Даниэла Стил - Royal

She bathed before dinner. The bathroom was old-fashioned and had an enormous tub. She wore a plain black skirt and a white silk blouse, one of her few choices. She made up with youth and beauty for what she lacked in fashion, and the queen looked as though she approved when Annie entered the room in her simple skirt and blouse and black high heels that were new too, and hard to walk in, but looked pretty on her. Victoria came downstairs a few minutes later in a Pucci dress she’d bought in Rome, which the queen thought was too loud and too short, in a bright paisley pattern in turquoise, yellow, shocking pink, and black with shoes to match. Victoria had famously great legs and liked to show them off, although the queen disapproved. Annie looked like a schoolgirl in comparison, but a very proper one, and resolved to go shopping soon with her new allowance, for future family occasions. She had almost nothing to wear, and they all looked so fashionable to her. She wouldn’t have dared to wear a dress like Victoria’s, but it looked like fun, and molded her fabulous figure. It all went well with her flaming red hair, which she wore loose down her back, and made her look even younger. Annie could easily see how she’d had an affair with one of Anthony’s thirty-year-old friends. She looked barely older than that herself.

The queen had seated Annie next to her at dinner, and they talked about horses all through the meal, which suited them both, and put Annie at ease. She knew little about anything else, but a great deal about horses. And the queen invited her to go riding with her the next morning, before the planned fishing expedition. Annie accepted with delight, and after dinner they all gathered around the piano again, and sang all their favorite songs. Annie even knew the words to some of them and sang along. It was a fun evening, and they all went to bed early.

Annie had agreed to meet the queen at the stables at seven, was up at five and watched the sun come up over the hills. She arrived punctually at the stables. The queen was already there, and had chosen a mount she thought Annie would enjoy. He was a very lively horse, and she’d brought him to Balmoral for the summer to see how she liked him. Victoria had already said he was too nervous and hard to manage, and she preferred one of the older mares. She wasn’t quite as horse mad as her sister, although she was an excellent rider. They all were, but Victoria didn’t enjoy a challenge as much as the queen had heard Annie did.

Annie got in the saddle with ease, and calmed the big horse quickly. She had him well in hand by the time they left the stable yard a few minutes later, and headed along a path that led into the hills, and crossed a stream, which Annie and her mount jumped with ease.

“Do you hunt?” the queen asked her, and Annie shook her head.

“I never have, but I’d like to.”

“We’ll arrange that for you this winter. You’ll enjoy it. Lord Hatton tells me that you dream of being a professional jockey. It will happen one of these days. They can’t keep women out forever,” she said calmly.

“I hope so, ma’am. It doesn’t seem fair. We’re only eligible for amateur events, and most of them aren’t very good. I’d give anything to be in a real race,” Annie said.

“I believe it will happen one day,” she said. “Dangerous though. Be careful, my dear. Lord Hatton said you’re a fearless rider. That’s not always a good thing. Never forget these are powerful beasts, and we don’t control them as thoroughly as we believe. They have a voice in the matter too.” Annie smiled. She believed the same thing.

“I respect the horses I ride.” She knew the ones that were dangerous, although she had a penchant for those, which Lord Hatton had spotted, and reported to the queen. He had said that it would make her an excellent jockey if she ever got the chance.

They rode for an hour, and then went back to the stables. Before they left to go back to the house, the queen showed her the Shetland ponies she bred there. She was very proud of them. And then they returned to the house for breakfast with the others. The whole group went fishing after that. The queen stayed back to attend to her official boxes and diplomatic pouches that were brought to her even here. Annie caught two fish and squealed with delight when she did. Her oldest cousin, Prince George, took them off the hooks for her. He was four years younger than Annie, and a very serious, polite young man. He was next in line to the throne and would be king one day, which always had a sobering effect on the next in line. Prince Albert was a year younger and full of mischief, and at one point, jumped into the lake fully dressed and climbed dripping back into the boat while everyone complained. He shook the water off himself and onto his relatives like a big dog, but the weather was warm. Prince William at fourteen was very studious and shy and still at Eton and more introverted than his two older brothers. His gentleness touched Annie and she chatted with him.

At lunchtime, they had the picnic that the cooks had packed for them in wicker baskets. Stewards arrived in a van to serve it at folding tables with linens and china. Everything was easy and fun and prettily done, and the following day, they had the American-style barbecue that the queen’s sons had requested. Everyone loved it, hot dogs and hamburgers and corn on the cob, apple pie and ice cream.

“I want to work on a dude ranch next summer,” Prince Albert announced at lunch. It sounded like fun to all of them. He’d been talking to his mother recently about transferring to an American university, and she hadn’t agreed to it yet, but he was adamant. He was fascinated by all things American. He told Annie all about a rodeo he’d gone to when they vacationed in Wyoming. “I hear you’re a bruising rider,” he commented, and Annie smiled, surprised.

“How did you hear that?”

“My mother told me. She said you’d be a professional jockey if women were allowed to.”

“I’d love that,” Annie admitted. “I doubt it will ever happen here. Maybe in America one day. They’re much more open-minded.”

“About everything,” Prince Albert confirmed. “I’d love to live there one day. My brother had better never abdicate. I want to be a cowboy when I grow up, not a king.” It struck her then that it was a serious concern for all of them, the reality that one of them would be king or queen one day, although she was too far down the line to worry about it. But it was a heavy responsibility for Queen Alexandra’s sons, particularly the two oldest. Her own father had become king reluctantly, when his brother had abdicated. So it did happen.

The end of the weekend came too quickly. The others were staying on for a few more days, although Princess Victoria was leaving for London the next day, and the queen was planning to spend another week there. She urged Annie to come again, now that she had met everyone in the family, other than distant cousins who were scattered all over Europe, many of them on other thrones.

“You’re a true Windsor,” she said to Annie when she left. They all hugged her and hoped to see her again soon. She had another month of work ahead of her at the queen’s stables, and Prince George and Prince Albert promised to come and see her before they went back to university, and Prince William before he started the new term at Eton.

The queen touched on the subject of where Annie would live after she finished her internship at the stables. There were apartments available at Kensington Palace, if that appealed to her. Annie had been planning to go back to Jonathan to help him with the twins. She said she’d like to think about the queen’s offer of an apartment. It hadn’t occurred to her that they would do that and she was pleasantly surprised.