance and he nodded.
“18 months and no children? You’re beginning to behave like my son and daughter in law. They have been together for just under a year and have made zero effort to have offspring.”
“Mother, you wouldn’t exactly know if we had- “David got interrupted once again.
“Well, have you?” The Queen asked him. “By the looks of things Ellie is as thin as ever.”
Ellie frowned again. “Stop it. You have no idea how hard it is to live our life while you’ve been ill and in hospital after the crash!”
“Don’t you raise your voice at me, young lady because you’re lucky to even be in this family with the behaviour you’ve showed me since the wedding!”
“My behaviour towards you had been whatever you’ve deserved. You are rude and cold and emotionless at the best of times. You didn’t even shed a tear at your own father’s funeral, and you even said he brought shame onto the family because he abdicated! You don’t care for anyone, but yourself and the only thing you want now is pretty little babies to brain wash against your own blood!”
The Queen stood up and pointed a finger at Ellie. “How dare you? I let you live here, I let you go to Africa because I couldn’t. I taught you how to be a proper lady before the wedding to my son. I blessed the marriage, I paid for the wedding and all of your pretty jewels, and this is how you repay me? By insulting me?”

Ellie said nothing more.


“Mother, please go back to bed. I’ll call the doctor after this meeting, go now.”
“No!”
“Yes, mother. I’ll fetch Ms Sung.” David left the room to fetch assistance. Ellie stayed sat in her place, not giving anyone eye contact. Camila and Rhys stayed silent too and The Queen hovered near the sofa, waiting to be removed and muttered words to herself in the meantime.
Shortly later, The Queen was taken back to bed and the meeting resumed.
“Maybe now would be a good time for a break.” Rhys said when David returned.
David ordered more drinks and some snacks to the living room. Ellie stayed quiet and so did Camila. It wasn’t until Rhys went outside to smoke when the girls spoke.
“Prince Henry, do you mind if I go outside to smoke a cigar?”
“No, I’ll join you.”

Ellie shot David a look, but he ignored her. He did kiss her cheek before leaving though. Camila said goodbye to her husband and they both poured some tea into a teacup once they were alone.

“I’m so very sorry about my mother in laws behaviour.” Ellie said.
“It’s fine.” Camila said. “I have to say that I didn’t expect The Queen to be so… peculiar.”
“She isn’t normally like that really; she is on medication and it’s making her go a little crazy. She is rude at least to me though…”
“Hmm, ignore what she said about having children soon, not everyone can and wants to right away.”
“Hmm tell me about it…” Ellie replied with a smile.
“Me and Rhys have been trying for 6 months and nothing has happened yet. I recently saw a doctor and he told me it might take years for me to conceive.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I got into an accident when I was a teenager and I got hurt in a very awkward place, which seems to be the reason, but it’s not impossible for me to still be able to have children.”
“Interesting. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but me and the prince have been trying since before our wedding and still nothing over a year later.”
Camilla understood perfectly. “It looks like we are having the same problem.”
“Hmm.”
“Rhys mother is very into church things and thinks that praying might do the trick… I suppose it’s silly- “
“No, praying might help. It gives people faith and a reason to keep going.”
“Hmm, maybe we could pray together.”
“Yes. It’s Sunday tomorrow so we could even go to church and pray.”
“Yes, we should. I’ll look forward to it.”
“Hmm.”

They smiled at each other, and the boys returned from their cigar break.

“What are you two ladies smiling about?” Rhys joked.
“No reason…” Camila replied.
“You have permission, by the way.”
“Permission?” Rhys questioned.
“To form a government. Good luck.”
“Thank you, your Royal Highness.”

Camila and Ellie shared a smile and Prince Henry, and Mr McDonald shared a smile too.

The Church