The Crown

38. Summer fair

Victoria strolled along the house grounds that had now been turned into a magnificent summer fair to help raise funds for the wall to be fixed. Streamers hung from the trees and along the stalls in yellow and red to represent the sun. Each stall sold either food or clothing that belonged to either herself or Johnathan that they no longer needed. A court jester made his way around bring joy to everyone as the smaller children of the house followed behind him giggling. One child found it hilarious that they could get so close to the court jester they could stab him with their wooden sword which made the rest of the group erupt in bigger fits of giggles when the Court jester yelped out in pain. All of the servants were on stalls making sure everything was perfect as her majesty walked the grounds. At precisely 12 o'clock the fair was open to everyone and within minutes the grounds were full of happy people. She watched as all the paddle boats were occupied on the lake and a few parents sat on her favourite bench overlooking the ducks with a nice cup of juice in one hand and a biscuit in another. Johnathan was being passed around by most of the household doing the rounds smiling and giggling like the cute little prince he was of the family.

Victoria ended up at the stand with Johnathan's clothes and smiled as it reminded her of when Johnathan was first born. Sure he was born out of spite and corruption of the court but he was still her beautiful angel haired boy. Touching one of the knitted blankets a lady touched her arm.

"Excuse me are you Queen Teller?" She asked and Victoria nodded politely

"Why yes I am and these are Prince Johnathan's old clothing that are all for sale." I say and she frowns

"If you are the actual Queen why are you walking around the fair like a normal peasant?" The lady asked

"I am still not used to all these royal rules since it has all been a whirlwind. so I guess in my mind I am still like everyone else." Victoria said and the lady nodded understanding her

"How much is that blanket then?" The lady questioned

"I believe one gold piece." Victoria said as the lady searched through her bag.

" never mind." the lady said and began to walk away from the stand but Victoria grabbed her arm and handed her the blanket.

"take it , I don't need it and your child will get more use out of it anyway. It just sits in the cupboard of the nursery otherwise." Victoria says and the lady shakes her head.

"No your majesty I cant take such an offer without paying." the lady said but Victoria was not giving up.

"Please you deserve it regardless of if you can pay or not." Victoria pressed and the lady gave in realising that she couldn't hurt the Queen's feelings.

"If you say so your majesty you are rather generous." The lady said and walked away

That interaction made her realise that the lower class of society are not as well of as she once thought. Seeing the woman struggle for a gold piece made her realise these people don't have a decent standard of living pay. Even though they seem so happy in her grounds when they leave their lives are a very different tale. They don't go back to a house where they are waited on by countless servants and maids. They don't have the luxury of beautiful dress or clothes. After many different people have told her she doesn't act like a proper royal Queen she finally realises why. The royals are usually stuck up like the previous monarch of House Demure before he passed away. The royals were usually full of money and known for debauchery. But , Victoria wasn't. She wanted to help people, treat them as equals and take herself off of the royal pedestal that every royal mostly enjoys. She wanted to simple continue her life as normally as possible and to give Johnathan the most normal childhood he could ever have whilst they were still royals in the crown wars. It made her realise that the next crown wars would be difficult as they are already being continually targeted because of the people's love for this miss matched band they call House Demure. Times were about to fully change and Victoria was ready to be the face of it.