London, England
November 2017

The future riding on the Jack of Hearts

"You look like a princess, Aunt Rilla!" Izzie announces, staring up at me with a look of clear admiration on her face.

"And so will you tomorrow, sweetheart," I promise, leaning down to smooth out her hair.

"But I don't get to wear a crown!" she reminds me, pouting.

I suppress a smile. "You will get a flower crown, remember?"

"Flower crowns are for hippies!" declares Izzie, looking distinctly unimpressed.

"Your Grandma was a hippie," I tell her with a conspiratorial wink.

That seems to make her think. "Really?" she asks a little doubtfully.

"Yes, really," I confirm, unable to hide my smile, as I watch her mull over that new piece of information.

"Lily says all hippies are stoned," Izzie informs me after a moment.

Um…

Suffice to say this conversation took an unexpected turn real quick…

"What does 'stoned' mean, Aunt Rilla?" Izzie asks curiously.

Uh-huh.

I'm not going there!

"Why don't you ask your parents about that?" I deflect quickly. Let Joy and Dan deal with this!

Izzie opens her mouth to protest, so I distract her with the one thing I know will work. "Would you like to wear my crown?"

Immediately, her face lights up, all thoughts of stoned hippies forgotten. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Her voice trips over itself in excitement and I know she just stops herself from jumping up and down.

"Come on, then!" I motion for her to follow me to one of the ornate mirrors hanging in the hall of Clarence House, which is the royals' official guest house and today serves as the place where I'll spend my last night as a single woman.

(Squee!)

Carefully working the Iveagh Tiara loose without making my hairstyle collapse completely, I then proceed to place it on Izzie's head. Immediately, her hands fly up to touch it as she looks at herself in the mirror, an expression of sheer delight on her face.

"It's so pretty!" she announces.

"It is," I agree honestly. The tiara is a little too big for her, but it frames her face like a diamond halo, emphasising her own emerging beauty.

Izzie turns and beams up at me, one hand still holding the tiara in place. "Can I wear it tomorrow?"

I laugh at the sheer audacity, which is 100% Izzie. "You have your flower crown for tomorrow," I remind her. "But you can wear it tonight and show it to everyone."

Izzie eyes me for a moment, clearly wondering if there's a chance she might convince me otherwise, but apparently, my expression tells her not to exert any effort. She pouts, but relents with a defiant shrug. "Fine."

I bite back a smile at her stubbornness. "Come on, little princess. Let's show your crown to the others."

'The others', in this case, are the female members of our family and assorted female friends of mine, who've gathered to keep me company on this last night of single-dom. The male family members are somewhere around as well, but were chased off with the declaration that this would be a girls' night. They didn't look too sad about it, instead preferring to withdraw for an evening of beer and sports watching – or whatever it is that men do among themselves. I've never felt a pressing need to find out.

The disappointment of not being allowed to wear diamonds tomorrow apparently wears off quickly, because Izzie bounces ahead of me towards the big drawing room where everyone is waiting for us.

"Look, Mummy! I have a crown!" she calls out excitedly while wrenching the door open.

Joy, sitting on a sofa by the window, looks at her daughter then at me and raises a meaningful eyebrow. I shrug and grin.

For Izzie, Joy has an encouraging smile though. "And such a lovely crown, too!"

"Very pretty, sweetie," Mum chimes in and holds out her arms to Izzie. She rushes into them and allows herself to be cuddled, her hand keeping a firm hold on the tiara on her head.

"How was your evening mingling with assorted royals, Rilla?" Nan wants to know, her eyes bright with curiosity.

"She usually spends her evenings mingling with assorted royals," Di points out drily.

Nan clucks her tongue at her twin in annoyance. "Not that many assorted royals!"

Di shrugs to acknowledge the point, but grins as she does so.

"I honestly didn't even know there were that many royals left in the world," remarks Katya thoughtfully.

Grandma Bertha sniffs. "It is rather baffling."

"We watched the arrivals for the dinner party on TV," explains Una helpfully in my direction. "The TV presenters were nice enough to identify everyone."

The dinner party was thrown by Owen and Leslie at Hampton Court Palace for all the international royals invited to tomorrow's wedding. It was a fest of swishing dresses and sparkling jewellery, with one title being more impressive than the next. Strictly speaking, my presence wasn't required (as Leslie said, everyone would have understood if I had wanted to spend the evening preparing for the next day), but I felt it was the polite thing to do to at least go and stay hello. I only stayed for aperitifs thought, before returning to Clarence House for our girls' night.

