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“I’m no speechwriter, but I’d say acknowledge that.”

“Acknowledge it?” Elizabeth turned to her.

“Yeah. If there’s an elephant in the room, I always think it’s better just to say it. There’s no point in hiding it when everyone knows it’s there, right?”

“What do you suggest I do?”

“You can either come down hard and tell them you’re here to stay, and they need to get used to it, or you can risk asking their opinion.”

“What do you mean?”

“Tell them about the history of the monarchy in St.Rais. Explain about the money; how you make your own and give back to the community. Tell them you understand how some people don’t think a monarchy here is relevant, but you are, and give them the reasons why.”

“We’ve done that before.”

Palmer stood up abruptly and asked, “Have you ever asked them?”

“Ask them what?”

“Elizabeth, if you had to live without a title, without being a Queen, would you want to?”

“I want to support my country, my people, but I don’t care about titles. The title just allows me the opportunity to do that.”

“And if that was taken away?”

“I’d feel like I let my family down, but if that’s what the people wanted, I don’t think I’d have a choice. It’s important to me that if there is a monarchy, the nation can at least in part agree that it should be here.”

“I have a crazy idea that will likely make Rebecca and everyone else around you want to send me back to the States immediately and never let you talk to me again, but if you’re up for listening to it, I think you might like it.”

CHAPTER 25

They’d stayed up most of the night reworking Elizabeth’s Christmas address speech to include Palmer’s crazy idea. At first, Elizabeth worried that the three whiskeys she downed and the bottle of wine Palmer drank might have been clouding their judgment. Then, she’d woken before Palmer and read it again, her mind sober and alert.

“Well?” Palmer asked.

She’d appeared behind the sofa and leaned over the back of it, placing her head right next to Elizabeth’s, who could feel her warm breath that was minty fresh thanks to the toothbrushing she’d just done in Elizabeth’s bathroom.

“It’s still crazy.”

“But?”

“But… I have to get it approved by about a million people.”

“You’re the Queen; you’re in charge.”

“Not really. You know that’s not how it works,” Elizabeth said as Palmer walked around the sofa and sat down next to her. “I have very little actual power. Parliament is involved here. So is the Prime Minister. Plus, this risks Victoria and David’s titles as well as the titles of any of their children and their children’s children.”

“Do you think Victoria will care?”

“I don’t know, honestly. This hasn’t ever been something we’ve discussed.”

“Is that all that worries you?” Palmer asked.

“No,” Elizabeth replied. “But we don’t have time to go into all my worries right now. You have a plane to catch, Miss Honeycutt.”

“Oh, we’re back to that, huh?” Palmer laughed.

“I don’t think there is any going back, Palmer,” she said.