More Titles ~ 15

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Chapter Fifteen

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RTA found her again now that she was sitting down with a quiet baby. She heaved an inward sigh of resignation and looked back at them.

“Madam Prime Minister, can we ask for you opinion on the fact that Prince Frederick didn’t attend a sponsor meeting?”

“You’ll have to give me more context.” She had no idea where this came from all of a sudden.

“We heard he was expected at a meeting with the sponsors and he said he didn’t sign the athletes’ agreement, so he didn’t have to go. What’s your opinion?”

She spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb Alex. She knew about the athletes’ agreement, even fi she did not know about the meeting. “It’s very simple. There is a law. This agreement went – in his specific case – against that law. He therefore could not sign it. People then said he could sign it for the other conditions, because these particular unlawful passages were not going play a role anyway as he wasn’t going to win anything, and he said no, make me a new contract if you insist that I sign something. But I think that was too much work, so they settled for accepting an annotated unsigned agreement.”

“And what were those passages about?”

“If you win something, you’re obliged to do things like commercials and appear anywhere the sponsor likes you to appear. Now, the rest of it was mostly about behaving well and social media exposure. I understand they would have liked to have that bit covered as well, but as a package deal that wasn’t possible.” It had been so obvious that they had dealt with it then and there and not thought about it again.

“But the sponsors enable the Olympics.”

“Yes and in return for the exposure via the athletes, they also sponsor the infrastructure, logistics and non-athlete team members, for example. There are individually sponsored athletes who owe them more in return, but an athlete who is not individually sponsored doesn’t owe anything to the general sponsors. They simply benefit from the infrastructure the general sponsors have drawn up as an investment towards the rewards that a successful athlete might bring them. And that is where the line is.”

The reporter blinked at this explanation. “So what is he allowed to do?”

“He can benefit from the infrastructure. He can wear the team outfits. Sponsoring on his race materials is not as tricky as it seems – the sponsors sponsor the entire team and any athlete is part of that larger team. All the clothing, both casual and racing, was of course provided by a particular brand. But that doesn’t mean that all of the athletes – or their coaches and team doctors, for example, who also get to wear these clothes – are being personally sponsored by that brand.”

The reporter said nothing.

“Do you need an explanation on the difference between that and individually promoting a sponsor’s product without remuneration?” Anna Margaret asked.

“No, no, it was very clear. But what happens if he now wins a medal?”

“Thank you for considering that a possibility,” she said drily. “The fact that nobody bothered to look into alternative options because they underestimated the situation is now beginning to weigh heavily on some people, isn’t it? He’s not contractually obliged to appear anywhere if he wins a medal. It’s not his responsibility to protect the interests of the sponsors.”

“But is it the NOC’s fault that this situation occurred?”

“The only thing that seems to have occurred is that the sponsors could not display Frederick to their relations. I’m assuming the larger framework of agreements and plans came into being before he had even qualified. So until recently, there was never any question of Frederick appearing anywhere. Nowhere in their long-term planning had they reckoned with extra exposure of this nature. No one was backing out of a previously made deal here, because there was no previously made deal or plan. So in fact there was no harm done: they didn’t have him and they’re not going to get him. Nothing changes.”

“And what is your role?”

“It seems my role is to explain it to you. I should add perhaps, if that was not already clear, that the sponsors wanted him there for his title only, given how they did not believe he would achieve much as an athlete.”

“But do you guide Prince Frederick in these matters?”

She raised her eyebrows. “He has a brain. He guided me. But really, it's mostly common sense and not that complicated. Just imagine what would happen if he won and was contractually obliged to feature in commercials for something that doesn’t really go well together with royals? Underwear, erotic toys? What would people say then?”

"But they're not a sponsor."

"Theoretically they could be and using them as an example might make it more clear to people who think being forced to promote products is harmless, because people might think sponsorship would be restricted to something innocent like sportswear. They were also given business gifts – if they accepted them, that is.”

"Who would the legal consequence be for if he did sign?"

"The cabinet."

“The cabinet?”

“Yes. We are responsible for how the royal family live. We are supposed to interfere before something inappropriate occurs. They won’t be jailed or anything, but we might fall.”

“Is that why you told him not to sign?”

She gave him a patient look. “He said he wasn’t going to sign. I read it over and agreed. We didn’t spend any more time talking about it, because it’s self-evident and non-negotiable. I had no other role in this.”

“But you must have advised him.”

“Why should I advise him? Why would I marry a man who can’t think for himself? He told me, he showed me, I agreed. And your asking me about this shows exactly why it was wise of him to inform me about it.”

“Did he tell you he didn’t attend this event?”

“No, but it’s similar to his not telling me he didn’t have lunch at McDonald’s. It’s not an issue.”

“Did he consult his lawyers?”

“Possibly if they had provided a new contract with obscure clauses trying to circumvent the legal possibilities he might have consulted a lawyer, but the one we’re talking about was not complicated enough to require the opinion of a lawyer. It is simply common sense: people in certain positions should not be doing commercial promotions. The same applies to me. If some expensive watch brand offered me a free watch and told me that in return for that gift, I must show the watch every time I see a camera – dramatically pushing my hair backwards or something – people would very rightly call me out for it.”

“So if another contract had not included commercial promotions, he would have signed?”

“If the contract had only contained conditions with which he could comply, yes.”