"I could have used someone with cliff notes following me around," I remark wryly. "I spent three days with a very heavy folder to make sure I wouldn't confuse the ex-Queen of Holland with the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg."

"What is Lux – Lux – Luxething?" Izzie demands know, scrunching up her face.

"A country in the middle of Europe," explains Nia. "It is very small. Manhattan has three times as many people living in it."

Izzie frowns, evidently doing the maths in her head. "That's not very big." She looks distinctly unimpressed.

"The Grand Duchess was very nice though," I tell them. "Very welcoming."

"I hope the others were nice, too?" Tatty enquires. "If not, Katie said to send her a message and she'll take someone aside and have a quiet word with them."

Bless Katie! Like the other royals, she's still at the dinner party and while I know how she dislikes confrontation, I also know that she'd really do that for me.

"It's all good," I promise, smiling. "Everyone was very nice to me, so there's no need for Katie to get involved."

"It would have been seriously odd to mob you just when you're about to become one of them," Lucy points out practically.

"They don't have a reason to either," pipes up Seraphina. "Rilla is very likable."

I smile in her direction. "I like to think so."

"You are," decrees Grandmother Marilla. "And now, come here sit with me and tell me all about the royals you met today."

She pats the spot next to her on one of the sofas. Grandma Bertha shifts to the side, allowing me to sit between my two grandmothers. I do so, gratefully kicking off my high heels and flexing my toes.

I smooth down my ice blue evening dress and when I look up again, I find a good dozen faces looking up at me expectantly. "I don't really know how much there is to tell, to be honest," I admit. "Everyone was very nice and polite to me. The Crown Princess of Denmark complimented my hairstyle and the Crown Princess of Sweden saved me from confusing the King of Spain with the Crown Prince of Norway. The Queen of Lesotho had the loveliest dress and I couldn't stop staring at the Queen of Bhutan because she's easily one of the most beautiful people ever."

"She's gorgeous," agrees Seraphina. "I remember seeing pictures of her wedding and she had the most amazing wedding dress, too."

"Rilla's dress is great as well," chimes in Lucy, who's been there for most of the fittings. "In fact, both dresses are."

Di sighs. "I am a little envious that you get two custom wedding dresses. I should have had two dresses, too!"

"You looked just fine," Nia tells her, affectionately bumping her shoulder against that of her wife. Di smiles at her in return, squeezing Nia's hand before resting their intertwined hands on her bump.

Just then, the door opens to reveal Faith, carrying a sleepy Zoe on her hip. "Rilla! You're back!" she exclaims upon seeing me.

"So I am," I confirm with a smile. "And I see that someone else wants to join us, too."

"She wouldn't fall back asleep, so I thought she could stay for a little bit," Faith explains. "Jetlag is really getting to her. I hope she won't be cranky tomorrow."

"I'm sure she'll do great," I reply easily. "You'll be good for Aunt Rilla's wedding, won't you, Zoe-darling?"

Zoe just looks at me with big eyes from her spot on her mother's arm, not confirming or denying either way.

"I will look out for her!" Izzie announces proudly.

She has, indeed, been tasked with leading Zoe by the hand during tomorrow's procession, just as Puddles will be Preti's charge, before the little ones will be whisked off to wait behind the scenes during the long ceremony.

"You'll do splendidly, darling," Mum tells Izzie, who's still cuddled against her side.

Faith, meanwhile, makes her way through the room to sit on the last free spot next to Joy. "Did I miss anything?" she asks.

"Not much," replies Joy. "Rilla was just about to dish on the royals she met today."

"There's nothing to dish!" I protest. "They were all perfectly lovely!"

"Katie wrote to say that they all loved you, too, Rilla," Tatty reports, brandishing her phone. "Apparently, they can't wait to get to know you better at whatever upcoming royal events you'll attend."

I smile, feeling more pleased than I perhaps should be, given that all these royals are, after all, just normal people with fancy titles. "That's good to know."

"There's no reason for them not to like her. They're perfectly normal people, so they have no right to be snobbish," declares Grandma Bertha, voicing my thoughts.

"Perfectly normal people with access to very many sparkly things," I add. "Though none of them could hold a candle to Great-Aunt Tanya. If she gets out the big guns, she sparkles so much it's blinding."

"No-one did jewellery like the Russians," Katya points out, sounding pleased.

