DH:
King Edward "
Ned"
Stephen George Buchanan
DW:
Queen Héloïse Marion Juliette Louise (Durand) Buchanan
-DS:
Prince Cyril William Henry Buchanan
--DW:
Princess Graciela Isabel (Fernández) Buchanan
--DD:
Princess Alicia Jeanette Celia Buchanan
-DS:
Prince Elias Matthew James Buchanan
--DW:
Princess Johanna Milena Lea (Nordin) Buchanan
--DS:
Prince Thomas Victor Stephen Buchanan
-DS:
Prince Arthur John Louis Buchanan
-DD:
Princess Alice Clara Sophie Buchanan
After 3 more years of bloody conflict, the war with
France ends in a stalemate.
Cyril and
Elias return home safely, if a little shaken by the scenes of horror that they've seen. Upon their return, the Princes begin to participate more fully in the court life; they aren't children anymore (I have severely messed up their ages, but oh well!).
Arthur and
Alice are very jealous of their older brothers' newfound freedom.
Cyril begins to accompany
Ned on more state visits, and he shows himself to be a rather dutiful future monarch. However, he's still a young man, and one night, during a trip to Spain, he sneaks out past his guard, and spends a night in the nearby town, and meets
Graciela. She's two years older than him, 27, and working as a waitress in a pub which he goes into. Sparks fly between the two, although they have to communicate in a messy mixture of English and Spanish, and a week later, when
Cyril has to return home, he leaves her the address of a friend from the army instead of his own to write to. It takes him four more months to tell his by now girlfriend that he's actually the heir to the throne of Britain.
Gracie (as
Cyril calls her), a remarkably calm young woman, takes it in her stride. After another year of courtship,
Cyril finally tells his father and asks for permission to propose.
Ned knows the marriage isn't a politically sound one, but he wants his son to be happy, and so allows the marriage. A month after the event,
Princess Alicia is born; no one is sure whether she will be allowed to reign as monarch after her father, or if she will be pushed aside by the birth of a younger brother.
Elias, meanwhile, finds love at a ball at the palace.
Johanna is the oldest daughter of a powerful Swedish nobleman, and
Ned is only too happy to give the couple his blessing;
Johanna is an intelligent young lady, fluent in 3 languages besides Swedish, and thoroughly sensible to boot. She clicks with
Graciela - both are clever, capable, calm women, and
Gracie is right by
Johanna's side all through her difficult first pregnancy. Everyone is delighted when she gives birth to a little boy,
Thomas, who is a year younger than
Alicia.
This message was edited 4/17/2017, 12:46 PM