Hogwarts: My Grandmother is the Queen

Chapter 346 Camilla's Teacup

"There's nothing we can do about it," Henry said with a smile. "After all, it's their job, and as long as they don't fabricate stories and hurt anyone else, we can only watch."

Miss Farley nodded as if she understood.

After lunch, Henry called Miss Farley to the living room.

"This afternoon, I'm taking you to meet someone."

"Who?"

"My great-grandmother. She has a separate house on the east side of Sandringham House, and she moves there for a period of time every Christmas, usually from Christmas Eve until a day or two after Boxing Day. She is ninety-one years old this year, and every year after Christmas lunch she invites the younger generation to sit in her room, usually between three and four in the afternoon."

Miss Farley didn't answer immediately; she seemed to quickly go through several names and titles in her mind: "Your great-grandmother, that is, Her Majesty the Queen's mother?"

"Yes. She doesn't live in the main building, but in a quiet suite on the east side, a separate residence—she has her own living room, bedroom, and tea room. She doesn't like the noise in the main building, so she's been living there for many years."

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"Does she know I'm here?"

"Of course I know," Henry said. "Before I came here, she wrote to me asking if I would bring anyone back. She wrote in her letter: 'If you are going to bring someone, bring a serious person.'"

Miss Farley didn't ask Henry how he replied to the letter, but when she heard the sentence, she nodded slightly, as if she also thought it was a reasonable request and that she was ready to face it.

Just after two o'clock in the afternoon, Henry led Miss Farley out of the main building and walked eastward along a path paved with old stone slabs.

At the end of the path was a dark wooden door, with some withered vines climbing the wall beside it, looking dry and brittle in the winter air.

Henry knocked twice, opened the door, and stepped aside to let Miss Farley go in first.

The room was smaller than Miss Farley had imagined, but it was well-lit.

Several watercolor paintings hang on the wall, depicting gardens and distant fields, with soft and tranquil colors.

Near the window stood a dark-colored armchair with a light gray shawl draped over its back, as if waiting for someone to come and sit down.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother sat in the armchair, wearing a light beige wool sweater and a dark gray cashmere shawl, sitting quietly as if she were ready to meet someone.

Her hair was completely white and neatly combed. Her gaze was gentle, unlike the sharp scrutiny of a queen.

As Miss Farley walked in, the Queen Mother tilted her head slightly, a gesture one would make when seeing someone pass by in a garden in the early morning.

"You must be Miss Farley," she said. "Henry mentioned you in his letter."

Miss Farley stood in the doorway and gave a slight bow: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Empress Dowager Wang gestured to the chair next to her: "Sit down, it's tiring to stand and talk."

Miss Farley sat down in the chair next to her. The armrests of the chair were slightly higher than those of a regular armchair, and the seat was softer with a comfortable indentation, as if someone had sat in it many times.

The Empress Dowager watched her sit down, then pushed a cup of tea that had already been poured toward her.

Do you drink black tea?

"drink."

"Then give it a try," she said. "The tea doesn't steep for long, so it won't be too bitter."

Miss Farley picked up her teacup and took a sip.

The temperature was just right, not too hot to drink. The tea liquor was slightly lighter in color than Darjeeling, and it had a subtle floral aroma on the palate: "Is this Earl Grey tea?"

"Yes," said the Queen Mother. "I added a small piece of orange peel. I think winter tea should have a touch of sunshine in it."

Henry sat down in another chair next to Miss Farley, trying to pretend to be a listener.

The Queen Mother looked at Miss Farley for a while, her gaze not scrutinizing, but rather as if she were recognizing someone she had already heard about from others.

She looked at it for a moment, then spoke softly, "Henry said you studied public policy and administration at Oxford."

""

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"So what do you intend to do with all that knowledge?"

Miss Farley thought for a moment: "I want to use it to do something I'm not sure I can do well. But if I don't start trying, I'll never be sure if I can actually do it."

