‘I will always be that, George.’ It was a promise as solemn as a vow. ‘And when the moment you so dread arrives,’ she said firmly and with great conviction, ‘you will, I know, handle it superbly. No tears. Tears can come later, when we are on our own. At the moment of kingship you must be in full command of yourself.’

He nodded, knowing that he would never be able to manage without her and that, thank goodness, he would never have to, for she would always be at his side as his queen.

A thought so glaringly obvious that he couldn’t imagine why it had never occurred to him before was: what would May’s title be then? It couldn’t be Queen May. May was her family pet name. And it couldn’t be her first Christian name, because that was Victoria, and as Granny Queen had only been dead for nine years, for May to become known as Queen Victoria would be highly insensitive and unpopular. It would have to be one of her other Christian names, and he couldn’t for the life of him remember what they were.

‘What Christian names do you have, other than Victoria, May?’

‘Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes. But why on earth?’

‘Because the instant I become King, you will become Queen and you will have to have a name, and for obvious reasons it can’t be Victoria.’

‘I always sign letters and official papers as Victoria Mary. Surely Victoria Mary wouldn’t cause offence? It is how I have always assumed I would be known.’

George frowned. He didn’t care for double-barrelled names, and he didn’t much care for the thought of her second name becoming the name she would be known by. The last queen called Mary had been nicknamed ‘Bloody Mary’, for her habit of having Protestants burned at the stake. It had been four hundred years ago, but Englishmen had long memories.

Mentally he went through the other options. Augusta was too old-fashioned. Queen Louise might work – or might have, if Aunt Louise’s reputation with men wasn’t so well known. Olga was far too Russian. Pauline wasn’t stately enough. Claudine was too French. And a Queen Agnes would quickly become known as Queen Aggie.

By a process of elimination he was back to Mary, a name that did at least have the benefit of being straightforward and one it was impossible to shorten.

‘Mary,’ he said, anxious to get back to his father’s bedside, Mrs Keppel or no Mrs Keppel. ‘You will be known as Queen Mary, May.’

And sixteen hours after his father had died peacefully in his sleep, and when, at the Court of St James’s, George had officially been proclaimed King George V, May, for the first time, answered to her new title of Queen Mary.