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“I’m okay. Although, Iwouldlike to see you cook sometime.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen a Queen cook before.”

“Well, Icancook, so if you want something for lunch, I can make it. I can make you whatever I have here. If you want something else, I’d have to send someone for it, go out to the backyard, and have them sneak it in.”

“I’m not picky, but I’m also not starving.”

“Come on. We can talk while I make you something because Iamhungry. I skipped breakfast, and the dinner last night was a little too fancy for my taste.”

“Too fancy for a Queen?” Palmer asked as she followed Elizabeth into the kitchen.

“I just became a Queen a few weeks ago. Before that, I was a college student.”

“You were a Princess,” Palmer said.

“Technically, yes, but also not really.” She opened the refrigerator. “Did you know that my mother wasn’t royalty? She and my father met when they were at university.”

“I think I read that somewhere.”

“She grew up here,” Elizabeth said, pulling out a few items to make them a meal.

“Here, as in…”

“This house,” Elizabeth explained. “This house belonged to my grandparents. The neighbors I mentioned before are actually my cousins, on my mom’s side.”

“She grew uphere?”

“She did. They all shared this one-bedroom house together until she went to university. Then, she met my father and moved into the palace after they got married. When my grandfather died, my dad inherited the throne, and he moved her parents and siblings into a nicer place owned by the family. But my mom kept this place, and when I went off to school, she told me I could live here.”

“Humble beginnings,” Palmer said. “Can I help at all?”

“No, you can just sit over there and stay out of my way,” Elizabeth replied, offering Palmer a playful smile.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Palmer replied sarcastically.

“You can better ask your questions over there.”

“If I’m asking questions, I need my notebook and pen. One second.”

Elizabeth began working on their meal as she waited for Palmer to return. When she did, Elizabeth glanced over at the woman who was opening her notebook to a fresh page and removing the cap from her pen.

“That’s a fancy pen,” she noted.

“It was a gift. I love this pen. It might be the best gift I’ve ever gotten,” Palmer replied. “Well, that I’ve ever gotten from non-royalty.”

“Right.” Elizabeth laughed a little.

“Tell me about your mom,” Palmer requested, and Elizabeth realized this was now the interview.

“On the record?”

“If you don’t mind,” Palmer said.

“I don’t,” Elizabeth replied. “My mother was an amazing woman. We were so lucky to have her as our mother. She somehow had this way of making being royal – which isn’t always a good thing – fun or not as claustrophobic as it can feel, while also teaching us how important it was to do our duty to our country.”

“But you said she didn’t grow up royal.”