Chapter Four
*Say no to drugs! :)*
"I can't do it. Look at this dress, I can't breathe. And I have to wear a mantle too. As if I didn't carry enough weight already. Of course, it was the Queen Mother who couldn't wait with the coronation." – whined Helena who literally shook with excitement.
Her assistant, Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Luckily, you are the Queen now, you don't have to do what she says anymore."
"You're right, Rachel. That was the last time she double-crossed me." – Helena took a deep breath. – "I feel so sick all day. What if I throw up in the middle of the ceremony? That would be quite a scandal."
"About that. I got you something." – said Rachel as she got out a small brown sac of her bag.
The Queen took the sac from her outstretched hand and opened it.
"Rachel! Are you giving me weeds? You can't be serious." – she screamed.
Her assistant just shrugged her shoulders.
"It helps with the nausea."
They were quiet for a little while.
"Are you sure?" – asked the Queen doubtingly.
Rachel nodded. Helena hesitated for a moment, but she was feeling so sick that she couldn't resist.
"Okay, fine. Give me a lighter."
Rachel handed her one and she lit the joint.
"This is quite relaxing, I have to admit." – said the Queen after she inhaled deeply the cigarette.
Her assistant, on the other hand, didn't seem so relaxed when she heard her last sentence.
"Wait! You don't say that this is your first time?!" – she asked in shock.
Helena looked at her and started to laugh.
"Well, of course it is. In my mother's house I never really had access to these kinds of things."
However, her joy didn't last too long. The door suddenly opened and her husband came into the room.
"Simon! What are you doing here?" – she asked nervously as she passed the joint to Rachel, who rushed into the bathroom with it.
The King was surprised by his wife's reaction.
"I just came to check on you. Your mother has arrived."
"I'll be right there." – sighed Helena in relief.
King Simon looked in the direction of the bathroom door which was just slammed before him.
"What are you hiding there?" – he asked excitedly.
"Nothing." – said the Queen immediately. Then, she came up with the best lie, she could find out in such short notice. – "Okay, I may or may not have let Rachel try on my dress. So now she is naked in there."
Simon seemed to believe her, but this wasn't enough for him to leave.
"And what is this smell?" – he asked again.
Maybe she was already high, but the second lie came rather easily for Helena.
"Incense. It helps with my nerves. Any other stupid question or you let me get ready? – she snarled at her husband.
"All right, all right. I love you too." – the King raised his hands defensively and he walked out of the room.
"Mother, it's nice to see you." – Helena greeted her mother with open arms as she joined her husband and son in the spare room.
Her mother eyed her up and down.
"Oh darling, you look… fat." – she said finally and kissed her on the cheek.
The Queen rolled her eyes.
"I'm pregnant."
"I'm well aware of that, but still." – continued Lady Alexandra. – "Let's hope you fit through the doors of the Westminster Abbey."
Somehow, Helena didn't feel that her mother's insults could hurt her this time.
"I'm the Queen of England. If I don't fit through, they make bigger doors for me."
Lady Alexandra glanced at her daughter appreciatively.
Little Robert ran to her mother from the corner of the room.
"You look like the Sun, Mommy." – he said as he took a glimpse of her golden gown.
Helena crouched down beside him and she kissed him all over.
"You are my Sun, darling."
Her mother snorted disdainfully.
"You spoil that child. If he lived under my roof…" – she started, but her daughter didn't let her finish.
"Over my dead body." – said the Queen. – "Besides, he is a prince and the heir to the throne. He would be spoiled anyway."
"And who do you thank for this?" – asked the older woman furiously.
That was the point where Simon lost his temper.
"Alexandra, that's enough. Would it kill you to be a little nicer to her? She is your daughter."
"Simon, it's okay." – said Helena, who tried to avoid a family feud right before the coronation ceremony.
However, her mother didn't give up so easily.
"My daughter appreciates that I'm always honest with her. Isn't it true, Helena?"
"Yes, it is." – said the Queen quickly. – "Don't we have to leave now?"
The King shook his head.
"Just one moment, my love. I would like to have a word with your mother."
He turned to his mother-in-law and continued.
"If you are willing to reconsider your attitude towards my wife, I can give you a new title."
"What title?" – asked the woman eagerly.
"The Grand Duchess of Oxford."
"Simon!" – cried out Helena in shock. – "I may have asked you to give her a title, but not half of your kingdom."
"Let your husband speak, Helena." – said the future Duchess.
"The title belonged to my aunt Caroline. She had a property with a very nice castle too, in Northumberland." – added King Simon.
"That's the other side of the country. I would barely see my daughter, my grandchildren…"
"That's the castle, which comes with the title. You can't be choosy." – finished her son-in-law and he turned to his wife with a knowing wink.
"Oh, in that case, let the game begin..." – decided Lady Alexandra. – "Helena, darling, you look absolutely lovely. You are the most beautiful Queen I have ever seen."
"Thank you, mother." – said the Queen with a fake smile.
Her mother continued.
"I'm so proud of you."
Helena shook her head.
"Okay, enough. You don't have to overact it."
Rachel has been already on her way to the coronation ceremony in a carriage with Prince Cyrus and the Queen when she realized that she might have committed the biggest mistake of her life.
"Fabulooouuss." – moaned Helena. – "The uniforms, the guards, the carriage… I have never sat in a carriage before. Not the most comfortable means of transport, but still. This is every little girl's dream…" - she giggled.
Cyrus became more and more annoyed by her as the time passed.
"Whose idea was to seat you in my carriage?"
His sister-in-law didn't seem to hear him. She was more interested in a white horse which was trotting next to their carriage.
