A/N: I recognize that DNA tests were invented much later. However, for the sake of the plot, I have decided to change its invention date.

Over the next few weeks, Downton Abbey returned to a new normal. Their Majesties did not send any news to Crawleys, which everyone was grateful for. While Darrel's classmates discovered Robert's affair (Downton had a reasonably small village), they stopped pestering about it after a few days. Although, Darrel knew that Ms Bunting got great pleasure from her discomfort.

The one thing that changed for the worse was that Robert was permanently kicked out of the bedroom, and Cora barely looked at him. They hardly spoke, and if they had to be in the same room, one of them would leave as soon as possible.

One afternoon, Darrel returned from school when she found Lady Grantham in the gardens. Darrel approached her and saw that she had been crying recently.

"Mama?" Darrel asked. "Are you all right?"

Cora looked up, embarrassed to have been caught. She wiped the last few tears, "Yes, I am fine. Do not worry about me, dear."

Darrel sat down next to her, "You know that this does not change a thing, don't you? You will always be my mother, no matter what happens."

"Thank you, dear. And you are still my daughter."

"I sure hope so."

The two of them laughed, even though the situation was very painful for the entire family.

"Mama," Darrel sighed, "I do not know what is going to happen in the future. However, I do know that I want everyone's support."

"And you will have it, darling," Cora assured. "We will always be here for you."

"Then you and Papa have to talk again."

"Darling, it is not that simple."

"Yes, it is. This is a difficult time for all of us, so we must deal with it as a family."

"I would love to be able to forgive him, but I cannot. He betrayed me, and he held this information from me."

"Mama, I know I might be too young to understand marriage. However, if you could forgive Papa when he told you about me, why can you not forgive him now?"

Cora did not know how to respond; she knew Darrel had made a good point. She did manage to forgive Robert for the affair, but part of it was because she felt that she could not abandon the baby he had with him. Since there was less at stake now if she did not forgive him, she did not feel obligated to move past things.

"I feel betrayed," Cora informed. "He lied to me. When he came to me and told me about you; I asked him who he had the affair with. He told me that the woman was insignificant, and she was unable to raise a child, and that he would be full of guilt if you were on the streets. So now that I know who it was with..."

"He did not lie," Darrel shrugged. "Her Majesty would not let me live at Buckingham Palace if you had not taken me in. I could have ended up on the streets."

"I suppose."

"Mama, I have so much admiration for you. You forgave him for the affair, and you agreed to raise me, and pretend I was your daughter. And if you look at Papa's news as simply extra information, then there is not much to be upset about."

Cora gave her a weak smile, "You are very wise for your age, dear."

Darrel nodded in agreement, "So does that mean you will reconcile with Papa?"

"I will try."

"Thank you, Mama."

Darrel hugged her mother and then headed into the house to start on her homework. Cora let out a heavy sigh as she watched her daughter walk off.

That evening, Cora entered Robert's dressing room to find him getting ready for dinner.

"Yes?" Robert asked.

"I spoke to Darrel earlier today," Cora informed. "She brought up some good points, and it made me rethink things."

"Such as?"

"I will never understand why you had an affair. And I will never understand why it was with Her Majesty. However, I do respect your decision to hide that part from me."

"You do?"

"In the end, it did matter, did it? It was over, and you had a baby girl who needed a home and a mother."

Robert nodded, "I knew that if you knew that I had a child with Her Majesty that it would hurt more than it had to. I did not want to hurt you even more."

"I know," Cora sighed. "I might be a fool, but for some reason, I believe you when you say that."

"I am so sorry for everything that I did."

"Well, from now on, I want us to be a team again. Because Darrel needs us."

"I love you, Cora."

"I know. But I do not think that we will ever be the same again, and I need more time to think."

Robert was about to protest, but Cora left the room, shutting the door behind her. Lord Grantham let out a heavy sigh as he sat down on the bed. He knew that he had no one to blame but himself for what was going on. Although at the same time, if Prince Edward had been able to produce an heir, there would never be an issue. It was meant to be over fourteen years ago, and now he had to suffer the consequences of his affair again.

During dinner, the door opened and Thomas entered, looking rather flustered. The family (and servants) stopped what they were doing and looked at him expectantly.

"Um, Their Majesties and His Royal Highness are here, my lord," Thomas informed.

