BRODERICK PARK • LYKKE • MORNING
Kareeda: Your Royal Highness, the Youth Foundation visit will draw press. Expect questions on Mt. Komorebi, particularly about secrecy and funding.
Princess Lara: And I’m to answer for the Crown’s transparency while my sister remains silent?
Prince Anthony: (quietly, steady) You’re not answering for her. You’re showing them she trusts you. That matters.
Princess Lara: (exhales, glancing at the folder) I agreed to support the Foundation, not play human shield.
Kareeda: Deflection, Countess. Redirect to the children, the programs, the community. Let the story write itself.
- - - - - MID-MORNING - - - - -
WINDENBURG PRIVATE MEDICAL CENTRE • EASTON •
Dr. Webber: (low, measured) Your heart’s been under considerable strain, Alfred. The tests confirm what I suspected — cardiomyopathy. We can manage it for a time, but I must advise against long hours… or stress.
Alfred: (quiet smile) I serve the Queen. That is stress by definition.
Dr. Webber: It’s not a suggestion, old friend. It’s a warning.
Alfred: How long before it begins to show?
Dr. Webber: Soon. Fatigue, breathlessness. You’ll know.
Alfred: (stands) Then we won’t speak of it again. Thank you, Doctor.
- - - - - LATE MORNING - - - - -
BUCKINGSIM PALACE • EASTON
[Palace staff]: (cheerful) Good to see you back, Mr. Culpepper. All well at the clinic?
Alfred: (faint smile) A simple checkup. They say I’m indestructible.
Voiceover: (Alfred, soft, introspective) A palace never stops. One must learn to move like its clockwork — quietly, perfectly, until the springs begin to slip.
- - - - - LATE MORNING - - - - -
EVERGREEN HARBOR • YOUTH FOUNDATION • MAYFIELD •
Reporter 1: Countess, does the Crown still deny the Mt. Komorebi claims?
Reporter 2: Isn’t the public owed the truth?
Princess Lara: (calm, firm) I’m here for the children of Evergreen Harbor, not speculation. This Foundation is their voice.
- - - - - AFTERNOON - - - - -
BUCKINGSIM PALACE • THE QUEEN'S DRESSING ROOM •
Queen Rowena: Your father and I attended this performance nearly every year. The curtains rise, the music swells… and the sims see their monarch seated among them. Tradition is theatre — and theatre binds a nation.
Queen Katherine: (low, doubtful) And yet the world is no longer bound by theatre, Mama. Does any of it matter now?
Queen Rowena: (sharp, measured) Tradition is a reminder that the Crown endures even as fashions change. Tonight, your presence is the message, not the ballet.
- - - - - LATE AFTERNOON - - - - -
BUCKINGSIM PALACE • PALACE CORRIDOR •
Lady Delilah: (quietly) Your Majesty, the program remains unchanged — you and Her Royal Highness will arrive together, meet the Chairman, then attend the reception before curtain.
Queen Katherine: (nods) And the press line?
Lady Delilah: Restricted. Only the Palace pool reporter and one from the Easton Gazette.
Princess Lara: I hope I haven’t kept you waiting. Anthony was cornered by one of his gallery investors and—
Queen Katherine: (smiling faintly) —And you rescued him, no doubt.
Princess Lara: Barely. He’s decided to display a portrait of Granny. Says it’s “good for provenance.”
Lady Delilah: Your car is at the front, Ma’am.
Queen Katherine: (to Lara, softly as they walk) You’ve handled yourself well with the press lately. I know it isn’t easy.
Princess Lara: They’ve found new stories to chase. For now.
Queen Katherine: (quietly) For now. That’s why we go together tonight. We show them the Crown moves as one.
Princess Lara: (smiles) Even if the Countess prefers the back row?
Queen Katherine: Especially then.
- - - - - LATE NIGHT - - - - -
BUCKINGSIM PALACE • THE QUEEN'S PRIVATE CHAMBERS •
Queen Katherine: (weary) All evening, I thought not of the stage… but of the eyes upon us. Every smile, every silence weighed.
Prince Rainier: (moving closer) Let them weigh. They’ve always weighed. And still — you endure.
Queen Katherine: Endurance feels less like triumph, more like survival.
Prince Rainier: (gently) Survival is triumph, Kate. Tonight, you carried the crown — and tomorrow, you will again.
𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 | 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 |
