Mr Wolf and the White Princess

Chapter Twelve

Later that evening the White Princess sits nervously in an upstairs parlour room in BuckinghamPalace waiting for Mr Wolf to conclude the final arrangements before they go out to greet their guests.

She can hear the hubbub of a large crowd gathering in the reception hall downstairs before they come up the vast double marble stairs to the ballroom. They have made every effort to live up to the G-Gnome’s call to hold a party to end all parties.

‘Not long now,’ she says timidly to her four friends, Prudence, Honour, Dignititia and Rectitudia as they play patience, do tapestries and sip tea from bone china cups. Like her they are dressed in ancien regime evening gowns but none outshines hers.

The White Princess wears the most magnificent of court dresses from the zenith of formal fashion. It is a veritable canvas to display the seamstresses’ art.

The formal open-fronted floor length gown is made of ivory woven silk and has matching petticoats and sleeves to the elbows. It is decorated in the French rococo style with a Tree of Life design heavily embroidered in silver filé thread, stitched in frisé, strip, purl and spangles. The pattern is densest at the hem of the petticoat with an almost solid ground of swags and trellis filling. The silk has a figured design of vertical leafy stripes, which glisten in the light and act as a rich counterfoil to the pronounced trimmings.

Her white hair is piled up high as usual and adorned with lace, silk bows, white flowers, ostrich feathers and strings of pearls. A pearl choker and a folding fan hanging at her elbow complete the sumptuous yet elegant ensemble.

However, the princess is not as composed as her outfit might imply. She quickly pulls the dandelion clock from her hair and winces as she sees that it is nearly all gone.

 ‘Ah, my dear,’ the wolf makes her jump as he sweeps into the room, ‘all is ready and we can now proceed to welcome our guests!’

‘Oh Mr Wolf! The clock is nearly gone,’ she says holding up the dandelion, ‘But I cannot think how this party will help to prevent the final phase of Project Darkness, even if we knew what that entailed.’

The wolf smiles charmingly, ‘Neither do I my dear but we are doing all we can and what can’t be done must stay. I think I had better take that clock off you, it is bad for your blood pressure.’ He takes it from her hand and tucks it into his jacket.

Predictably Mr Wolf is in his element awaiting the party with confidence and enthusiasm. He has been hard at work all day with an army of footmen and cooks from the palace getting the party ready. The princess was able to persuade the palace butler that the party was a matter of national urgency and he generously agreed to help.

The wolf stands back to admire her dress, ‘My, my, you look a treat my dear. I could eat you!’

‘Oh thank you,’ she blushes.

He turns to her four friends, ‘And ladies you look charming as well,’ he says thinking to himself, ‘Lighten up honies, it’s a party not an execution.’