The kingdom of Jutland is one of the oldest in the world. The first recorded king of Jutland was Norm the Stern, in 1100. Norm the Stern liberated the small island from Denmark and radically stopped coastal pillaging on her shores. Since then, the tiny Nordic island country, roughly the size of California with a population of around 4.5 million, had fought against invasions against Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Britain. From 1674 to 1858, it was part of Denmark and Norway. In 1859, the country declared its independence from them and became a self ruling country again. The new constitution allowed the king an unusual amount of power tempered with an edge of responsibility not seen in other monarchies. The King sits at the head of state, has final say of all legislative bills and laws (but allowing his political neutrality, he rarely interferes in state matters) and must meet with any disgruntled citizen and make yearly speeches about the state of the country.
For this responsibility, the Royal House of Bernadotte-Glucksberg-Saxe is among the wealthiest and most popular of the Scandinavian monarchies. They are very beloved amongst the small population. The country, in contrast to other the other Scandinavian countries, enjoys low taxes but the same high level of social benefits due to Jutland unique presence in banking and gambling. Jutland has been called both a Scandinavian Switzerland and a Scandinavian Monaco because of this. The country holds almost no debt and has enormous amounts of krons in in its treasury reserve. The people of Jutland enjoy free University and free healthcare among other society benefits and no property taxes and low sales taxes.
Since 1859, they are a peaceful country. No longer in need to defend herself from others, Jutland still has an active three branch military system. The Royal Navy, The Royal Army and The Royal Air Guard. Jutland is not a neutral country and has often lent a hand to other countries in need, such as military action in Africa and the Middle East. King Carlisle is the Commander-In-Chief to all three branches and like Prince Edward, he trained and served in all three as a young man.
When King Carlisle came to power after his fathers death, the appearance of the young King with his family on the balcony of Gnudsborg palace reassured a country mourning the loss of a beloved King. Since then, King Carlisle and his wife, The Queen Esme, have made their life at the royal palaces as normal as possible. Their children grew up with the excellent public school system and it wasn't unusual to see the Queen taking the children to the park. The Royal Family brought with it not only youth and beauty, but a willingness to mix with the population at large.
"I remember the big article in one of the papers about a young Princess Rosalie losing her temper at the playground. She might have been 5 or 6 years old. She was supposed to be waiting her turn for the slide and instead she got mad and pushed a smaller child down to get in front There was a picture of Queen Esme giving her a swat on the behind. It was something, to see Her Royal Highness, The Queen, swat a child. It was a light swat, but nevertheless, she was parenting, and not depending on nannies," Grace Bowers, nanny for the Royal Family from 1967 to 1973 says. "They had nannies obviously, the nature of their jobs meant they were often away from home, but when they were home, both the King and Queen were very much hands on parents."
By all accounts, the palace was loving home for the young prince and his sisters.
"They were allowed some semblance of a normal childhood, well, as normal a childhood as one can get growing up in a Royal Family. I expect they were lonely at times owing to how often their parents were gone. And I think Prince Edward has said at times he had a very lonely life growing up. You felt a bit sad for them, but nothing could be done. That is the nature of the Royal life." Grace Bowers.
If it was a lonely childhood, it could also be determined that his future would also be laid out in such a way that he would not be able to deviate from. He was expected to go to University, acquire military training and find his role while he waits for the Throne. And of course, find a suitable bride who could provide the essential heir.
"It's not stated explicitly, but we all know. The only real role for any Crown Princess is to provide an heir so the monarchy can go on. That's it. In this day and age, we like to think a Crown Princess has more to offer with charity work and good deeds in the name of her country, but without an heir, the monarchy dies. It's her duty to provide this and anyone even coming close to marrying a Crown Prince realizes this." a palace aide discloses.
From the age of 19 and on until his late 20's, Prince Edward had gained a sort of lovable rogue impression in the papers. He bounced from girl to girl, party to party. Because he was still holding his end of the royal bargain (he was young, handsome, enrolled in University and the military) he was given a pass from the papers.
It was only until he got closer to age 30 that the papers began to ask when he would settle down. His longest relationship, until that point had been 2 years and when the relationship was called off, the papers went crazy. "Grow Up!" was the general headlines that followed. It seemed his lovable rogue facade could only last so long.