The Empress Dowager did not comment on this answer.

"So, what kind of person do you think should study those things?"

"It should be someone who is willing to spend the time to understand two different systems," Miss Farley said. "The Muggle system and the wizarding system operate differently, but essentially they are both about organizing a group of people to accomplish something together."

"Do you think your personality is suited for this?"

Miss Farley glanced down at the tea in her cup for a moment, as if searching for a more precise word: "There's a part of my personality that's not suited for this. I'm not good at maintaining confidence when I'm uncertain, and when faced with an unfamiliar environment, I'll stand still and observe rather than walk right in. So it takes me longer than others to adapt to new environments."

The Empress Dowager listened quietly and nodded slightly: "Then do you think taking longer to adapt is an advantage or a disadvantage?"

"So far, it has given me more reliable information. Those who walk ahead of others can see further ahead, but those who walk behind can see every tiny undulation and depression in the ground."

The Queen Mother leaned back in her chair, as if testing the weight of her earlier words: "When Henry wrote to me, he said you were a serious person. His exact words were that you think things through before you act, rather than doing something and then regretting it."

Miss Farley glanced at Henry.

Henry was sitting in the chair next to her, listening quietly to the conversation, his gaze fixed in her direction, showing no sign of wanting to intervene.

"That's definitely who I am," Miss Farley said. "For me, thinking things through before acting is more in line with my habits than acting first and then revising."

"Before you came, did you consider how you would handle being photographed by the media, featured in newspapers, and subjected to all sorts of speculation about who you were?"

Miss Farley paused for a moment: "I did imagine that situation before I came. But there is still some gap between imagination and actual experience."

"So, how did you actually feel after experiencing it?"

"Actually, after experiencing it, I didn't feel that panicked," Ms. Farley said. "It's probably because when I stood in the positions of the people in those photos, I found that the feeling of actually standing there was quite different from what I imagined. The real experience is more concrete than imagined. Those photos and articles were about another person, a simplified version of someone, someone you could see all at a glance in a newspaper. When I stood in the photos, I didn't have that feeling of being seen all at once, because I knew there were many details that weren't recorded."

The Queen Mother listened quietly to this, then turned her head slightly and said, "Henry, the girl you chose has a very interesting idea."

"Thank you for your compliment, Great-Grandma," Henry said with a smile.

The Queen Mother turned back to Miss Farley: "Will you be staying for dinner tonight?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then sit next to me," said the Queen Mother. "Sometimes I can't hear voices from afar very clearly."

At that moment, a female official walked in.

She was wearing a dark gray suit, her hair was neatly styled in a bun at the back of her head, and she wasn't wearing makeup, but her skin was very well-maintained.

When she entered, her gaze swept around the room before settling on the Queen Mother. She gave a slight bow and said, "Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen is about to begin her speech."

"Turn on the television," the Queen Mother said with a smile. "I've been watching Lily White's annual speech for over forty years."

The lady-in-waiting walked to the TV cabinet, bent down and pressed the switch, then straightened up and stepped back to the side and behind the Empress Dowager's chair, placing her hands folded in front of her.

The television was turned on, and the screen displayed the coat of arms of the British Royal Family against a deep blue background.

The subtitles then appeared: Her Majesty the Queen's address at Sandringham House.

Before the speech began, the television broadcast a video clip showing groups of veterans marching past on the Normandy beach, receiving the inspection of Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip.

The scene then shifts to Sandringham House, where the Queen, dressed in a deep blue suit and wearing a pearl necklace, sits in a chair and begins to speak.

"I will never forget what happened in Normandy last June, when representatives of the Allied powers commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings. We who were there, and the millions who watched on television and radio, paid the highest tribute to the courage shown by those who participated in this epic battle."

