&&. announcing her royal highness, ( philippa zahia henley ), the ( 29 ) year old ( princess ) of ( switzerland ). she is often confused with ( shanina shaik ). some say that she is ( critical + elitist ), but she is actually ( controlled + caring ). ( OOC: nora / @olimpiacroy )
001. about tag. 002. pinterest. 003. tasks.
BIOGRAPHY.
philippa henley was going to have it all: the title, the fortune, the most enviable perfect life one could achieve in her position. philippa was born in england, the first child and thus heir of the duke of cambridgeshire. it was by no means a measly title. cambridgeshire was and is ( philippa's opinion ) the crown jewel of east anglia, and the home of the country's most revered university.
philippa's father was the duke of cambridgeshire and her mother is a real estate mogul whose family's wealth transcends a few centuries. in other words, philippa is in no way nouveau-riche. this is something that has always truly set her apart from other people in her opinion. she's just a bit better than regular people. the blood in her veins is exceptional, rare.
her upbringing included fancy dinners, horseback riding, ballet, art history, languages... everything was offered to her but not much stuck. the only reason she went near horses ( stinky unpredictable animals ) was because it was where she could meet the girls who were her peers: athletic, mannered and, most importantly, wealthy. she danced ballet until she turned ten and acquired a mind of her own. ballet was boring and she had better things to do than curtsy next to a mirror. history... well, as an adult she has forced herself to learn the things she was expected to know in her teenage years. as for languages... she can only speak her two mother tongues well: english and arabic. she'll pretend to know french and german but with confidence she can only say phrases.
in order to understand philippa's political views, one has to understand what philippa's world looked like: nothing was off-limits, the divide between 'us' and 'them' was crystal clear, the whole world was her oyster. her mother, especially, was into the whole jet set lifestyle and philippa learned how to travel in style from her mother. her father was slightly more reserved when it came to spending compared to her mother, but her father had a looser tongue. much much looser tongue, and from him philippa would learn to scoff at anyone who even uttered the word 'labour'.
to be a philippa in england when arthur windsor sr's illegitimate children began popping up was to be tortured ! every time she was forced to accept yet another poorly mannered street child, she died just a bit inside. antonia was, by far, the worst and curtsying to her nearly made philippa vomit. antonia ives who couldn't even speak properly !
university taught her to be a bit less prejudiced and a bit more progressive. the five years she spent at cambridge molded her personality a notable amount but by no means did they change who she was at her core. she was perfectly happy keeping herself surrounded by carefully selected people who understood what she meant with her looks and knew exactly what 'lovely' was code for. her people made her feel at ease and safe, other people forced her to readjust her behaviour, forced her to hold her tongue, and most importantly made it seem as if there was something wrong with her position of privilege !
philippa clams up easily. she does not like entertaining boring or unimportant conversations. she does not like wasting her time on irrelevant people. she does not like having to avoid landmines with her words. only when she's around people she knows and likes, will she start talking. her dry sense of humour flourishes at a dinner table with a glass of red in her hand. she keeps herself in check so much that when she finally gets to relax and be herself, there's really no stopping her. she's conceited enough to like a bit of limelight every now and then.
childhood, university era... then came adulthood. with adulthood came responsibilities. utilizing private jets 24/7 was not an option anymore, she needed to stay rooted in england for most of the time. she was at every meeting her father was in. she sat through parliamentary hearings and scribbled down notes. she truly applied herself for the first time in her life. for the first time in her life, she felt like she was doing something that mattered. mattered to her. not in the grad scheme of things, she most certainly was not trying to change the world, england or even the way things functioned in her father's duchy. no, no, she was doing something that was very clearly and very directly benefitting her in the long run. she put in the work because she knew the pay off would be invaluable to her once she inherited the title from her father.
then boom ! the english civil war erupted and everything went to shit. picking a side was a no brainer: of course the henleys would support nicole de marquis' daughter. of course the henleys would support king arthur who was king, no matter what leftist idiots were saying. even without the friendships that tied them to king arthur and nicole, they would have picked the side that attempted to preserve the status quo. king arthur was hazardous, there was no denying it, but he understood how things worked in their world. a world of quid-pro-quos. a world of having one's back no matter what. a world where the power was in the hands of those who knew how to use it. a world of inequality.
long story short... the henleys ended up escaping england before seeing what would happen to the ones who had opposed queen antonia. it was not difficult an escape considering her mother family's influence. settling into one of their second homes was a bitter moment but by no means was it uncomfortable.
this was philippa except she had money.
so what is one to do at twenty-seven when her whole world has been turned upside down ? one gets married !
many of philippa's friends ( the ones that were still left, anyways ) called it insanity and a mistake. some thought she had found the catch of the century and applauded her. philippa herself wasn't sure. it was possible that she'd come to regret her decision to marry hans but simultaneously it felt like a good next step. it put her back on the map. it gave her social capital she had never possessed. it gave her a new title. and it gave her life new meaning. she had something to work for. she wanted and she needed hans to win.
philippa decided she'd make hans the most important man in switzerland. with hans on top, who would dare to look down at philippa ? there would come a time when she would have all the enviable connections, all the influence and all the respect of the high society.
