Murder Most Royal

’

‘Wasn’t he?’ Astrid looked surprised. ‘I’m sure he was. He talked about you a lot. He said you were brilliant farmers. Very forward-thinking especially for people of your generation. He said sometimes the older farmers are the best, because you’ve seen everything.’

Philip and the Queen exchanged a look that Astrid didn’t catch.

‘Would you like some coffee?’ the Queen asked. ‘I think it’s ready in the drawing room.’

It was, along with a selection of freshly made biscuits and pastries, and the remaining guests, who were as keen and curious to see Astrid as she was to see them.

Soon, she was sitting at one of the card tables, nibbling at some lavender shortbread biscuits and effectively holding court.

‘Ned said you’re doing interesting things with the estate,’ she said to Prince Philip. ‘To make farming more sustainable, I mean.’

‘Oh, yes. He was very curious. He grew up with the farm at Ladybridge, of course. But Abbottswood wasn’t the same at all. The land is all wood and wetland, and Ned couldn’t bear to chop the trees down.

Some of them have been there for four hundred years.’

Philip nodded. ‘I’ve been saying as much. So he had this rewilding idea.’

There were general non-committal noises round the room.

‘He wanted something for his children to be proud of. That’s why I was so certain the police had the wrong person when they arrested his son. I met Jack at Abbottswood when he came down to talk to Ned about the project.

He was the sweetest guy, so supportive of what we were trying to do. It was really beautiful. I was hoping he might come and work with us.’

‘I don’t understand. I thought he hated his father?’ the Queen said.

‘They had a strained relationship,’ Astrid admitted, ‘but Ned was working hard to build bridges. We did a lot of therapy together at this fabulous retreat in Kerala last year. He wanted to reach out to all his children, and grandchildren, too. When he knew Jack’s girlfriend was pregnant it changed everything.

It’s all about what you hand on, isn’t it? We wanted it to be a place of growth. Nature was in charge. Ned was very Zen. You should have seen him do the lotus position.’

‘I’m profoundly glad I didn’t,’ Philip said, with feeling.

‘I heard he was mellowing,’ the Queen suggested. ‘So Lord Mundy’s daughter told me.’

‘Oh, yes, he was! That was lovely. So sweet of them to invite him to Lady Mundy’s funeral.