“And what conditions would those be?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure it was all spelled out, but basically don’t be criminal, violent, aggressive. Don’t do doping. Shake hands with your opponents. Attend team meetings. That sort of thing.”

“But they didn’t draft up a new contract.”

“Which I suppose means they knew he would behave himself.”

“Do you think they should have?”

“It’s not my responsibility to wonder about or interfere in that.”

“But...”

“Look. For the team, it’s only relevant and important that he behaves himself. He will. Apparently they knew he would. Sponsors are not national institutions or organisations that the government might have some influence over.”

“But the NOC might have given him a separate contract.”

“Apparently they thought he would behave himself without a contract. Most people will, in fact. I have, by the way, not seen any sponsor representatives here, have you?”

“I don’t know what they look like.”

“Ah, but they know what I look like. Anything for exposure. I don’t doubt they would seek me out. They’re not here. Therefore, he’s not actually snubbing interested people, because they’re not intrinsically interested in the sport.”

“How do you know they’re not here?”

“They would be very bad at their jobs if they were unrecognisable as such and keeping their distance, when everyone else here who’s from back home is saying hi.”

“Everybody is saying hi?”

Anna Margaret nodded. “And they’ve been doing so since the start of the tournament. So, we know who are here and who are not. It’s just like you lot from RTA didn’t bother to come here initially when you didn’t think there were any chances. Who’s going to mistake there presence for genuine interest if sponsors are here in two days?”

“Thank you for your time,” said the RTA reporter.

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“RTA came to ask me about some sponsor meeting,” Anna Margaret said to Frederick when he finally appeared. “Maybe they’re still hanging around?” She looked around to see if they were still waiting for a chance to speak to them both. But maybe they did not recognise Frederick if he was not wearing a tracksuit, but the more formal daytime version of the team’s outfits.

“I don’t know why that was a thing. They asked me about it too in the mixed zone. The thing was, could I go and tell people about rowing at this sponsor event? But all the interested people are here, and not there, so it was just a trick to attract more money. Did you see any sponsors in the lounge?”

“There were only foreigners in the lounge, so no. Well, Isabelle said there were only foreigners. She was being normal because no one understood her. By the way, Alex has a tooth coming through.”

Frederick looked excited.

She looked down at the baby. “He’s a bit out of sorts. Maybe it hurts a little.”

“Shall I take him?”

“But I don’t have to row. I don’t have to rest my arms.”

“I row in two days. And you already have to carry him every day.”

She carefully passed the sleeping Alex to Frederick’s arms. “I’ll just go and put the chair back.”

Isabelle, Philip and Frederick’s mother joined them for the walk back to the accommodation. Since the road was closed to unauthorised motorised vehicles, walking was the only option. Some people who walked faster said hello in passing. Anna Margaret contemplated how nice it was that she had not been exaggerating to RTA.

Frederick and Anna Margaret went for a swim with Alex, who enjoyed it. His extra nap had done him good, or he simply liked swimming too much. The others went for a swim when they were done. Anna Margaret felt this was to give them a little privacy inside the house, but at least Isabelle had not mentioned a conjugal visit again – it was entirely Anna Margaret’s own fault that those words popped into her mind.

“Florian said we didn’t have a social life,” she said in a whisper – which was silly, because the door and the window were closed and everyone else was outside. “But when do people who have a social life have time for this?”

Frederick laughed, just as softly. “Don’t ask me. But don’t tell him, or he’ll think this is all we do. Are you still OK in this madhouse?”

“Your visits helped. But I can’t wait to go home and not have there be five people in every room that I enter. Or fearing that there are people walking by just when we are doing something, or not, and they’ll be thinking we’re doing something, or not.” She liked the others, she really did, but it was such a change from her usual life. Her job was busy and her house was a place of rest. Here, the house was a place of unrest and chaos.

“Mmmm,” he responded. “I promise we’ll go home as soon as we can.”

She walked Frederick back to the stadium afterwards and said goodbye outside the screening area. He kissed Alex and he even went so far as to give her a quick kiss on the mouth. He had not actually done that before out in the open.

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When Anna Margaret returned to the house, Isabelle and Philip had picked up some food as well as something for the teething. “How did you do that?” Anna Margaret wondered. “We got dressed, we walked to the stadium and when I got back you were not only out of the pool, but also back from the supermarket? How?”

“Some people can actually get dressed in two minutes and walk at a normal pace,” Isabelle replied. “When we started walking, you weren’t even at the end of the street.”

“We’re not that slow.”

“We’re that fast.”


“But someone will have to go and buy some food,” said Philip. “We only went for the toilet paper and the bin bags.”

“Toilet paper?” The idea of Isabelle buying toilet paper was faintly ludicrous and yet someone would have to buy some. It went surprisingly fast in a house full of people that was yet not big enough to house staff.

“Incognito,” said Isabelle, who was clearly not entirely comfortable with being seen to buy such things herself. “No one will have seen it. My hair was wet. And we spoke English.”

Which probably meant that they had drawn plenty of attention to themselves, but Anna Margaret did not say so. She moved on to the practical consequences. “All right. So is this someone who has to go and buy food me?”

“We could send Aurelie and Charlotte, but I don’t think that would get us a healthy meal.”

Oh, more walking. Anna Margaret resigned herself to it. She had just passed the supermarket! They should have texted her. “Can the girls at least come to help me carry everything?”