He said, ‘Different countries have different histories, Alicky, and both Germany and Russia have very different histories from Great Britain, and so they need ruling differently. They need an autocratic ruler; a ruler who rules without the interference of a parliament; a ruler who is answerable only to God.’

‘And is that how Uncle Sasha rules Russia?’

‘It is, and he does so for a very good reason. When our father was Tsar, he was known as “the Liberator” because he made so many reforms. He freed the serfs. He reformed the justice system. He encouraged local self-government. He did all the kind of things your Granny Queen approved of – and if those reforms had been carried out elsewhere, he would have been thanked for them. But they weren’t carried out elsewhere. They were carried out in Russia, and what your Granny Queen and Willy’s father don’t understand is that Russia is so vast and medieval that it can’t be governed in the same way a country with a long history of parliamentary rule is governed. It can only be governed by force and with a whip.’

He came to a sudden halt, a pulse throbbing at the corner of his jaw. Sensing that he was thinking twice about saying anything any further, Alicky asked, ‘And what happened? What is it you aren’t telling me?’

Sergei breathed in hard. ‘My father’s reforms merely inflamed the revolutionaries even more. They made three attempts to assassinate him. On the fourth attempt they succeeded. A bomb was thrown at his carriage as he was approaching the Winter Palace. I was there when he was carried into the palace, his face streaming with blood, his stomach ripped open, his right leg torn off, his left leg shattered. I was there when he died in agony. And so that is why my brother doesn’t rule as a liberator, but as an autocrat, because a strong autocrat – answerable to no one but himself – is the only kind of ruler Russia respects.’

‘Stop hobnobbing, you two!’ Ernie, Alicky’s brother, called out to them from the terrace. ‘We’ve just heard that the Queen’s train has drawn in at the station. Her carriage will be here any minute.’

Alicky gently shooed the rabbit from her lap and sprang to her feet. She knew that she was Granny Queen’s favourite granddaughter, and she wanted to be first of all her grandchildren to run up to her for a hug.