“There is still the matter of parental approval.”

“Yes, and no ordinary parental approval,” said Iris. “It’s not exactly, ‘Dad! Mum! Meet the boyfriend! We’re in love! We’re getting married!’ I imagine that a great deal of negotiating must take place.”

“You have no idea,” said Lady Matheson. “It would be difficult enough if she were merely the princess, but she is also the heir apparent. The entire course of British history runs through her bloodlines. What else do you know?”

“He’s a Greek prince,” said Iris. “Which is to say, not really Greek at all, and they don’t have a monarch at the moment, so it’s not much of a title. He must be a cousin to her somehow—they all are, what’s left of them, aren’t they?”

“The princess and he are cousins on both sides,” said Lady Matheson. “He’s descended from Queen Victoria through his mother.”

“Princess Alice,” remembered Gwen.

“Exactly. Princess Alice even lived with Queen Victoria towards the end of her reign.”

“Imagine that,” said Gwen. “One keeps forgetting that there are people alive who knew her. It’s like meeting people from fairy tales.”

“How far down the line is he from the nonexistent Greek crown?” asked Iris.

“Fourth or fifth, I think,” said Lady Matheson. “Not close enough to unite the thrones, should the Greeks choose to retain the monarchy.”

“Right,” said Iris. “What exactly is it that concerns you about him? He’s royal, he’s educated, he’s tall and dashing, and he serves in the King’s navy. Is he a fortune-hunter? A womaniser? What’s the flaw? Citizenship?”

“Is it his family?” asked Gwen.

“The family is not all what we’d want for in-laws,” admitted Lady Matheson. “His father’s dead. His mother was in various sanatoria for years—”

“If that’s a problem, then it is one that I share with her,” said Gwen quietly. “You should know that before we embark upon this expedition.”

“Your sojourn was a completely understandable reaction to the loss of your husband,” said Lady Matheson, softening for a moment for the first time since she had come in. “We knew about it, of course. We don’t hold it against you.”

“So the Queen knows I was away,” said Gwen. “It wasn’t meant to be common knowledge.”

“We are not common people,” said Lady Matheson. “The Queen is quite cognisant of the sacrifices made by the families of our fallen men. You are held in a place of honour.”

“Thank you,” said Gwen.

“Fallen men—and women,” said Iris.

“Excuse me?”

“You said fallen men,” said Iris. “Women died for the country as well.”

“Yes, of course. I didn’t mean to—”

“Although the phrase ‘fallen women’ has come to mean something else entirely,” said Iris. “We should fix that.”

“I’ll leave that campaign to you,” said Lady Matheson. “In any case, getting back to Philip, throw in the fact that his sisters all married Germans, a couple of whom were quite active with the Nazis, and there are any number of reasons why his candidacy is on thin ice.”