Her mother clapped her podgy hands, which were covered with rings, in delight. ‘That is exactly the kind of fun dear Mr Thaddy would have joined in with, and I would have done so as well, had there been a tea-tray big enough!’

They were still laughing at the thought when there came the sound of several bedroom doors being opened and, almost immediately, being slammed shut, and the noise of footsteps hurrying down the corridor towards their room.

‘What on earth—?’ her mother exclaimed as, after only the briefest of knocks, the door to their room was flung open. Standing in the doorway, Frank said, ‘Better change into something a bit more sombre than turquoise, May. A telegram has just arrived announcing that the Kaiser has passed away. He was ninety so no great surprise there, but terrible news for Uncle Fritz. How is he going to cope with being the new Kaiser, when he has throat cancer?’

It wasn’t a question he expected an answer to and, saying, ‘Tonight’s family dinner is still on, but the Grand Ball tomorrow night isn’t,’ he slammed the door behind him and hurried off to break the bad news elsewhere.

May’s mother sat down heavily on the nearest chair. ‘Poor, dear Fritz. How will he cope?’ Always kind-hearted, she had tears in her eyes. ‘To have waited for the throne for so long, and then to inherit when he is so ill. It doesn’t bear thinking about.’

May had never met Willy’s grandfather and so, with the best will in the world, she didn’t feel any personal grief at the news of his death. Like her mother, though, she did feel great sympathy for Uncle Fritz, who, already bearing the colossal burden of his ill health, now had another gigantic burden to shoulder; and she also felt a crushing disappointment that the Grand Ball she had been so looking forward to was not now going to take place. The hope that Eddy would dance with her at least once had always been slight, but now it wasn’t even that. Royal kinship would necessitate full court mourning. Dancing of any kind was out of the question, possibly for weeks.

The next morning, with all organized jollities considerably scaled down, Irène and May braved the March wind and walked together through Marlborough House’s formal gardens.