Chapter Text
December 1986
Exiting the smaller church and school outside of London, Princess Anne, who was accompanying her parents on an engagement mumbled under her breath “I despise these things” as she followed closely behind them to where a throng of citizens had gathered behind the barricades outside of the establishment hoping to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty, The Queen. Yesterday, at the last minute, Queen Elizabeth had decided to add a small walkabout after their visit of the church/school where they had been invited to attend a small Christmas festival. To the dismay of Prince Philip and Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth wanted to take a few moments to speak with some citizens prior to the holiday season. She figured this would be an ideal location, and they only had to briefly talk to a few people before they could return to Buckingham Palace for the remainder of their day and any other engagements, they had to partake in.
All things considered the festival was not half as bad as she had suspected, but Anne had never been overly fond of the walkabouts. While she did not mind socializing with people, she did not want to engage in handshakes, as she personally always felt bad that she would be unable to greet every single person. Contrary to what most people thought, she did have a heart and never wanted to intentionally leave anyone out, so she had developed a no-contact policy. Yet that policy caught her in the crosshairs of many, especially those who adored her sisters-in-law, Princess Diana and Sarah, the Duchess of York. Nonetheless, she adhered to her own standards and tried to push aside the comments that had been aimed at her.
As Anne made her way around greeting the various individuals and collecting an array of flowers and other trinkets that they wanted to give to her or her mother, she made small chat about the holidays, weather or whatever other topic may be on hand. Her lady-in-waiting would come to her aid quickly when she was being inundated with flowers and items which were relocated back to the awaiting vehicles. Most of the flowers would be donated to hospitals or used in various locations throughout the Palace. Anne was about to turn when a small little blonde girl caught her eye. For a brief second, Anne thought it was her daughter, Zara, but quickly realized that was not the case. She inched toward where the little girl stood and noticed she was extending her arm toward her. Anne stopped and bent down making eye contact with the small child. In her hand, she held a stuffed animal.
“This is for you, Princess Anne,” the small child barely whispered and extended the animal to her. “I hope you like penguins.”
Anne could not help but allow a large smile to break out across her face. She took the animal from the little girl’s hand and nodded her head.
“Thank you. I like penguins very much. Are you sure you want me to have this?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am, please. I wanted to give you a present for Christmas, so I picked this out all by myself.”
Deep inside, Anne wanted to reach out and hug the child as she was very touched by the kind gesture, yet she knew she would not do such a thing.
“Well, thank you very much, sweetheart. I shall make sure Mr. Penguin is greatly taken care of. I may even keep him in my office at Buckingham Palace.”
She gathered a few more bouquets of flowers and watched as the little girl bounced up and down gleefully. At times, Anne struggled with the reality that to these folks she was The Princess, yet in so many regards, she felt like she was just a normal human as they were. Many days, she wished she were just like these folks standing behind a barricade and looking at someone famous. She wished she could be on the other side of the fence – behind the lenses and not having people prying into her life. If they only knew that being a Princess was not always what it was cracked up to be. She had her own struggles and personal pains, yet she had to put on a good front and keep smiling while hiding in the shadow of her pain, in particular the pain associated with a failing marriage and an unfaithful husband. She only ever wanted someone to love her and listen to her. To be her life companion. While the sexual life was a plus, she wanted someone to grow old with, to laugh with, to share stories and adventures with – she only wanted someone to be with her for her as Anne and not for her as her title. She had hoped that would have been what Mark would have been like, but how quickly that had changed, if it ever was there to begin with.
She shook her head bringing herself back to reality and realized someone was standing close behind her. Turning she caught the eyes of someone who was fast becoming a strong confidante in her life – her mother’s newest equerry, Lieutenant Commander Tim Laurence. He had only been working at Buckingham for maybe two months, but in that short time, she had never met someone so considerate, thoughtful, and dedicated. He was willing to lend her a hand and always willing to listen. And dare she say he was very, very easy on the eyes. Extremely tall, well-built, dark hair, piercing green eyes – she had to catch herself nearly every time she saw him because she was slowly becoming infatuated with him as he has a charming capability unlike any other.
“Can I help you with those, ma’am?” he questioned and nodded toward the overflowing bouquets in her arms.
“Yes, please,” she gratefully replied turning her back on the crowd to face him while transferring some of the flowers into his thoughtful care. “Having a good time, Lt. Commander?”
He stared blankly at her before replying in his rich tone. “Truthfully, I’d rather be on a boat somewhere sailing around the British Isles.”
“Only if I’m right there beside you,” she had replied before she meant to which elicited an arched eyebrow in response from him. While she did mean it, she had not dared let her façade down with him previously in that manner. They both were aware of their shared passion for sailing, as they had spent many an hour discussing that amongst other things, but that’s all that it was – talking and sharing.
He eyed her intently for a moment, almost as if he were devouring her whole. He desperately wanted to reply something to her comment, but for now, he let it slide considering they were in a public setting with her parents mere feet away from them. Instead, he allowed a boyish grin to creep across his face, and he cocked his head to the side before questioning.
“A penguin?”
She chuckled in response. “Yes, a sweet little girl gave me a penguin for Christmas. It may be the best and possibly only present I get this year,” she let it hang for a moment and studied him. “You know, you kind of remind me of a penguin.”
“Me?” he said and then laughed. “Matter of fact, I do like penguins. I believe I would likely be an Emperor Penguin, if I say so myself.”
She smirked wickedly at him. “A little proud, are we?” she asked before handing the penguin over to him, too. “Don’t hurt Mr. Penguin. He will be going back to Buckingham with me,” she said and watched as he smiled perfectly in response before heading toward the car and handing the items over to her lady-in-waiting.
As Tim turned back and glanced toward the crowd, something caught his attention. He could not help but study something a bit longer, as he noticed a man’s eyes which were glued to Princess Anne. Every movement she made; his eyes followed her. It was not a typical way to watch someone either. There was something sinister and alarming with this man’s antics. Without taking his eyes off the man, Tim stepped over to where some of the additional security team was standing and referred to this individual. Immediately, their eyes all landed upon him, as well. Before Tim could even rationalize what he was doing, he found himself walking in the general direction of where Anne stood with her hands filled with flowers again. As he neared her, he glanced back in the direction of where the man stood and watched in horror as the man pulled a gun from his side and raised it.
“GUN!” Tim shouted and lunged in Anne’s direction.