A van drove swiftly through the thick fog that shrouded Shropshire. It was a real pea-souper, and the van was going swifter than a van should in these conditions. But its driver was well trained, damned well trained, at driving in conditions such as these; he almost preferred conditions such as these to plain clear daylight. All the usual dashboard instruments were to one side; the centre of the dash was occupied by a large radar screen. The screen told the driver that the road ahead was clear. Next to the driver sat another man, with an identical screen in front of him; like the driver, he too was glued to the screen.

The exterior of the van was painted a rather dreary brown colour, and was in need of a good polish; emblazoned along each side, and along the rear doors, were the words Harris the Bakers.

The interior of the van, sealed off from the driver and his mate, was altogether a different matter. It had six seats, in two rows of three, facing each other, all covered in Connolly hide, and there was an elegant mahogany table in the centre. There were no windows in the back, but at the touch of a button the occupants could see any direction outside that they wished, on the large television monitor attached to the top of the table. To the left of the monitor was a radiotelephone that could connect directly into the telephone system of almost any country in the world.

The air inside the back could be set to any temperature the occupants desired, and, if necessary, the outside air could be shut off completely and they could switch to the van’s own ten-hour supply. The equipment also included a refrigerator, well stocked with food and milk, and an equally well stocked cabinet of soft drinks, including a large quantity of Malvern water.

Behind the seats was a padded space which had been especially designed to accommodate a quantity of small dogs, and it was currently occupied by several puzzled corgis. The six seats also were occupied by six no less puzzled adults. They were the Queen, Prince Philip, the Queen Mother, the Prince and Princess of Wales with their baby in a carry-cot, and Prince Andrew. Two similar vans, a short way behind, one marked Latin’s Poultry and the other marked Brights for Fish, contained other members of the Royal Family, and an assortment of ladies-in-waiting and secretaries.

The bread van turned into what looked like the driveway to an old manor house, and indeed once had been, and headed up the twisting mile-long drive. The van drove past outbuildings which had once housed farm machinery, but now barracked special members of the Coldstream Guards, and pulled up outside what looked like a timbered Elizabethan manor.