"What?" Robert exclaimed.

"I assume that they are here to speak with Lady Darrel?" Edith inquired, not wanting to keep the King and Queen waiting.

"They requested to speak with all of you, m'lady," Thomas replied. "They are in the drawing room."

"Thank you, Barrow."

Thomas bowed and then left the room.

"Well," Mary sighed as she got to her feet, "This is quite inconvenient."

Robert rolled his eyes. He knew that their trip was more than inconvenient; it meant trouble for him and the rest of the Crawleys.

Downstairs in the kitchens, word got around that the members of the Royal Family arrived at Downton. All the servants were speculating about what they wanted. What could be so important that they would come to Downton instead of summoning the others to London?

"Can you believe it?" Daisy grinned, "The King and Queen are in this house!"

"When we find out why they're here, I doubt you'll be so happy," Mrs Patmore replied, "they'll be wanting something."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, it is clearly important if they came here instead of summoning Lady Darrel to London again. And I doubt all three of them would be here if it were good news."

"I suppose. It still is rather exciting, don't you think?"

"Not a bit. Now, start cleaning up. I doubt they'll be in the mood for dinner after this."

"Yes, Mrs Patmore."

A few minutes later, the Crawleys entered the drawing room to find the King, Queen and Prince Edward waiting for them, alongside a man in a suit.

"What is this about?" Lord Grantham demanded. "A bit of a head's up would have been nice before you show up at my house."

"As the King of the United Kingdom, I can show up whenever I like," King George V snapped.

"What do you want? Make it brief."

"Very well. After our meeting at the Palace, I realized that Lady Darrel is not the heir. The next monarch needs to be my child. However, when I pointed this out, Her Majesty informed me that I may be her father."

"Excuse me?" Cora gasped. "That cannot be possible. Robert said she is his child."

"Well, I thought she was Lord Grantham's child as well. So, I decided to take a strand of Lady Darrel's hair that I found on the chair she sat in, and I had it DNA tested," Queen Mark of Teck informed.

Cora could not wipe the shocked expression from her face as King George V gestured to the mysterious man, introducing him as a scientist. He stepped forward and presented Lord Grantham with a document.

"It was as Her Majesty thought," the scientist informed, "Lady Darrel is not Lord Grantham's biological daughter. She is indeed His Majesty's daughter."

"Is this some sort of joke?" Robert demanded, ripping the paper into shreds.

"Do you think that I would lie about this?" Queen Mary snapped.

"Yes, I do! So that our affair does not appear in the papers. This way you can concoct some story about why she did grow up at the palace without revealing the truth."

"I would not sink so low!"

"Darrel is my daughter. And she always will be!"

"She is the Princess of Wales, who has a duty that she must serve to her country. Her place is now in London, at Buckingham Palace."

"I would like to request a second DNA test," Darrel announced, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. "One that not only tests His Majesty but Lord Grantham as well. And until then, I intend to remain at Downton Abbey."

"Very well," King George V nodded, getting up, "we will be back shortly."

The Royal Family and the scientist left, leaving the family shocked as they processed the news they received. Darrel looked down at the floor, tears remaining down her face.

"Darrel," Mary said softly, approaching her sister, "this does not change anything."

"It changes everything," she replied. "Goodnight, everyone."

Darrel rushed out of the room, unable to look anyone in the eye.

"Now what?" Edith asked.

"She could always abdicate," Henry suggested.

"She would never do that," Tom replied. "She would never be able to live with herself knowing that she let down the country."

"Well, then I am afraid that I am out of ideas. I shall retire for the evening."

Henry nodded and then left the drawing room, followed by Mary.

"Think of all the invites she shall receive," Rose smiled. "It does sound rather exciting."

The remaining people in the room glared at Rose, unhappy with her insensitive comment. But Rose simply shrugged.

"I told you not to grin," Mrs Patmore said, once the news travelled downstairs.

"I didn't realize they were delivering bad news," Daisy protested.

"Well, they delivered devastating news. Anna says Lady Darrel's locked herself in her room."

"So does this mean that Lady Darrel has to go live at Buckingham Palace?"

"I haven't the faintest clue, and it is none of our business. Now, finish cleaning and go to bed."

"Yes, Mrs Patmore."