“I was an ordinary girl from the Cotswolds. My dad ran a small construction business, and my mum was his receptionist. They’d sacrificed so much to send me to university—not Oxford with Gerald, but nearby. We met at one of those awful parties where everyone’s drunk and sprawling and pretending not to notice there’s a royal in the room. And Gerald was so out of place, because he’s not really a party person, as perhaps you’ve gathered. He was sitting in the corner of a couch, barely sipping some frightfully adult cocktail, in his grey flannels and cardigan, as if he was someone’s dad, or a faculty assistant, and he looked so morose that I took pity. I like a project.”

Maureen was being surprisingly genuine.

“But once things grew more serious, I had to make a decision. Because I simply wasn’t prepared for the onslaught. After our first public appearance, at the dedication of a footbridge, I wasn’t merely criticised, I was flayed alive. I was too common, my ankles were too thick, I was a gold digger with two rhinoplasties and a breast augmentation. I was pretentious and dull, and above all else, I’d never be as kind or as glamorous or as saintly as Gerald and Edgar’s mum.”

“What happened? How did you turn things around?”

“Laboriously. And, to this day, never in full. I think when people realised that Gerald wasn’t buckling under, and that he’d made his choice, there was a sort of truce. But I was still unbearably plain, and not up to the task, and then there was the most fearsome obstacle of all.”

“Queen Catherine?”

“Who hated me on sight. She thought I lacked spirit, whatever that might be, perhaps because she kept me in a constant state of terror, and would mistake me for a palace assistant and call me Mabel.”

“Been there. Am there.”

“I’ve still made only the slightest dent. After Gerald sat her down and said he was marrying me, with her approval or without, she shrugged, and decided that it doesn’t really matter, since Gerald will never be king. So she’s become, well, almost cordial. I’ve made my peace with this, but that’s why I wanted to speak with you, especially after today. Because you don’t have to do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean—this life. It isn’t for everyone. Think about the future. Right now, you’ve still got a chance at escape. And I know how much Edgar means to you, I can see that, but what I’m saying is, this isn’t just about affection. It’s about you.”

“Me?”