Page 96 of Scandal Queen

My stomach dropped like it contained a cannonball.

“People will now find out why Miss Lawrence was there. We are talking more headlines and speculation.”

“Her name is Leia.” Ollie snapped in response to Marcus. “And I respect her actions. She did what she felt was right in the circumstances. She discovered the truth and she didn’t hide from it. She acted with humility and grace by going to see a grieving mother.”

I knew the words hurt Ollie to say. He didn’t want anyone else having a claim on Daisy, but he was man enough to be able to deal with it.

“Oliver, this is not the way we deal with things.” The King’s voice rang stern and authoritative. “We do not air our laundry for people to see.”

“You’re a hypocrite, Dad. Look at us, decorating a tree. Bella pretending to have flu. Look at what we are.” Oliver gestured around the room. “Everything about us is lies. Can’t you see how wrong this is?”

“Are you telling me, Oliver, that other families don’t decorate a tree for Christmas? Or have a merry drink? Or keep secrets from the neighbours? Difference is here, Oliver, we don’t have neighbours to gossip about our secrets, we have the entire world to do it.”

My hand thrust itself into the air and I stared at it in horror. No… now’s not the time to blurt something… stop it.

“I didn’t decorate a tree. Or have Christmas. Not until I was fifteen and found Nana.”

Everyone stared, but I couldn’t stop it. I’d rather they looked at me, than glared at Ollie.

“Father Christmas never came to my home. We never had turkey. When I was seven my mother went on a bender and I spent three days by myself, with no food and no heating.”

Do not cry. Do not fucking cry.

“So yes, there are lots of people doing what we are doing now, on a lesser scale,” I allowed. “But there are also a lot of other people out there who aren’t. The balance is bridging the gap between that world and this one.”

Marcus turned the screen around and swiped up at a different picture. Ollie and I stood outside the palace just hours before. His arms around me and us both grinning at the picture. The Tabloid Princess’ Christmas post. We actually looked hot together. I couldn’t help but be proud.

“Leia is trying to show people who we are, get them to understand us,” Ollie said.

“Are you proposing we take pictures in our pyjamas on Christmas morning of us opening our presents? Because I don’t think that’s going to help the starving people out there.” The King directed his comment to me this time.

“I just think it’s okay to show that you’re human. It’s okay for the future king to have a cheesy smile in the run up to Christmas.” I pointed at the iPad. “It’s okay to admit how lucky you are, while at the same time having care and concern for those who aren’t.”

“This is unacceptable to me. The monarchy is the backbone of this country. We are admired and respected by every other nation in the world.”

“You were,” I muttered.

“Excuse me?” Cartwright’s eyebrows practically merged with his hair.

“I said you were. Society has moved on though. Social media has made everything accessible by everyone twenty-four hours a day. Apart from you. The only way people get to know about you is through the press and what they print. You don’t tell them the truth and they print what they like anyway, no matter how badly it reflects. What harm is there in showing images of the future king dressing a Christmas tree?” I glanced at Ollie. “You hide the best bits of yourselves trying to protect an image that is tarnished anyway.”

“Leia’s right, Pops. We are a lie.”

“I will not have you speak in this way, Oliver. This is your birth right.”

“No, no it’s not.” Oliver stepped across the carpet and the scattered baubles. “I don’t think I want it if I can’t be who I am.”

“Oliver.”

I stared at him in horror. What did he just say?

Shaking my head, I gasped in a breath. “Ollie, don’t say things you will regret.”

“I don’t. Leia, I told you before. I told the nation. If we can’t be ourselves here, then this isn’t a place I want to be.”

“Oliver,” the Queen who’d hardly spoken stepped up to her eldest son. “Don’t be rash, Oliver. Everyone is tense. You’ve had a lot going on, we know that.”

“No, Mum. I’ve had a lot going on because you haven’t allowed me to speak out and tell the truth. The reason I can’t announce my engagement to the woman I love is because you insisted I lie about the reasons my previous engagement failed. Today, my fiancée took herself to a dodgy part of town because she knew she had to act quick before you guys shut down a situation that wasn’t suitable for the family. You want us to remain closed behind these four walls while people in our country suffer. Some place out there, there could be another seven-year-old girl afraid and alone with no food, no safe adult, but still we sit here following our stupid protocols that leave us looking like pampered idiots because no one knows the truth about us.”