Grandma Bertha looks like she'd like to talk about all the other things no-one did like the Russians, not all of them good, but luckily, Nan choses that moment to interject, "The movie starts in a minute. Do we want to watch it?"

"What movie?" I ask, confused.

"The Hallmark movie about Ken and you," Di explains, looking like she enjoys this a little too much.

"But it will be awful!" I protest.

Joy grins. "That's the very reason we're watching it."

"Their general awfulness is the very reason anyone watches Hallmark movies," Faith informs me, flashing one of her brilliant smiles.

Seraphina nods energetically. "Their Christmas movies are instant classics. They're like…" She breaks off, searching for words.

"Car crashes?" supplies Nia drily. "Too awful to look away?"

"Like cheese fests," Seraphina finishes pointedly. "Too cheesy to be believed."

I just silently raise my eyebrows at all of them.

Nan, laughing, holds out the remote control and switches on the TV in the corner. "Come on, Rilla. Get in the spirit!"

Briefly, I consider protesting, but then settle back against the sofa with a dramatic sigh. Truth to be told, I'm a little bit curious to see just how much Hallmark butchers Ken and my story, though of course I wouldn't admit that to the women assembled around me. I do have some dignity, after all!

Not that that dignity counts for much, apparently, because I still spend the evening before my wedding watching a supremely cheesy and incredibly badly done movie that makes a total hash out of the story of my relationship. It's totally adulatory of Ken and me in a way that feels like sucking up, while at the same time not at all shy to throw people under the bus who don't deserve it at all.

"Was that boy really so awful?" asks Grandmother Marilla while we're watching a scene taking place during the New York days that has TV-Tristan scheming to break up Ken and me – something that, obviously, never happened.

"Sometimes," mumbles Seraphina with a long-suffering sigh at the thought of her cousin.

"Not at all," I assure my grandmother. "He and I didn't work out, but he was never awful to me. In fact, he's coming tomorrow."

"You're inviting your ex-boyfriends?" asks Katya curiously.

I shrug. "Just as Ken invited some of his ex-girlfriend. And I only sent invitations to those that played a significant role in my life. Obviously, Carl is coming and since Ken and Tristan got along well at Seraphina's wedding, nothing spoke against inviting him. Then I added Alain on a whim and by that point, it felt impolite not to at least send an invitation to Eric as well."

Truth to be told, there's a part of me that invited Tristan to have an excuse to also invite his mother and sister, just to show them that the uncouth Canadian who wasn't good enough for their family found a family that welcomes her with open arms. Similarly, there's another part – if a smaller one – that wanted to show Alain he didn't break my heart in two forever and what better way to do that than have him sit there while I marry an actual prince?

"Did they all accept?" Una enquires.

"Surprisingly, they did," I reply. "I expected it of Carl and Tristan, but wasn't sure whether Alain would come until he phoned to say he would. With Eric, I was actually pretty sure he wouldn't come, but he wrote back to ask whether I truly meant to invite him, because if so, his wife wasn't going to miss out on the experience of a royal wedding. I told him I'd like to have them there and for all I know, they will be."

"Are the others bringing –" begins Una, but doesn't get any further, because Faith silences her by waving a hand next to Zoe's head.

"Shhh! I think Tristan is about to try and murder Ken!" she announces and that reliably draws everyone's attention back to the screen.

Suffice to say that the rest of the movie is no more accurate and no less cheesy than the first part, but we do get a couple of good laughs out of it. After hinting at Tristan plotting Ken's demise, they later paint poor Sam (unknown as he still is to an American audience, despite his success in Britain) as a psycho out to abduct me. It results in a very dramatic scene of Ken having to rescue me, only to then break up with me because he can't bear the danger he's putting me in. We only reconcile when I rush to his side after Owen's stroke and hold a theatrical speech convincing him that he has it in him to be king. (It's all very Lion King, to be honest. I half expect Elton Jon to start singing.) The movie ends with an engagement scene that, oddly, takes place on a tropical beach, before fading out to an announcement that the wedding will, indeed, take place tomorrow.

"Well, that was… just as expected," remarks Nan as she switches off the TV.

"It was awful," corrects Di cheerfully.

Joy hums in agreement. "It's like they deliberately set out to tick every cliché possible. I mean, they even had a freaking kiss in the rain!"