As Prince Philip and I stood on the beach in Arromanche, watching the British veterans march past, memories of 1944 came flooding back—how anxiously we awaited news of our loved ones who had been thrown into this massive and dangerous operation; then the ups and downs of the war in France, then in Germany; and the gradual realization that the war was finally coming to an end.

The core theme of this speech is remembrance and hope.

It was the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings, and the Queen had just completed her first state visit to the Goose.

Therefore, her speech fondly recalled the hardships of World War II and expressed her relief and expectation for the dawn of peace around the world.

In short, it is about remembering the sacrifices, embracing hope, and advocating for reconciliation.

Miss Farley listened attentively, sitting upright like a serious schoolchild.

The Queen Mother sat beside her, her gaze also fixed on the screen, but she would occasionally turn her head to glance at Miss Farley's profile out of the corner of her eye, as if to make sure she was really listening.

The core theme of her address was remembrance and hope. It was the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings, and the Queen had just completed an important state visit, so her speech reflected on the hardships of World War II and expressed her hope for peace. She concluded with a passage about "remembering the sacrifices and embracing hope," her tone calm and without unnecessary embellishment.

After the speech, the scene faded out, switching to a series of shots of a garden and a sky that gradually darkened.

Miss Farley noticed a holly tree in the picture, whose outline resembled the one she had seen in the gardens of Sandringham House.

Before she could think any further, the Empress Dowager reached for the remote and turned off the television.

The room fell silent for a moment. The Queen Mother placed the remote control on the edge of the coffee table and looked at Miss Farley: "What did you think of today's speech?"

"I remember a line about peace that said peace is not something to be taken for granted," Miss Farley said. "I didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back, I realize that the weight of that sentence is greater than it sounds. She was using the past to remind the present, and also expressing an expectation for the future."

After listening to this, the Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction: "You listened carefully."

"I try my best to hear clearly," Miss Farley said. "Some words, if you just listen and miss them, you might miss some hidden meanings."

The Queen Mother offered no comment, instead picking up her teacup and taking a sip. As she set the cup down, she glanced sideways at the lady-in-waiting standing behind her chair: "Eileen, did you hear that just now?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The lady-in-waiting's voice was lower than Miss Farley had expected, carrying a sense of restraint that had developed over a long period of quiet.

"What do you think?"

"The Queen's speech is consistent with her usual style." Lady Eileen's words were like orthodox Tai Chi.

Miss Farley’s gaze fell on the lady-in-waiting again at this moment. This time she looked at her for a little longer than before, because she noticed something: the lady-in-waiting’s posture, her gaze, and the way she answered the Queen Mother’s questions were all conveying some information that Miss Farley could not yet be completely sure of.

Miss Farley noticed that the lady-in-waiting was not wearing a ring, but she did not seem to be a simple personal attendant; rather, she seemed to be someone who combined the functions of a housekeeper with the ability to observe.

The Queen Mother noticed Miss Farley's gaze, followed it to Eileen, and said with a smile, "Eileen has been with me for fifty-eight years."

Miss Farley looked away: "Fifty-eight years?"

"Yes," said the Queen Mother. "She was not yet forty years old then, and now she is over ninety. She knows far more than I do."

Eileen remained standing there quietly, without reacting to the introduction.

Her gaze was fixed straight ahead, her hands clasped in front of her, in the same posture as before, as if she had been waiting for the next moment when she needed to speak.

"Eileen," said the Queen Mother, "bring me that teacup."

Eileen turned and walked to the cabinet on the other side of the room without hesitation, as if she knew where the teacup was.

She opened the cabinet door, took out a white porcelain cup, placed it on the tray, and brought it over. The cup looked no different from an ordinary teacup, but Miss Farley noticed a very faint gray mark on the rim of the bottom, as if it were a mark left by some liquid that had dried.

"This is the same teacup from back then," the Queen Mother said softly. "The one Camilla used."

Eileen placed the teacup on the coffee table, took a half step back, and returned to her original position.

Henry was somewhat surprised: "You kept it?"

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