Chapter Text
It was late winter of 1987 and The Princess Royal, Princess Anne was joining her parents, Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip, for dinner at Buckingham Palace one Thursday evening, as she did not feel like driving back to Gatcombe for the long weekend as she had been given a free day of engagements the next day. Additionally, she did not particularly care to spend the weekend alone as the kids would be joining Mark at his family’s homestead for a weekend of festivities that, ironically enough, she had been uninvited to attend. She was not particularly upset over the notion, but the thought of driving back to an empty house was not a pleasant one. Being that she had to be in London on Monday for engagements, she felt she would just stay the extended weekend.
At the behest of her cousin, The Duke of Kent, he suggested that she pay a visit to The Historic Dockyard in Chatham. Due to her love of sailing, he felt she may find the place interesting. And, since she detested having much down time, she decided that she may take a venture down to see what the fuss was all about.
“Papa, do you think you’d be able to join me if we went tomorrow or possibly Saturday for a day trip?” she questioned with some hesitation while they were eating dinner in a small family dining room.
“Tomorrow? As in Friday? This weekend?” he replied in between bites of food.
“Yes, I don’t have any engagements tomorrow nor plans this weekend, as I’m staying in town, so I figured I may as well go to Chatham and check this out to give The Duke of Kent my thoughts as he asks me every time if I’ve been.”
She chose to ask her father to join her as she thought he may enjoy it, plus it would give the two of them some quality time to spend together something that they did not often do as much as she had hoped.
“Well, Sweetie, unfortunately, I can’t. I’m due to leave early in the morning to head up to Balmoral for the weekend to do some hunting with some of my former Naval colleagues. If we didn’t already have that planned, I would gladly join you.”
Queen Elizabeth could tell Anne was disappointed, yet she knew that she would never admit to it. Since it would not be an ‘official’ visit, Anne would be free to drive herself without security, and while The Queen knew her daughter was well-capable of navigating and taking care of herself, she felt that she may enjoy some company and truth be told, she did not necessarily want her making the trip solo.
“Why don’t you ask Lt. Commander Laurence to join you?” Queen Elizabeth suggested.
Anne’s eyes slightly blared, but she quickly recovered. Why on earth is she suggesting I take the equerry with me to Chatham? She thought internally. Sure, she knew who he was as during his time at the Palace, she had spent some time talking with him, but it was merely small talk. Albeit the more she thought about it, she realized she rarely spent that much time chatting with other members of the staff, yet with him she felt an ease that if she needed to, which she had not yet done, she could share anything with him, and he would listen. Which is clearly something Mark does not do, she thought again to herself.
If she were honest with herself, dare she admit that she may have a slight attraction to the Lt. Commander as he was dashingly handsome. There was no way her mother had picked up on this notion because if she had, she clearly would not be suggesting she take him along for the day. So, the notion of her own mother suggesting this somewhat took her by surprise, and she felt Her Majesty may have an ulterior motive.
“You want me to ask your military equerry to join me?”
“Well, he is a naval man. He could be of good use if anyone there starts asking questions about anything related to the Royal Navy and their lifeboats and such.”
“Are you suggesting that I don’t know anything about ships myself?” Anne replied. “Additionally, this is an unofficial visit, so I won’t be needing a babysitter nor protection detail.”
Prince Philip chuckled while sipping some of his beverage before he decided to chime in.
“I think your mother is right,” he stopped as he was instantly interrupted.
“YOU think I should take the equerry, too, Papa?”
“He has a name,” Queen Elizabeth interrupted.
“Yes, I know Lieutenant Commander Tim Laurence. I do know who he is mother. How can you miss him? He’s the tallest person that works in Buckingham. Hell, he’s probably the tallest person in the United Kingdom if truth be told. Do you not trust me to be able to drive to Chatham on my own and enjoy my day there? What if I wanted to do some shopping or some other sightseeing? I cannot see him wanting to join me for such frivolous things, although truth be told, I cannot see myself doing that either,” she added as an afterthought.
Queen Elizabeth looked toward her husband as if asking for help as she merely rolled her eyes in response.
“It’s not that we don’t trust you, sweetheart, and it has nothing to do with your not being capable of driving to/from, as I know you do it from Gatcombe. However, you know I will always be concerned for your safety, but I just thought maybe you’d enjoy the company. Not to mention, I believe the Lt. Commander was already scheduled to head that direction for Mr. Hesterline anyways. We must deliver an award to a retired Naval hero who was unable to come to Buckingham to accept it in person. I had suggested it be personally delivered by someone, so if you’re desiring to go to Chatham, you may could ride together.”
It was not that Anne minded riding along with or having the Lt. Commander join her, but the audacity of her own mother suggesting it, well it was rather unusual to Anne. The more she sat and pondered over it, the more she realized that maybe it would not be a bad idea to get to know him a little better. He was always so quiet around Buckingham that she wondered how he would be away from the office. Reluctantly she glanced toward her father who only raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” Anne finally conceded. “But am I just supposed to go randomly ask him if he wants to join me because I am not quite sure how he would respond to that.”
Philip laughed aloud as he was trying to mentally picture his daughter asking the quiet and stoic Lt. Commander if he wanted to join her for a non-work-related day trip.
“Philip!” Queen Elizabeth scolded. “I’ll take care of it, Anne,” she responded while standing from the table and walking away heading into her room.
“This is going to be a fiasco,” Anne muttered under her breath.
“Sweetie, I don’t think it will be,” Philip responded and watched as she raised both eyebrows while eating a piece of dessert as if she were asking ‘how so’. “He’s a Royal Naval officer, and well, you know we Royal Navy men are always dutiful and occasionally we can have a good time.”
“You are incorrigible,” Anne replied.
“He’s a true gentleman, Anne. I think you’ll probably enjoy the dockyard better with someone who appreciates ships and sailing than either by yourself or with someone, like your husband, who has no clue about anything relating to the water.”
She could not help but smirk. “Good point,” she added and smiled. “It’s just a day trip, so what will it hurt, right?”
“Precisely!” Philip added while standing and stacking a few of the dishes together. “You may have more fun than you can imagine.”
Anne rolled her eyes and was about to add something else, but her mother re-entered the room.
“I just spoke with the Lt. Commander. He said that he would be glad to join you on your day trip, if you’d be so gracious to allow him to make that stop to deliver the award?”
Anne’s eyebrows both raised simultaneously. “You mean I can drive my own car, and he’s willing to ride with me?”
Philip again chuckled. “Heaven help the poor boy,” he muttered under his breath before catching glares from both the women in his lives.
“Yes, unless you prefer to drive one of our vehicles or he can borrow one and drive the both of you?”
“No, I’d be more comfortable with my own vehicle,” Anne quickly replied.
“Perfect. He’ll be ready whenever you decide to leave. You know he shows up to work far earlier than anyone else, so I’m sure you can find him in his office.”
They ended up spending a few more moments reflecting on the day before they parted ways for the remainder of the evening. Anne left the room shaking her head in disbelief that not only did she have a day off, but she was going to enjoy that with Lt. Commander Laurence. She was not sure how to really wrap her mind around that. At least if the press or anyone else got wind of it, she knew it could be passed off that she was going on a visit on behalf of The Queen, as she had been asked to award the medal to this retiree. So, while it was still an ‘unofficial’ visit that did not require her detail, if anyone questioned her being with the military equerry, they had a reason for why.