"It was awful," I agree, laughing softly. "Yet somehow, its sheer awfulness made it oddly bearable. It was so inaccurate that it wasn't like watching a movie about myself at all. It was just…"

"Fiction," finishes Mum for me and I couldn't have put it better myself. It was 90 minutes of pure, cheesy fiction and no sane person could think otherwise!

"They clearly didn't do their research," points out Grandma Bertha, looking like she doesn't know if she disapproves of the lack of research or is glad for me that they didn't delve too deeply into my real life.

"Be that as it may," interjects Grandmother Marilla. "It's getting late and Zoe and Isabella aren't the only ones who should be in bed. We all have to be up bright and early tomorrow!"

She looks at us sternly, as if expecting protests, but it appears no-one can refute her argument. Instead of protesting, they all start getting up, one by one, and heading for the door. There's a chorus of "good night" and "sleep well" as my family and friends file out of the room towards the bedrooms they've been allotted for the night, either here or over at neighbouring St James Palace.

Thus, I, too, make my way up to the bedroom I will spend my final unmarried night in. Mum and Joy accompany me to the door, as if by unspoken agreement.

"Will you be okay tonight?" asks Joy.

I nod. "Yes, sure."

"No nerves? No second thoughts?" Mum wants to know.

That makes me laugh. "No second thoughts at all. I'm feeling good, I promise. I'll just scrape off the war paint and then go to sleep. Grandmother is right, after all. It won't do to have me look like a sleep deprived zombie tomorrow."

"Well, in that case…" Joy trails off, before leaning forward to give me a hug. "Sweet dreams, little sister."

"Sleep well, darling." Mum bestows a hug of her own on me. "If there's anything, just come and knock."

"Thanks, but I don't think that will be necessary," I assure her. "I'm so knackered, I'll probably sleep like the dead."

I truly believe my words, too, but it turns out that when I do finally lie in bed half an hour later, I don't sleep like the dead. In fact, I don't sleep at all.

It's not that I'm nervous per se and it's certainly not that I'm doubting. There's no fretting, no tossing and no turning. In fact, I lie quietly on my back, looking at the ceiling, and just know that – that something is missing.

The bed is big and comfortable and far too empty. There's not even George to cuddle up to me and provide some company and warmth. (He, like Lottie, has already temporarily moved in with Dev and Josh, who'll look after them while Ken and I are on honeymoon.) The bed next to me is just cold and empty and really, how could anyone expect me to fall asleep like this?

I suppose, I muse as I climb from the bed, I could take Mum up on her offer and slip into bed with her. Or else, I could steal Izzie away from Joy. But much as I love them, they're not the people I want to be with. There's just one person whose presence won't make the bed feel big and empty anymore.

Quietly, I get dressed, putting on a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of sweatpants before slipping into my boots and a hooded winter jacket. Opening the door of my bedroom, I find the house dark and silent. Looks like the others are having more success with falling asleep, or at least pretending to be!

On tiptoes, I sneak downstairs and scribble a quick note on a notepad in the hall to let the others know where I'm going, before I let myself out of the door – only to immediately run into one of the guards posted outside Clarence House.

"Ma'am?" he asks, confused, upon recognising me. "Can I help you, Ma'am?"

"No, please." I quickly shake my head. "I don't want to be a bother."

He takes in my appearance. "Do you want to go for a walk? Shall I alert your security team?"

Again, I shake my head, more forcefully this time. "No need to. I'll just slip over to the big palace real quick. You won't even notice I'm gone."

The guard looks doubtful. "I don't know if you know, Ma'am, but there are people camping in tents all along The Mall. If they were to recognise you…"

"They won't," I promise. "No-one expects me out there and I'll be quiet and quick. Don't worry about me. Just let me handle it."

He doesn't look convinced, but he clearly also doesn't know what to do. His training tells him not to let me out on my own, but he's unsure whether he can defy a direct order from me, so he's well and truly stuck.

Taking advantage of his uncertainty, I quickly move past him and toward the gate. "Thank you. This can be our little secret." I give him a wave and my most winning smile, before turning and leaving in large strides before he can gather his bearings.

Just as he said, there are tens pitched on both sides of The Mall and some people obviously celebrating well into the night, but just like I said, no-one recognises me in the dark, with the hood pulled low in my face. Ken and Teddy were out to meet these people earlier, but no-one expects me here and as so often, people only ever see what they expect to see.

Not expecting to see me, clearly, is the guard at the gate of Buckingham Palace. When I move the hood back to reveal my face, he looks utterly surprised. "Ma'am?"

