To Crown It All (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

"Chapter 1 April 19, 1937 Eynsleigh, Sussex Only one month until the coronation. Golly, how exciting. It's strange because we all expected to see my cousin David crowned as Edward VIII, but instead it's his brother Bertie who is going to be called King George VI. People are sure he'll make a mess of it, but I think he'll do splendidly when the time comes. Just because he stutters when he's nervous doesn't mean he's not a good strong person. And his wife Elizabeth is a force to be reckoned with. I loved the way she dealt with Mrs. Simpson (who is now the Duchess of Windsor and I hope she's enjoying not being a queen living in France). I was standing, staring at my wardrobe, fighting back a sinking feeling of doom. Ever since the invitation arrived from the palace, summoning us to Westminster Abbey for the coronation there had only been one thought on my mind. What on earth was I going to wear? I know you are thinking that as a duke's daughter and a relative of the new king I should be wearing my peer's robes and coronet. But you see my husband Darcy, although the son of a lord, is only an honorable and thus not entitled to robes or coronet. He doesn't see a problem. He has a perfectly good morning suit which is what one wears if not a peer, and in which he looks extremely handsome. "It doesn't matter what you wear, old thing," he said, giving me a reassuring pat on the behind. "You look nice in whatever you wear." Then he added a sting in the tail of this compliment by saying, "And nobody's going to be looking at you anyway.""-- Provided by publisher.