"Look! So cute. I love horses. I wish I could go on horseback like Simon. I'm so high."
"Yes. We figured that much." – grumbled Prince Cyrus.
"This is a disaster." – hissed Rachel.
"It's an understatement." – answered the Prince. – "You'd better start looking for a new job, I'm pretty sure that this was your last day with us."
Helena looked from one to the other as she began to speak.
"Nooo, Rachel is staying. That is an order. From the Queen. The Queen…the queen… the fucking queen of fucking England… My mother, she was right. She did that… I could never do such thing to my children. I love Robert sooo muuuch, you know that Rachel, don't you?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." – said her assistant quietly.
"And I think… I think that this whole thing is worth it. Because of him it is worth it."
Her brother-in-law couldn't take it anymore.
"Oh, can you just shut up already? This day is bad enough without your incoherent bullshitting. You are worse than your two-year-old."
"We have arrived." – announced Rachel when they finally stopped. – "Good luck!"
"Tell it to the fucking Queen of fucking England." – replied the Prince and he got off the carriage.
- LIVE BROADCAST OF THE CORONATION OF KING SIMON -
JENNY COLE: "Welcome Everybody! For those who just turned on their tv-s, I'm Jenny Cole, celebrity stylist…"
CHARLES TRAVERS: "… and I'm Charles Travers, historian."
J.C.:"And it's almost 11 o'clock here on BBC where we offer you a chance to watch the most fabulous event of the year with us. The coronation ceremony of King Simon and Queen Helena.
C.T.:"Speaking of King Simon, he has just arrived on his horse. In military uniform, of course."
J.C.:"He looks very handsome, I must say, Charlie."
C.T.:"You are right, Jenny, it was a long time ago that we had such a young king. And an even younger and more beautiful Queen."
J.C.: "A Queen in Alexander McQueen. The Palace confirmed two months ago that he would be the one to design her coronation gown. He didn't have much time though. It's very unusual to crown the new king so soon. Generally, they wait a year, a year and a half with the coronation ceremony."
C.T.:"The procession sets off, the King is already in the church. And here comes the carriage of the Queen…"
J.C.:"And she is not the one who gets out first. It's the Duke of York. Nice trick."
C.T.:"There she is… and that is a surprise. The rumours were true, she is clearly pregnant."
J.C.:"Well, she cancelled some of her events in the past few months, but nobody was sure until now. She chose a nice way to tell it to the world."
C.T.:"Or the Queen Mother did it for her. As far as I know she was the one who decided on this date. We might say that the two queens have a rocky relationship."
J.C.:"Who hasn't with her mother-in-law? But let's not talk about the Queen Mother now."
C.T.:"Right! Queen Helena is gorgeous and she seems very happy."
J.C.:"Ah, that golden gown is amazing. And do you see her jewels? She has ten brooches under her chest, the flags of the countries of the United Kingdom and the other states of the Commonwealth of Nations."
C.T.:"Let's not forget about the embroidered Tudor rose on her belly either. It's very creative, it seems completely solid because of her baby bump."
J.C.:"She always had a sense of humour that is why we love her."
C.T.:"The last Queen who was pregnant at her coronation was Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII."
J.C.:"That's right. Let's hope, Charlie, that Queen Helena's reign will be longer-lasting than poor Anne Boleyn's."
C.T.: "In the meantime, everybody walked into the church and took his or her place. The choir starts to sing a psalm. After the King said his prayer, they bring in the coronation regalia and place it on the altar."
J.C.: "And now King Simon is going to the Coronation Chair…"
C.T.: "…but before he sits down, he has to be presented to the public in each direction. Here we are and the audience replies every time: 'God save the King.'"
J.C.: "King Simon has only one task before the crowning, he has to take the Coronation Oath and kiss the Bible."
C.T.: "Now that he is seated in the Coronation Chair, he is given the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Crown is placed on his head. As His Majesty the King leaves the Chair, the Queen steps forward."
J.C.:"She also has to kneel before the altar and say a prayer before her crowning."
C.T.: "A little prenatal yoga…"
J.C.: "Charlie!"
C.T.:"What?"
J.C.: "You are so rude."
C.T.: "All right, I'm sorry, Now that the Queen is given the blessing and the Crown…"
J.C.: "…a crown which was made specifically for her by the Royal Jeweler…"
C.T.:"Yes, indeed… and now… Finally, the other members of the royal family pledge allegiance to the new King and Queen of England.
J.C.: "In this moment the ceremony is over. The crowd starts to sing the national anthem and King Simon and Queen Helena leave Westminster Abbey."
C.T.: "They go to the cordons and shake hands with the people. Queen Helena still seems extremely happy. What is she doing? She borrowed someone's camera and now she is taking pictures of the crowd…"
J.C.: "Not just of the crowd. She is posing with her fans and they are taking pictures together… Amazing! She is still our princess. We love Queen Helena."
C.T.: "And now she is asking King Simon for a photo. Hilarious! The people are crazy about her. They are shouting her name for minutes."
J.C.: "Oh my God, did she just kiss him?"
C.T.:"Well, he is her husband…"
J.C.:"What a kiss was that! Actually, we have never seen them kissing before, not even at their wedding, am I right?"
C.T.:"If I remember correctly he kissed her hand and she kissed him on the cheek…but not on the lips that is for sure. This was their first public kiss."
J.C.: "It was a beautiful ending for this beautiful event, but unfortunately we must say 'goodbye' now. Thank you for watching us, I was Jenny Cole and here with me, my lovely colleague…"
C.T.: "…Charles Travers. Thank you very much! Have a nice day for all of you."
