“We didn’t want to wait, for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one...” She took a deep breath. “Queen Margherita passed a couple of hours ago. This isn’t public information yet, and I need to ask both of you not to say anything - to anyone - until the announcements have been made and communiques have been sent out.
“Wait.” Her brother was the first one to speak. “Queen Margherita is no longer with us, Enzo is king, and...you’requeen?” The tone was surprised not incredulous, which made her feel a little better.
“Queen Consort, but yes.” Victoria needed to make the distinction, though she knew she didn’t need to for them to understand the ramifications.
“Wow. That’s a lot to take in.” Frederick continued to speak. “If you’re happy, I’m happy for you. That’s sure to strain a relationship so close to the beginning. How is Enzo doing?”
“I’m not sure. As I understand it, this wasn’t unexpected, but she hadn’t been ill long. And no, I don’t know what happened.” Victoria hoped she didn’t come across as having an attitude. She meant no disrespect, but really didn’t know.
“Thank you for letting us know, Kiki.” The sound of sympathy in his voice made her feel a little better. “Please contact us when you know more about arrangements or if there’sanything else we can do to assist either one of you in anyway.” The words were something he’d say officially, but his tone sounded like a concerned older brother.
“I’ll talk to you soon. I love you both.”
“We love you, Victoria.” Her mum spoke for both of them.
After disconnecting the call, Victoria set the phone on the table in front of her.
It had gone as well as it could have. Catching them off-guard, especially so soon after Queen Margherita's passing, probably had something to do with it. They wouldn't tell anyone until official announcements had been made. Frederick would likely be a bit conflicted. As king, if he knew information of national importance, he had a duty to pass that information along to the appropriate members of the administration.
But the only reason he knew the information because he was also her brother.
It would only be a matter of hours, if that, before the official notifications came out. If it went much longer, he wouldn't have much of a choice - and she wouldn't have put him in that position in the first place.
The protocol officer quietly reentered the room.
"They'll keep the information to themselves for a few hours at least," Victoria told him. "I won't ask them to do that for long. Please make sure Frederick is as high on the list of notifications as possible."
The officer sat down and made a note on his tablet. "I believe Southern Santiero is in the second round of notifications, after the Commonwealth. He's probably the first on the list of the second round. The king will make the notification himself."
Victoria gave a nod. She couldn’t ask for more than that.
The first roundof calls was finished.
At least the ones he had to make himself.
There were two sets of lists. Ones for him and ones for other people. The Prime Minister or Chairman of the Council would be making the other first round calls.
Once all of the official calls were made, by whichever party, staffers would begin making the other notifications as necessary - including the media. None of the calls lasted more than a few minutes so it wouldn’t take long.
No one knew his mum had been ill - or at least not gravely ill. She'd been "under the weather" for the better part of two months, but the public hadn't been told anything about the seriousness of it.
It would catch them off-guard.
He remembered keeping an eye on the media when Queen Elizabeth II passed. Though no one knew for certain when it would happen, it wasn't a surprise. Many members of her family rushed to her side. Online speculation ran rampant in the hours leading up to the announcement, which came about three-and-a-half hours after she passed. His mum wouldn't have garnered the same worldwide attention, but in their country - and the Commonwealth at large - it would have been of great interest.
With a sigh, Enzo leaned forward and picked up the handset of his phone when it buzzed.
Time to talk to his new brother-in-law.
"Frederick?" The call should have been connected already.
"You have my deepest sympathies, Vincenzo."
He already knew?
“Kiki called a little while ago," the other king explained. "No one here knows except myself and Mum and won't until you've finished with official notifications."
"Thank you." Enzo pinched the bridge of his nose. "I suppose you know better than anyone what this is like."
