Royal(44)
“My father gave me this box on my eighteenth birthday. I gave it to Charlotte for her correspondence when she left for Yorkshire,” the Queen Mother said quietly. She looked deeply moved when she said it. “It’s a very unusual story,” the queen admitted. “But wartime can create some very odd situations. Our phone lines weren’t secure then, and Charlotte and our mother communicated entirely by letter during the time she was away. The news of her early marriage, and your impending arrival,” she smiled at Annie as she said it, “is not the sort of thing you want to write about to your mother at seventeen. She was meant to stay in Yorkshire for a year, to get away from the air raids in London, and she suffered from severe asthma. But things apparently got out of hand while she was away. It must have been an awkward situation for the countess too. It was a heavy responsibility shepherding young people that age. I don’t envy her.” She smiled at both of them again. “The tragedy for us was when she died, whatever the cause, whether from pneumonia, or…other causes in the circumstances. We knew nothing about you, Anne, until two days ago,” she said solemnly, and Annie nodded. “It’s been a shock for my mother.” The Queen Mother appeared to be fighting back tears when Annie handed the album back to her. “And for my sister, and for me as well. Charlotte died twenty-one years ago, but it seems like yesterday to us. We’re going to authenticate the documents your stepfather brought to us. Her Majesty, my mother, recognized the letters, and the leather box with the crown. They’re genuine. And once we verify the documents, so there can be no doubt about who you are, and if indeed you are my niece, and Her Majesty’s granddaughter, we’d like to introduce you to the rest of the family. But we need to be sure first. I trust that’s agreeable to you,” she asked, looking at Jonathan, and he immediately agreed.
“I’d like to make one thing clear, Your Majesty,” he said to the young queen. “There is nothing I want from this for myself. If in fact everything checks out, your niece should be restored to you. You all lost a great deal and it was a tragedy when Her Highness Princess Charlotte died, and Anne should know who she is and who her relatives are. There is nothing more we want from any of it.”
“Is that true for you as well?” she asked Annie directly, and she nodded, in awe of the woman who was allegedly her aunt. She looked every inch a queen in a navy velvet suit with a string of pearls around her neck.
“Yes,” Annie confirmed in barely more than a whisper, and then, “My father says you have wonderful horses. I would like to see them one day.”
“That can be arranged.” The monarch smiled at her. “Do you like horses?” Annie beamed and her father laughed and relaxed a little. The meeting had been very formal so far.
“It’s the only thing she cares about,” he answered for her. “She’s been horse mad ever since she could walk. She’s a bruising rider, and extraordinarily skilled.”
“I want to be a jockey,” Annie added bravely, “but women are not allowed.”
“Maybe you will be one day. And I’d be happy to arrange a tour of our stables in Newmarket with Lord Hatton, the royal racing manager.” She smiled at them both. “We have some rather famous horses there. I’m horse mad myself. And your mother was too. She was just about your size. If the papers are genuine, you both take after my great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who was no taller than you are. You’re the perfect size for a jockey if they ever change the rules.”
“I hope they do,” Annie whispered and the queen smiled and stood up, and then something caught her eye.
“You’ll be hearing from us as things proceed,” the queen said formally, but she was staring at Annie’s arm. She was wearing the gold bracelet with the heart that Lucy had given her. “May I look at your bracelet?” she said in a voice softened by emotion as Annie extended her wrist. Queen Alexandra recognized the bracelet immediately as the one she had taken from her own wrist and given Charlotte when she left for Yorkshire. “May I ask where you got that?”
“My mother gave it to me. My mother Lucy,” she explained. There were tears in the queen’s eyes when she nodded. “I gave it to your mother, my sister Charlotte. It was mine.” There was silence for a moment, as the Queen Mother cried silently and Jonathan spoke up.
“Thank you for seeing us, Your Majesty. I know it’s a visit we’ll never forget,” he said with a bow, and Annie curtsied deeply to both Majesties, her grandmother and her aunt.
“If things go well, the first of many visits, I hope,” the queen said generously, and her secretary appeared from nowhere, and all three of them backed out of the room, and the two palace guards in livery closed the door, as the queen turned to her mother with a sigh. They had left the leather box, and its contents, with them to authenticate.
“She looks just like Charlotte, doesn’t she?” The Queen Mother nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Don’t get too excited, it could all be a trick. People are too clever sometimes. They may have noticed the resemblance and decided to take advantage of it. It could be purely coincidental. I hope that’s not the case, but it’s possible. It would be lovely to have Charlotte’s daughter in our midst. She seems like a very sweet girl.” Seeing the bracelet had shaken the queen and gave her hope that Annie and the strange story were real.