The lady, Grace being the name on her silver pin, hands me off to a guard who escorts me to the room for afternoon tea. We took an elevator down to the first floor and I was instructed to go to the Day Room.
The room was set up with a long, neatly set table.
Large windows lined the walls and gave a stunning view to the gardens. Long silk drapes hung down from the ceiling and vases of extravagant flowers scattered the room.
Golden rimmed plates, cutlery and tea cups lined the tables.
I moved past several girls chatting in anticipation until I reached Harriet who was sitting beside a girl at the table.
I moved to sit opposite Harriet and her friend, who both gave a friendly smiles.
The chairs were made of a dark wood with inbuilt purple velvet cushions.
"Isabelle, hey, this is Lola." Harriet said and I smiled, giving a nod to Harriet's friend who had similar golden blonde hair.
But Lola had a soft face, looking like a younger one in the group.
"Nice to meet you." I say to her, thinking it would be polite and Lola smiled back at me kindly.
"How was your time with the prince?" Lola asks me, her voice timid, and she seemed genuinely interested which was nice.
I smiled, "Good actually, we seemed to get along. Although we didn't seem to get much time." Harriet nods her head in agreement.
"Yeah, the time went super fast." Harriet said and Lola agreed.
The room was bustling with noise and girls were chatting in corners or at the table. After a few minutes nearly all the girls had arrived and it seemed the spots were filling quickly.
Amelia came and sat beside me with a girl on her other side who she was chatting to, Hadley.
One of the last few girls to sit at the table was a girl who was tall, with supermodel long legs. She walked around as if she owned the place and it'd only been a few hours since arriving.
She too was blonde. There was a lot of blonde girls in the group I realised.
The tall blonde girl had been texting furiously on a phone whilst barking at a second girl Ellie, who seemed to follow her around like a puppy.
I found out the tall girl's name was Genevieve, Gen as Amelia calls her.
Harriet said she was a model from London and she had known who she was the second she arrived.
"Her families rich and she's very famous, also seemingly seductive. Gen is in and out of the media each week for a new scandal with a guy." Harriet whispered to Lola and I.
Along with Lola, I looked over at Genevieve and she seemed to be soaking up the attention as she sat in her seat by Ellie, Remy and Indiana.
Once all the seats were filled with girls, Grace came back and stood at the head of the table.
"Now I can properly introduce myself, I am Grace Rolland and I am a royal advisor. I will be managing you girls for the next few weeks so if you have any queries or concerns please don't hesitate to ask." Grace began, looking over each one of us in turn.
One girl sitting on the far end was glancing out the window and was caught out.
"Lady Alexandra, your attention is required." Grace snapped and Alexandra whipped her head around to see why she was called on.
Alexandra had short black, straight hair and thin glasses.
When she saw all the eyes in the room watching her she appeared to shrink a little in her seat and she bowed her head.
Grace addressed the room again, "It is important to remain focused. I know some of you have had a long journey to get here but know it is a privilege to be here, not a right."
After checking everyone was listening she continued, "You will attend dinner later today with the royal family and tomorrow you will participate in a few events in your gemstone houses. You are advised to get to know the other girls in your house, but it is not mandatory."
I looked over to Harriet and noticed something I hadn't before, a purple pin the shape of a diamond. She was in Amethyst house too.
Lola had a different pin though, it was still a gemstone but coloured a vibrant red.
She groaned when she saw Genevieve with the same coloured pin.
Four different coloured pins sat on girls dresses, green, purple, red and blue. Everyone else seemed to be looking to see what group their friends were in.
There were happy squeals and disappointed sighs from many of the girls.
We had five people in our group and I only appeared to have talked to Harriet so far. The other girls in our team were Remy, a brunette and the girl beside her, Indiana, who had bright orange frizzy hair. Yasmin was also in our group, who had braided dark hair tied up neatly behind her.
"You will remain in your groups throughout the competition and participate in activities within your teams. Now I will leave you to get to know your peers and enjoy your afternoon tea." Grace nodded towards us before turning and walking out the door.
As she left several butlers and maids came through the doors with trays of food, hidden under silver cloches.
They quickly placed the trays down along the long table and lifted the lids to reveal loads of pastries and cakes.
Sweet smells filled the room and I could tell everyone was eager to eat, yet we all waited impatiently for the maids to leave.
Once the staff left the room girls began to pick several pieces of food and pile them onto their plates.
I took a lemon tart that smelt so delicious and a chocolate muffin that was decorated with a milk chocolate drizzle and flaky decorations.
Harriet seemed to enjoy her strawberry tart and the blueberry muffin she had chosen. We each had tea poured for us which was delicious.
The tea cups were also golden rimmed and had intricate flower patterns along the edge.
I loved the view of the gardens out the windows, it was really nice to be able to admire the beautiful flowers and fountain sculptures.
Natasha, the girl who was sitting on the other side of me, had her brown hair plaited over her shoulder. She talked to me here and there throughout the meal but spent most of the time chatting to Olive who she appeared to be becoming close friends with.
I enjoyed my lemon tart, as everything tasted freshly baked. It was a pleasant afternoon.
A few girls who said they weren't hungry or were full had already excused themselves.
I decided I didn't want any more to eat so I wiped crumbs from my mouth with the napkin before standing to leave.
I wave by to Harriet and Lola before exiting the Day Room.
Outside the day room I went into the elevator which had a plaque saying the guest rooms were on the next level.
The elevator was shiny and clean, with pristine mirrors I could see myself in, and only took a matter of seconds to take me up a floor.
I walked out, realising thankfully no one was around, so they wouldn't mind if I took my shoes off. So I yanked at the the uncomfortable heels to get them off my feet. Finally getting them off I hooked them over my fingers and covered my bare feet with my dress.
My feet felt so much better after those heels had come off, as they had been aching before.
The carpet felt so nice on my bare toes. I made my way down the halls, passing rooms including the ballroom and throne room in search of the guest rooms.
I didn't know where I was going, so I called out to the next person I saw.
I assumed she was another girl from the competition who had changed dresses, because she was in a stunning navy blue dress with silver jewelry.
"Excuse me, could you help me?" I ask and she turns at my voice, her brown hair flicking back behind her.
The girl looked around 16 maybe 17, and had a cute smile. She looked familiar, so I must have seen her earlier today.
She nods and comes over quickly, "Of course. What do you need?"
I sigh and look around the corridors leading in all directions. "I have no idea where I'm going." I say, flailing my arms about.
The girl seems to notice the shoes I have in my hand, but doesn't make a deal about it.
"You'll be able to find your way around after a while. The shoes annoy me too and I've lived here all my life." She laughs, pulling her dress up to show me her heels.
I step back, shocked. "Wait, your not in the selection?" I ask, feeling embarrassed I had assumed wrong.
Then it clicked. Because she did look similar to him, brown hair, similar eyes.
"No, no, I'm Charlotte." She says with a smile.
I gasp and quickly go down into a curtsey, "Princess Charlotte, I'm sorry." I say apologetically, my face growing hot from embarrassment.
"That's ok, and Charlotte is just fine. It's wonderful to meet you.."
Princess Charlotte stands before me, acting like everything is fine, while I'm silently freaking out.
She was so much more beautiful in real life, radiant. Clearly it ran in the family.
Also, Charlotte wasn't on TV as often as her brother and parents, because last I'd seen of her she was much younger.
"I'm Isabelle." I finish for her, my voice a little shaky.
"Well Isabelle, lets find where you need to be." Princess Charlotte says enthusiastically, linking my arm with hers and walking with me down the corridor.