"Hello." I smile, trying to forge a connection. "Would you let me through real quick? I just need to talk His Royal Highness."

The guard hesitates. He's clearly as confused as his counterpart over at Clarence House. "Um…"

"Don't worry, it's okay," I placate him.

He, however, doesn't step aside. Instead, he swallows heavily and stutters, "You aren't… you aren't here to… to call the wedding… I mean, to call it off?"

For a moment, I just look at him, before a sudden feeling of affection rises in me. "If I was, would you prevent me from entering?"

"I, uh… I might?" It comes out as more of a question. "I don't think His Royal Highness would like it. You calling off the wedding, I mean."

I smile at this unexpected show of protectiveness. "You have nothing to worry and neither does he. I'm not going to call off the wedding. I just want to see him for a moment."

"Well, then…" He trails off, clearly at a loss as to what to stay, but steps aside and clears the gate.

Quickly, I slip past him before he can change his mind. "Thank you!" I repeat for the second time in ten minutes, again with a smile to accompany it.

"You're welcome," he replies. "Oh, and… congratulations."

I acknowledge that with another smile and a wave, before turning and making my way to the palace. Inside, it's quiet and while the few staff members I meet on my way up to the living quarters look surprised, no-one stops me. Thus, I find myself in front of Ken's room (it's the same room he stayed in during Owen's illness) in no time. For a moment, I consider knocking, but then just let myself in.

Ken sits in bed, a book on his lap. The bedside lamp casts the room into a soft light, just bright enough to allow me to see the look of surprise on his face upon recognising me.

"Rilla? Why are you here? Is anything wrong?" he asks, already getting out of bed.

I shake my head, laughing. "It's all good. Nothing happened," I promise him. "I'm also not here to call off the wedding, in case you're wondering. The guard outside wouldn't have let me in if I'd wanted to."

Ken frowns. "Call off the wedding? What are you talking about?" He comes to stand in front of me and takes my hands in his.

"I'm not calling off the wedding," I correct. "I was just… I wanted to see you. That's really all there is to it."

"And that's why you come here alone in the middle of the night?" he wants to know, still frowning. "Isn't that bad luck or something?"

I shrug. "Only if one is superstitious, which we aren't."

"No, we aren't," agrees Ken. He still looks confused though and, after a moment, adds, "Are you sure there's no particular reason why you're here?"

"Perfectly sure," I assure him as take a step closer and, slipping my hands from his, wrap my arms around his neck instead. "I just wanted to see you. The bed felt very empty with just me in it."

He instinctively moves to return the embrace, just as his eyes flicker over to his own bed. "It does, doesn't it?"

"There's no reason for us to be lonely, is there?" I want to know.

"I shouldn't see why there would be," he replies slowly, his expression smoothing out as he understands that there's really nothing wrong.

I give him a playful push towards the bed. "Well, then. Since my virtue is not to be saved anymore anyway, there's no reason for both of us to sleep in big empty beds."

He laughs. "No, probably not."

After quickly taking off my jacket and boots, I deem the rest of my attire to be comfortable enough to sleep in and slip beneath the covers that Ken holds up for me. He switches off the light and, a mere second later, wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him. I snuggle close to him and lay my head on his chest.

"I'm glad we don't have to protect your virtue anymore," he murmurs, making me laugh quietly.

"Yes, me, too," I agree. "It's much nicer this ways."

He hums in agreement, one of his hands moving up to lightly stroke along my arm.

After a moment of relaxed silence that is almost enough to have me become drowsy, he asks, "Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

It's not as easy a question as it might be considered to be, so I take a moment to answer. Ken waits patiently, his fingers dancing over my skin and his breath calm and even.

"I'm nervous and at the same time, I'm not," I finally reply, trying to my thoughts into words. "I'm terrified that I'll make a fool of myself. I'm terrified that I'll stumble or get my vows wrong or, I don't know, mix up your names or something. There'll be so many people watching tomorrow and yes, that does make me nervous. It's just not something I'm used to."

"I should perhaps be used to it and yet, even I'm nervous," Ken tells me. "And Teddy is absolutely terrified of dropping the rings."

I laugh quietly. "Poor Teddy!"

"Indeed." Ken gently nuzzles his nose into my hair and I can feel him breathe in deeply. "You won't make a fool of yourself, you know. You couldn't possibly."

"I might," I demur.

