Chapter Twenty-Six

Four years later…

Helena and her assistant were in the Queen's study and just finished talking about the weekly schedule when Prince Robert entered the room.

"Good morning, Mom!" – he greeted his mother, then he turned to the assistant with an ill-concealed smile. – "Good morning, Rachel!"

"Good morning, Your Highness!" – Rachel replied with a subtle smile.

The Queen could not fail to notice the way her son talked to the other woman. Her suspicion only grew when she heard the reason of Robert's visit.

"I was wondering if I could help you with anything…" – he said uncertainly avoiding any eye contact. – "Since I have nothing to do right now, maybe I could work together with Rachel… you know… to learn more about the everyday duties of a monarch…"

"Not now, darling. Rachel is just leaving." – Helena replied indifferently.

Her assistant looked at her and added in a nicer tone:

"Actually, this is my day off."

"Oh, I see." – Robert mumbled, not even trying to hide his disappointment.

He was about to leave when Rachel's voice stopped him.

"By the way, thank you for the flowers." – she said gently.

A big smile spread across the young Prince's face.

"You are welcome."

Helena raised her eyebrow as she watched the scene. She waited until her son left, then she asked her assistant:

"What flowers?"

"The bouquet I found on my doorstep. I asked the gardener and he said…" – Rachel began willingly, but the Queen interrupted her.

"Wait! So your secret admirer is Robert?!" – she cried out in shock. – "I'm so sorry. I will talk to him."

Rachel hesitated whether she should involve in a family matter or not. Finally, she decided to give it a try:

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I think it should be me. It will be less embarrassing if he hears it from me and not from his mother."

She could see the surprise crossing Queen Helena's face before she regain her composure.

"All right. Thank you!" – she said gratefully, then the mother came out of her again. – "But Rachel, please be gentle with him."


"Did you finish with the Prime Minister?" – Queen Helena asked her husband when she saw him from across her study.

"It seems so." – the King answered thoughtfully.

Helena let out a frustrated sigh.

"And?" – she asked impatiently.

"He wants to drastically raise the taxes." – Simon replied indignantly. – "I couldn't reason with him."

His wife, however, didn't seem to care much about it.

"He is not afraid to be unpopular. I like him." – she remarked with ease.

King Simon snorted in disdain.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew that his next target would be the farmers." – he said scornfully, but he didn't get the reaction he expected.

"I'm not surprised." – the Queen answered simply. – "They can't compete with the much cheaper imported products. The PM must think that they are not worth to be saved."

"And you? Do you think the same?" – the King asked in surprise.

"Of course not." – his wife snapped at him.

Simon hesitated before he spoke again.

"Then you should talk to him." – he suggested softly.

Helena let out an incredulous laughter.

"He didn't care about your opinion. Why would he care about mine?"

"You have better arguments." – her husband remarked.

"Simon, you are living in a dream world!" – Queen Helena cried out angrily, then she added in a calmer tone: – "If you want him to listen to you, dig up some dirt on him."

The King wasn't sure if this was just a bad joke or she really meant what she said.

"This is disgusting." – he said when he realized that his wife was serious.

Helena shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe. But that is how it works."

King Simon watched her quietly for a while with guilt and disappointment in his eyes

"When did you become like this?" – he asked in a soft voice.

"All for the greater good." – Helena replied with a sarcastic smile and left the room.


Both the Queen and her assistant underestimated the power of Prince Robert's crush. He wasn't used to rejection and he was curious about the reason behind it. Deep down, he knew from the beginning that Rachel would turn him down, but he had to know if she had someone else. So when he saw her car leaving, he decided to follow her.

About thirty minutes later they were in East London. Robert saw that the silver car in front of them slowed down a bit. He didn't want to draw attention to himself so he sent away his security detail and continued on foot. He hid in a bush so no one could see him and waited. However, it wasn't Rachel who got out of the car. It was the Queen. She carefully looked around, then she went into one house in the street.

Robert hesitated. His first instinct was to go home and forget about the whole thing, but he was too curious. Besides, he didn't want to leave his mother alone in that bad neighbourhood. He walked over to the cottage and rang the doorbell.

Alistair Lacey was shocked when he saw the Crown Prince of England on his doorstep, but he knew it was useless to pretend that he didn't know what he wanted. He showed him in and offered him a seat, then he shouted to the bedroom:

"Hellie, you have a visitor."

The Queen thought that it was some kind of joke and responded accordingly:

"Really? Tell him that I will see him in the bedroom, naked."

