Running Around Royal (Prince Harry #4)

Chapter Eighty-One

It was all royalty and business. From the second that the airplane touched down in the capital of Argentina, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were on their best behavior. This trip, while only a day, was meant to heal and fix old wounds, but those wounds were still fresh. The war was a little under forty years ago, but that meant little to either party.

To the Argentinians, they were merely taking back what was theirs, but for the British, it was seen as an act of aggression. At the time, Argentina was just exiting from a dictatorship, but little sympathy was given. On the world stage, Argentina and the United Kingdom played friends, but when it came to Falkland Islands, that was a different story.

As for royal ties, there was none to be found in the British monarchy; Queen Elizabeth II never even had a state visit in Argentina. She rarely came to country for anything political or monarchy-based. However, the Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Maxima, was born and raised there. When the duchess had spoke with the queen, the queen only had nice things to say about the country.

The duke and duchess exited the airplane arm in arm. They wore their beautiful but plastered smiles. The duchess wore a loose fitting dress that blew in the wind. She looked radiant in red and very relaxed beside her husband, even though her dress and his hair clashed slightly. She wore black heels, which made her taller than her husband, but the duke never minded. He, on the other hand, wore a black suit. His pale hand reached inside like it did almost like natural habit. He unbuttoned and buttoned the jacket again and again.

The red carpet rolled out for them, and the president and their spouse and other political leaders lined up to meet with the royals. The political leaders almost did smiles as well as the royals-- almost. Behind the scenes, some people thought this was a good idea to bring the two countries together. However, it was clear that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were no Duke and Duchess of Cambridge or the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.

The duke walked first with the duchess on his heels. It seemed like he didn't want to let go of her hand. Yet, the duke dove right in, going straight into his charming self. He managed to keep himself completely composed, which he was able to do when he wanted. While he was the fun brother, he did grow up having to be composed at times. As for his wife, she was calm, but everyone waited for something different. It wasn't that they expected it, but they wanted it. People wanted to see her fail. There was a wall of paparazzi, and they all waited to catch the moment.

It never came.

The duke and duchess went through the line and shook hands, and when they got to the end, they were escorted to a car, where they headed off to their hotel for the evening.

In the morning, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor caught public interest again. They joined the president and their spouse for some events. They stopped at the Palace of the Argentine National Congress, which looked very much like a palace from the outside. While it held some of the same structures of any government capital in the U.S. that the duchess was able to think about, the stone looked very castle-like.

Inside, it held a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The duke and duchess were given a tour of the building, where historical markers lay. Argentina didn't shy away from its past because there was no better way to learn from it. Argentina had gone through many phases, like most countries had, and was finally steadily raising in their current government phase.

After the tour of the palace, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor went to Quinta de Olivos, also known as Casa Rosada, with the president and their spouse. The mansion and office of the president was baby pink on the outside, and a smile spread across the duchess' face. One of the duchess' favorite castles was Glamis Castle, which was also pink on the outside. The house and office was also a museum with objects relating to former presidents of Argentina. The house and office had gone through many phases as well: fort, new customs house, the post office palace and now the palace. 

The duke and duchess were given a tour of the palace and office too. Historical facts rambled off the accented tongue, and the duchess only caught a few of them. She was more focused on the things around her. The duke always mentioned how much the duchess loved history. While she had a degree in writing, perhaps she was supposed to go with history. It was too late, and she didn't use it much anyway.

One royal photographer and one presidency photographer took pictures of this moment. It was no state dinner, and there was no stating when that was going to happen. Countries had the ability to hold onto grudges. When a state dinner finally came, then maybe higher royals were going to come. This was merely a testing phase. So far, it was going well.

The president and their spouse spoke English, which was good because the duke and duchess didn't speak Spanish. The duchess had failed Spanish class in high school, so she took German.

The duke and duchess ate dinner with the president and their spouse. There was polite small talk. That was all that it was.

Secretly, the duke had been sent on political events, much like any royal had-- except for the duchess. The British monarchy was a constitutional monarchy, which meant that they were only decorative. Even then though, a royal still had the ability to charm. The duke had been practicing that his whole life; the duchess was a little behind.

However, she was a shining light in the dark. The duchess spoke respectively with the president's spouse. Small talk was something she was in fact good at. Many were surprised, thinking it wasn't an American trait.

When the night was over, the duke and duchess went back to the airport-- without having said anything at all through the day. That was probably the point. This was seen as successful through the eyes of the media and the world, but not much was done.