C2206 On June 14, 1953, twelve days after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Group Captain Peter Townsend was summoned to the office of Sir Alan Lascelles, the Queen's private secretary. Lascelles was 65 years old and had served the crown for 32 years across four monarchs. He had a reputation for cold precision. That morning, … Read more
Ten let jsem byla tvoje záda, ale ty ses nikdy neotočil, abys mi podíval do tváře. Nejprv musím říct, že jsem se jmenovala Abigail Stone a bylo mi osmadvacet, když jsem si konečně přiznala, co mi celou dobu docházelo. Že jsem pro ně nikdy nebyla dcera, sestra, člověk. Byla jsem bankomat. A když jsem to … Read more
Byla jsem to já, kdo stál uprostřed toho obýváku v tom novém modrém šatech, které jsem si koupila speciálně na tenhle den. Bylo mi osmadvacet a konečně jsem chtěla, aby se všichni dívali na mě. Jenom na mě. Naplánovala jsem to všechno do posledního detailu: objednala jsem dort s vanilkovou polevou, vybrala jsem si playlist … Read more
In October 2002, a 66-year-old woman entered the witness box at Court Number One of the Old Bailey in London. She leaned on a walking stick, her gray hair neat, her hands not entirely steady as she placed them on the rail. She had traveled from a small island off the west coast of Scotland … Read more
The photographs arrived at Balmoral the way newspapers always did there, folded and ironed and laid out on a side table in a room where fires burned even in August. It was August 20, 1992. Sarah Ferguson was staying at the castle with her two small daughters. She was still legally the Duchess of York, … Read more
Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, spent her final years in a small room at Buckingham Palace. She wore the plain gray habit of the nursing order she had founded in Athens and owned almost nothing beyond two suitcases. She smoked constantly, refused most medical attention, and watched the palace … Read more
She did not break in at night. She did not pick locks, forge documents, or disguise herself as a cook to slip through the service entrance. She simply admired something beautiful. She made it clear that she admired it, and then she waited with the patience of a woman who knew that patience, combined with … Read more
On the evening of April 23, 1964, in a flat above the Courtauld Institute overlooking Portman Square, a 56-year-old man stood silently at a tall window. His name was Anthony Blunt, a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. Across the room stood Arthur Martin, an officer of MI5, … Read more
La sonnerie de mon téléphone a fait vibrer la table de la cuisine, et j’ai tout de suite su que ce n’était pas un numéro que je connaissais. C’était il y a deux mois, un mardi soir, et je finissais de ranger la vaisselle en écoutant Jessica me raconter sa journée. Une brève seconde d’hésitation, … Read more
Elle m’a humilié devant ses amis. « Tu n’es même pas capable de me satisfaire, alors subvenir à mes besoins, n’en parlons pas. » J’ai souri, j’ai réglé ma part de l’addition et je suis parti. Cette nuit-là, elle est venue en pleurant, mais c’est ma nouvelle copine qui lui a ouvert la porte. Je … Read more