Lady Di scanned the display. It reminded her of similar situations, none of which had ended well for the subject of the photograph. Some heads rolled farther than others, of course. There was an historical precedent there which the broadsheets, at any rate, would no doubt cite in their editorials.

She said, “More or less.”

He said, “The Palace has issued a denial in the strongest terms, of course. But then, it would, wouldn’t it?”

“Of course.”

“It’s the worst crisis for the monarchy since the death of the princess.”

“Yes, well, don’t look at me. That was nothing to do with us.”

He looked at his phone. “And the internet is going crazy. Calls for his immediate trial and imprisonment.”

“The rule of law actually takes a little longer.”

“Try telling that to our keyboard judiciary.” He gave her a long stare. It was hard to tell whether it contained admiration. “I’m wondering whether you appreciate the scale of what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?”

“The Park.”

“I take instruction from our elected leaders. You know that. And Number Ten wanted this business dealt with once and for all.”

He returned his gaze to the headline display. “Yes, I’m not sure this was the outcome the PM had in mind.”

The PM had arguably weathered worse himself.

“And when do you pull the plug?” Nash asked.

“Twelve twenty-seven.”

“Admirably precise.”

“It’s an operation, Oliver. We find it best to be precise. Aiming for there or thereabouts can prove woefully inadequate.”

“And who gets it first?”

“The BBC.”

“There’s nothing like tradition, is there?”

“Well,” said Lady Di. “Auntie does do these big occasions so well.”

She glanced at her watch. Two and a half hours to go.

Nash removed one of the newspapers. “This one’ll die in a ditch,” he said.

“Probably.”

“Shaky financial ground as it is,” he said. “And once H.R.H. has sued its arse off, it’ll be curtains.” He shook his head. “You know, our national press has always been a guardian of our democracy. And here we are destroying its reputation for the sake of one of our, shall we say, less reputable figureheads.”

She said, “It’s not the first time I’ve green-lit an operation I’m not overwhelmingly proud of. It won’t be the last. But look at the bigger picture. The Service hasn’t enjoyed many favours from the present government. Any smile we can bring to its face, we’ll be glad about when our budget’s next considered. You of all people should think of that as good news.”

“And democracy, anyway,” Nash said, “isn’t the PM’s favourite institution.” He dropped the paper. “He’ll be glad to have this disappear from the news stands. Not exactly an admirer of his antics.”