"No, because even if you do mix up my names – which you won't – no-one will care," Ken promises. "Tomorrow is booked to be a fairy tale and no-one will want to see it any differently. If there's a slight slip-up, it'll just be seen as endearing."

I sigh softly. "I hope you're right. I know it's probably stupid to be nervous about something like this, but…"

He kisses the top of my head. "Not stupid at all. In fact, it's perfectly normal. This is the biggest event of both our lives so far."

"Yes, it is." I curl a little closer to him and feel his arms hold me tighter.

After a moment, he speaks up again. "You said that you were nervous and yet, not nervous at all. What do you mean by that?"

"I'm nervous about the wedding," I answer slowly. "I'm not nervous about the marriage. Does that make any sense?"

"Perfect sense," is his immediate response. "And I'm glad you feel that way, because I wouldn't want you to be in any way nervous about our marriage. I know I'm not."

I crane up my neck to smile at him. "Then that makes two of us."

Leaning forward, Ken kisses me softly. "Perhaps you can think of that tomorrow if you start feeling nervous about the wedding. This is the big event for the public and I hope that you'll also enjoy it, but ultimately, none of the hoopla really matters. What matters is that, tomorrow evening, you and I will be married. The rest is just… frippery. No matter what happens tomorrow, as long as we get to exchange our vows, everything else is secondary."

I consider his words for a moment. "That is… that is a good way of looking at it. I like it."

"Then that's settled," Ken replies. "We'll have a beautiful wedding tomorrow, but ultimately, we focus on the one important part – that tomorrow, our life together will really, truly begin."


The title of this chapter is taken from the song 'Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts' (written by Bob Dylan, released by him in 1975).


To DogMonday:
I'm very happy that you enjoyed the last chapter so! I remember that it gave me a bit of trouble when I wrote it, so it's extra special to know that the chapter itself worked and that the writing was enjoyable =).

Bantering and joking has been an important form of conversation for Rilla and Ken from the beginning and seeing as I'm of the opinion that shared humour is very important in a relationship, I wanted for that to continue right through to the end of the story. As you said though, their banter has a more serious note to it here when they talk about the extremely fraught English-Irish history. As a German, I can't really be casting stones, but I think no-one can feasibly deny that the treatment of the Irish at the hands of the English was painful and tragic and all kinds of complicated. The Famine, especially, was the trauma of generations and to think it could at least have been partly prevented if the Irish had been allowed to keep the food they produced... that one's hard to overcome. It doesn't excuse the killings later committed by some elements of the IRA, but the impact was more far reaching for sure.
All that, of course, makes Ireland a tricky place for Rilla and Ken's first tour. There's no room for error and no room for any kind of misstep. I looked at the Ireland visit of QEII in 2011 as an example for my fictional one and the real life visit was hailed as being historic. I kind of worked from that to look at the impact my fictional tour might have. There's no political power anymore in being royal (or if there is, it's very little), but there's still a lot of potential for diplomatic impact. Public attention of the kind focused on royals means that they have a voice and that voice will be heard by many. If it's used for good, as is the case with forging friendships and helping bring about reconciliation, that's an incredible power all of its own.
As for how Rilla and Ken have the time to do this trip, the answer is simply that they made the time. The preparation for trips like that is done by staff, so while they need to prepare (and in Rilla's case, over-prepare) for it, they're getting lots and lots of help. Ideally, they wouldn't be doing something as time-consuming so close to the wedding, but they both decided to take it on so that Teddy and Amy wouldn't. If they hadn't, Amy's trip to her family would have been postponed until after the wedding and perhaps until after Christmas, so this is really a case of Rilla and Ken just getting it done to help their family.

Speaking of family, I don't see Grandma Bertha herself as having Irish ancestry, but she was married to Rilla's Grandfather Walter, who was very proud of his own Irish ancestors. The way I imagine it, he taught her some Gaelic during their time together and after he died, she made an effort to really learn it as a tribute to him. (Which is also why she will be especially proud of Rilla's role in this state visit, perhaps more so than if she had been the one with Irish ancestry.) Grandma Bertha, like Grandpa John, identifies primarily as Canadian because their families came to Canada very many years ago. I'm thinking they both have mostly Scottish and English ancestry, with some German thrown in ('Bertha' is just such a German-sounding name to me). Add John's first wife Millicent into the mix, who was actually born and raised in Scotland, and the Scottish ancestors are in the majority - which also explains why they're Presbyterians, as I understand it.