Даниэла Стил - Royal

“I’m not going to impress anyone, Anthony. And I have nothing to wear.”

“Go to Harrods or Hardy Amies, your aunt Victoria shops there. I need you on my team,” he said, nearly begging her.

“I am on your team. Why do I have to be there?”

“To impress them.”

“Will Victoria be there?”

“She’s going to some ball in Venice. I need you .”

“All right, all right,” she said grudgingly. “What kind of dress?”

“Sexy, slinky, half naked,” he said without hesitating.

“That’s not me.”

“All right. As sexy as you dare.”

“Now I feel like a hooker,” she grumbled.

“That makes two of us. I feel like a pimp,” he said and she laughed.

She went to Harrods the next day and bought a simple black velvet strapless dress and a fake diamond necklace that looked real, black satin high heels and an evening bag. The night of the party, she pulled her blond hair into a neat-looking bun, put on a little makeup, and looked surprisingly regal when she arrived in Mayfair at the address of the house he had rented for the event. He took her aside immediately, and took a leather box out of a drawer. He opened it and held out a beautiful small antique tiara and placed it on her head as she looked at him in surprise.

“I borrowed it from Garrard’s. It was Queen Victoria’s. Now you look like a princess,” he said, looking pleased, and she was startled when she looked in the mirror.

“It’s gorgeous.”

“You can’t keep it. But you can say it was your great-great-great-grandmother’s.” He was perfect in the role of PR man, and she was impressed when she saw him in operation that night. The party went off seamlessly and his client was delighted. The press was there and took a photograph of her with the host, who was an oilman from Texas, who had just invested a fortune in aeronautics in England, and wanted to make a big splash. He had wanted to meet the queen, which Anthony told him wasn’t possible, so Her Royal Highness Princess Anne Louise was second best and an adequate consolation prize for the Texan, who invited her to visit him in Dallas. She looked beautiful that night and every inch a princess, and Anthony thanked her and kissed her cheek when she left and handed him the tiara.

“I thought you did a great job,” she complimented him. “You make an excellent pimp.”

“And you make an excellent princess, Your Royal Highness.” He was glad they were friends now and so was she. “I’m keeping you on my list. And I like the dress by the way.”

“I only spent a hundred pounds on it. I can’t ride in it, so I didn’t want to go nuts,” she said, laughing.

His client was beckoning to him then, and he rushed off and she left. She was surprised that she had had fun, but she had. And Anthony looked very handsome in black tie. It had been a glamorous evening, and she liked wearing the tiara. She felt like a real princess in it.

There was a photograph of her with Anthony in the papers the next day. And her aunt Victoria called her when she got back from Venice and saw it.

“Be careful, my darling,” she warned her. “Anthony Hatton is charming, but he’s a player. Don’t lose your heart to that one.” She was a woman of the world and wise about men.

“I’m not. We’re just friends. He needed a princess to impress his client,” she told her aunt.

“Oh God, he’ll whore us all out if we let him.” She laughed at the thought. “I was at a very amusing ball in Venice so I couldn’t be there. You’ll have to come with me some time. The Italians are so sexy and handsome. They’re all broke but so charming. Everyone is a prince there. It was a divine party. And you looked very pretty with Anthony in the photo. I just worried when I saw it.”

“His father is my new boss. He just gave me a job as an assistant trainer at the stables.”

“Excellent.” They talked for a few more minutes and hung up. The call didn’t really surprise her. She knew that Anthony had a reputation as a playboy in London, but he was harmless, and there was no romance between them. They were just friends. He sent her red roses to thank her for coming to the party, which was very nice of him.

After that she turned her attention to the ceremony for her stepfather. The queen did it herself at Buckingham Palace in a small receiving room. It was all very official, with a saber she used to tap him on each shoulder and declare him a knight of the British Empire, and he would be known as Sir Jonathan Baker hereafter. Tears rolled down his cheeks as she pronounced it, and Annie cried too, and was so proud of him. The boys had new suits, their first, for the occasion, and Jonathan did too and looked very proper. His mother was there and was bursting with pride, and she was happy to see Annie. It made Annie miss Lucy too, who would have been ecstatic at the knighting ceremony. The Markhams attended, and the woman Jonathan was dating, who was very polite and nice to Annie, and seemed very smitten with him. There were several officials and the lord chamberlain of the queen’s household and her secretary. A round of champagne was served, and then Jonathan treated his family and the Markhams to dinner at Rules, the oldest restaurant in London. At Annie’s request, Anthony arranged to have them go to Annabel’s to dance afterward. It was a perfect evening. Annie couldn’t help thinking how her life had changed in a short time. Her stepfather was a knight now, and she was a royal princess. The headwaiters and manager at Annabel’s fawned over her, and she danced with Jonathan. He smiled at her, and she called him Sir Jonathan, and he called her Your Royal Highness…but whatever the titles, she knew she would always be just Annie to him, and the daughter of his heart, which was the best part.

Chapter 15

At the end of October, Annie returned from Kent to the queen’s stables to start her job as assistant trainer. She’d been staying with Jonathan and the boys and enjoyed it. It felt almost like old times, except for Lucy’s absence. Annie still missed her.

As a trainer, she had more responsibilities than she’d had as an intern, and was assigned to the three barns on a rotating schedule. She learned a great deal about their breeding program, which she discussed with Jonathan whenever she visited with them. The process of selection of matching up the horses to be bred was fascinating, and as much art as science. Lord Hatton consulted with the queen about almost every choice.

Annie loved her job, although it was all-consuming and she had no time for anything else. She didn’t mind.

In November, she received the queen’s invitation to spend Christmas with them at Sandringham, which meant that she couldn’t spend it with Jonathan and the twins if she accepted, but he understood, and thought she should spend it with her royal family this year. She was sorry not to be with him in Kent, but Christmas with her royal aunts, uncle, cousins, and grandmother, was appealing too. She didn’t know who else would be there, but had the impression it was only family. And this time, she would have to buy some clothes. The only proper dress she had was the one she had bought for Anthony’s party for the Texas oilman. She was sorry she didn’t have the tiara to wear with it again. It had been the perfect look, and she smiled when she thought of it. It seemed particularly appropriate because people were always comparing her to her own mother and Queen Victoria, since both of them had also been small. The rest of the family seemed to take after the German side and were much taller than she. All of Queen Alexandra’s sons were tall like their father, and the queen was tall too.

Sandringham was in Norfolk, much closer to London than Balmoral Castle, and it was where the royal family usually spent Christmas. She shopped for some dresses, most of them black or navy, and a deep red velvet one for Christmas Eve. She bought gifts for everyone when she had a day off. She bought Jonathan a beautiful set of antique leather-bound books and a pinball machine for the twins, which was delivered the morning of Christmas Eve. When she called, Jonathan said they had gone nuts and invited all their friends from school to come over and play.