Alistair quickly interrupted her, but it was too late.

"No, I'm serious. Your son is here." – he said in embarrassment.

Helena hastily dressed and hurried into the room.

"Robert, what are you doing here? Did you follow me?" – she asked in panic.

"No, I followed Rachel… It was her car." – her son replied in confusion.

"You can't just follow her!" – Helena shouted. – "I understand that you like her, but you can't do this. And where is your bodyguard? Where is Peter? Did he see me too?"

"No." – Robert answered angrily.

He has never seen his mother like this before. She was nothing like a Queen. Her hair was dishevelled, her clothes were wrinkled and he could see that she was terrified.

The Queen was also seemed to realize that she revealed too much because she continued in a calmer tone.

"Listen, darling, you are the future King of England. You can't be on the streets, spying on women, without your security detail. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? This was a very stupid thing to…" – she said, but Prince Robert interrupted her.

"Mom! Why are you here? Who is this man?" – he shouted in anger.

He was fed up with his mother lecturing him, while she was the one who was obviously hiding something. She was the one who broke his trust and betrayed their alliance. He looked straight into her eyes and she looked back at him, but she didn't answer. For a moment they almost forgot about the third person in the room.

"I'm going for a walk." – Alistair said softly and walked toward the door.

The Queen looked at him gratefully and silently formed thank you with her lips. After he left, the room has fallen silent.

"You know I can't lie to you." – Helena finally said after a while.

"Then tell me the truth." – Robert answered flatly.

He could see the fear in his mother's eyes and for a moment he couldn't help feeling sorry for her.

"Please Robert, don't ask me this" – she begged him – "because if you do, you know I will tell."

But the young Prince remained cruelly silent which indicated his mother to continue.

"His name is Alistair Lacey. He is… my first love." – Helena began uneasily, but once she said it out loud, she felt relieved. After fifteen years, she was now determined to tell the whole story. – "I fell in love with him when I was just a teenager. I wanted to marry him as soon as I turned eighteen, which was a young age to get married, even back then, but I was so sure. We both were. My parents didn't know that, but I was their only child, I knew that they would forgive me eventually. Everything was seemed to be in place. Then the worst happened and my whole world fell apart. Because of the BSE epidemic and the economic crisis we went from a wealthy family to paupers in days. My mother always wanted me to marry rich and who was I to say no to her? Even if I had done it, there was my father. Our farm was his life and he was faced to lose it. I was their only hope so I did my duty and married into the Royal Family."

"But in secret you remained loyal to the man you loved." – Robert remarked softly.

His mother shook her head.

"No. He left me and became a soldier." – she answered, then she paused for a moment. – "Anyway, I wanted to give a chance to my marriage and by the time Alistair returned, I was in love with your father. So I didn't want to be with him, not like that anymore, but he was so broken and he had no one else, but me."

Robert used the moment of silence to ask a question.

"When did this happen?"

The Queen wasn't happy to lie to her son, but she had secrets she couldn't share even with him.

"Shortly after the twins were born. You must think that I'm reprehensible." – she remarked with guilt, then she suddenly grabbed her son's hand. – "Look, if you want me to, I will end this affair and tell everything to your father right now."

Prince Robert looked at his mother and frowned.

"Would you do this?" – he asked in shock. – "For me?"

"Of course. You are thirteen and you love your parents. It wouldn't be fair to ask you to carry this burden." – Helena replied in mock ease. – "Besides, I owe you. You made me fall in love with your father and you are the reason that our marriage was happy for so long… We are very different people, but you and your siblings have the power to make us forget about it."

Robert knew that his mother spoke the truth, but he could also see the pain in her eyes while she was talking.

"Does this man… Alistair make you happy?" – he finally asked.

"Yes." – the Queen answered without hesitation.

The young Prince let out a heavy sigh as he made his decision:

"Then I would never ask you to leave him."

"Robert!" – Helena cried out in astonishment. – "Are you sure?"

"I am." – her son replied firmly.

"Thank you!" – Queen Helena whispered and Robert could see something he never saw in his life before: the tears in his mother's eyes. There were only a few teardrops, but they were there, slowly flowing down her face…

He was still looking at her, silently, when Alistair came back. Prince Robert knew that it was time for him to leave. He was about to do so, but he had an idea. He walked over to Alistair and shook his hand.

"It was an honour to meet you, Sir!" – he said to him in sincere respect, then walked out of the house, leaving the two surprised adults alone.