And it was exactly why the papers had a feeding frenzy over his relationship with Miss Isabella Swan. For almost 3 years they had been dating and even though she hadn't yet met his parents, the press was getting the feeling this was the one. The feeling was heightened on April 2, 2003. At a charity golf game, Bella brought a club to Edward and in front of all the spectators and cameras, accepted a kiss on the lips from him.
"It was a quick kiss, a smack. But it was on the lips and it was the first public display of affection between them." Maddie Donnt, photographer of the Royal Family. "That's when we all knew. I mean, he couldn't kiss her and have that picture in the papers and then break up with her. Royals just do not show affection in public unless they are married or engaged. The whole thing was probably calculated by Edward, to tell the world and his parents of his intentions."
The day before Jutland Day on April 22nd, the day Jutland celebrates their independence, Bella was allowed a meeting between Queen Esme, Prince Edward and herself.
"She was a nervous wreck the day before. Edward was showing her the proper way to greet the Queen. Bella is a bit clumsy, so trying to do curtsies was a bit of a struggle for her. She went over the proper protocols with Edward, who very sweetly reminded Bella that his mother was just as nervous to meet Bella as Bella was nervous to meet the Queen," Angela Weber tells me. "I had been invited to stay with Bella for the week leading up the Jutland Day celebrations. In retrospect, it was amazing to see the final pieces of their relationship fall into place. I almost feel honored to know I was there and one of the few who really got to watch the whole thing unfold. I knew, as I watched Edward help Bella curtsy while trying to hold back the laughter, that this was it. They were going to get married."
Bella hit up the Jutland designer Rolf Uttebjorn for the dress she would wear to her meeting for the queen. She narrowed the choices down to three and undecided, Rolf sent the three dresses home along with matching shoes and purses. Angela remembers the night they stayed up, perfecting the look.
"She had wanted to wear a Jutland designer. It was a touching gesture on Bella's part, even if the Queen wouldn't know it.. At the end, after trying on and marching around the apartment in the three dresses, she picked a simple blue shift dress with a matching coat. It's not in Bella's nature to be showy, so the dress was perfect."
Arriving at the Palace, Bella must have felt nerves we can only imagine. Details of the meeting between the queen and Bella have never been released, but we do know they spent 2 hours together and had tea. That night, Edward and Bella showed up together at a concert for Jutland. On Jutland Day, Bella was nowhere to be seen. She popped up the next day in Montana. She spent a couple days there, putting her ranch up for sale, before she flew out to Washington to spend a couple weeks with her parents.
"The last weekend she was here, Edward flew out, to meet her parents. They all spent the weekend together," says Julia Swan. "Her parents loved him. I think, getting approval from both parents was the final link. 4 months later, there was the announcement from the palace."
July is usually the month the Crown Prince takes his holiday. During the month of August, his parents take their holiday and the Crown Prince must act as regent of Jutland while they are away. That summer, Edward and Bella were joined by the prince's older sister Princess Rosalie and her husband of 2 years, Count Emmett McCarty. Later in the week, Princess Alice and her boyfriend, Jasper Hale, son of a wealthy business man. They spent 3 weeks at Fiji before Bella and Edward disappeared the last week.
They flew to Spain and then on to Greece. On their last day in Greece, in Santorini, Edward asked Bella to marry him. It is something to note that for almost 3 weeks, they kept the engagement to themselves and their parents. The cat got out of the bag at the end of the King and Queens stay at their palace in southern Jutland on the last day of their vacation, when a reporter casually tossed out a question.
"Do you think Miss Swan would make a good daughter-in-law?" Reporter asks.
"Oh, yes. She is a lovely person. She makes Edward very happy." King Carlisle, August 21st, 2003.
The press wires flew. Was this an admission from the King that an announcement would be coming? For 3 three days, it seemed the whole of Jutland held their breath. On the morning the State Council met on August 24th at exactly 9 am, the announcement was released.
At exactly noon, the engaged couple made their way to the royal balcony and waved at the crowds of Jutlanders who had gathered in response to the news of the engagement. Bella looked stunned at first, at the massive crowd waving both the Jutland standard and the American flag. With Edward's arm around her waist, she waved and smiled at the crowds. As she was led back into the palace, she gave one last toss over her shoulder at the sight of Jutlanders gathered, singing and yelling.
Inside the palace, the press corps was assembled, waiting for the Crown Prince and his bride to be. This would be Bella's first test as a new royal, a baptism of fire from the press corps in their first interview.