Chapter Five
The assembling of the furniture had been taken care of in three hours and had cost her 300 euros. Everyone had contributed in his or her own way, after all, even the girl who had mostly spent her time entertaining Alex and then arranging the tables and chairs in a welcoming way.
Anna Margaret had taken pictures for Frederick and sent them.
Where did you get all those people from? he texted.
People from the office. I paid them. Of course. Thank them from me.
The Royal Family’s Instagram posted a video that quickly went viral. The Queen was sitting in the gardens, presumably at the Palace. A building could be seen in the distance between the blossoming flowers behind the Queen. She was wearing jumpsuit or perhaps a trouser suit in the same colour as the flowers. It was unclear whom she was facing – that person remained out of sight.
“There was some uproar about that ‘test’ that I subjected family members to, so let me explain,” said Queen Isabelle into the camera. “We noticed that people didn’t really understand it.
“At the time, it was not my brother who told me he was going to abdicate; it was the Prime Minister. Obviously, I had to speak to her about that.
"I asked her if and why she had forced him to abdicate," said Queen Isabelle, "but I found she hadn't and that she defended his choice and also that something had happened between them. I didn't know what it was -- friendship, attraction, understanding -- but I needed to know.
“If my brother was abdicating, I was going to be the queen and both as a sister and a queen I needed to know what was going on there. I needed to know that, if there was something going on there, it was going to end well. Anything they decided, whoever took the lead, was going to have a serious impact on my life and that of my children, so it was vital for me to get to the bottom of it.
“If she had forced him for the wrong reasons. If he came to regret his decision. If continuing would have made him less unhappy than seeing my family fall apart, but she had persuaded him he was worthless at it. If she had seen it as a way to further her own goals. Things like that could have made it go wrong.
"You have to be certain. My father, King Henri, during whose reign she was appointed Prime Minister, was never very complimentary about the Prime Minister, because she never responded favourably to compliments. So I didn't really have a good idea about her beforehand, other than that, and that my brother had said she had given him a hard time over his wish to resign and he knew I would too, so he preferred to let us give each other a hard time. I’m not sure why he thought that,” Isabelle said angelically politely.
“But I found, when I was speaking to her -- and I wasn't being very gentle, I have to say -- that she could hold her own but that she was actually a nice girl and younger emotionally than I had expected. I mean, she came across as sincere and romantically innocent.
“That was all very well in private, but could she hold her own in company? Because he hadn't abdicated yet. So I added some extra invites to a barbecue that I was already hosting in my brother's name -- because I was already doing things in his name anyway -- to see how they would hold up if our entire family were there, as well as her parents and colleagues. Yes, maybe that was cruel. But if, for example, you can't even speak to your crush without stammering or you sit in his lap, you need a serious lecture. And it was possible that there was no crush at all. So we needed to see what this was all about as soon as possible."
The Queen smiled. "I saw my brother make his usual disinterested appearance -- in a tracksuit. This was one of the most cruel parts, because I know he's less comfortable in a suit, but I told him to change... and who was coming. And oh my, did he look alarmed! But he changed and then he was doubly uncomfortable, but that is what we need to deal with many times in our lives. I could not help her father going to talk to him, but so much the better: let's pile on the discomfort.
"I did not do this for fun, but I did feel inspired. And then the Prime Minister arrived, late and underdressed. Well, she clearly came straight from work and her mother thought she was underdressed, but it told me a lot.
“She knew I was going to test her and she came as herself, not as a dressed-up version eager to impress. Then she joined Frederick and her father and it was brilliant. Her father was clueless, Frederick was all tensed up and willing to die, and she was not having it. That's when I knew." She folded her hands.
"I knew then that she knew he could behave differently -- and that she was not going anywhere until he did.
"And he did. I still didn't know if they were an item, but I could see they were going to be if they weren't already and that they should be.
“I have to add that my brother does not have any official royal duties anymore and as such he is not required to be
visible. His wife is, but he is not. The reason I may appear at a dinner and she may not, while we both have babies of the same age, is that she has a full working day, whereas I could rest all day in preparation. And either someone nurses two babies who want cluster feeds, or the other has to step out of an official dinner or interview. The babies’ fathers can’t breastfeed."
She smiled. “Thank you for taking the time to listen.”
In the morning it was raining. Usually Frederick and she would then choose to exercise indoors, so she did some work on the ergometer until Alex woke up. She checked on him after every interval. Then she fed him, set him in the bouncer and rowed some more.
Because she had a meeting out of town in the morning, a car was going to pick her up. It was, she had decided, something she could take Alex to, so Alex and all his necessities were loaded into the car.
Her spokesman rang when they were on their way. “I’ve got some more questions.”
“About where I am?”
“No, but that is going out as well. Funnily I think we’ll hardly get any questions on that. This is about the Royal Family’s Instagram?”
“What did they do now?”
“They posted a speech – or monologue or interview without interviewer – on it.”
“Really?”
“You didn’t see it this morning?”
“I was on the rowing machine,” Anna Margaret defended herself. “As well as showering, eating, doing laundry and doing all that for a baby. Oh yes, and making myself presentable because I have to go somewhere. I can’t check everyone’s Instagram. Not that I ever do when I do have time.”
“I can’t say I did until I saw we got questions on it. Anyway, want me to fill you in or do you want to watch it and call me back?”
“Fill me in. If it’s not clear I can always watch it anyway.”
“The Queen explained the test.”
“The one that Philip was talking about?”
“Yes, that one.”
“I don’t expect she lied, so let’s all start from the radical assumption that it was the truth,” Anna Margaret said with a touch of sarcasm. “Are any of the questions relevant to a prime minister’s functioning?”
Franky considered it. “Hmm. Maybe. Some are disguised as concern, but they’re basically just nosy. Basically, I think your reaction could be something like: the Prime Minister and Her Majesty Queen Isabelle sometimes cooperate and confer in order to carry out their duties in the best possible way. Which is of course the gist of what she said as well. But the barbecue and the implication that you have nursed her child throw everyone off the scent.”
“Skip the barbecue. That was last year. The breastfeeding is still ongoing and relevant.”
“Will do. And question from the office: will you have more chores at the rowing centre in the future?”
“Did I pay too much?” she laughed.
“They didn’t say that.”
“I’ll know who to ask if we need more help then. Thanks.” She returned her attention to the information about the people she was about to meet.