The ball at the palace was as fantastic and glamorous as anyone had hoped it would be. It took place in a ballroom illuminated by over a thousand little candles, and there was so much music and laughter going on that you could probably hear it in the entire city, giving nobody the chance to go to sleep that night.  If you fancied yourself a member of London's elite, you just had to attend this event - or you better hid somewhere in the countryside and claimed that urgent business was the reason why you weren't there. Even the mousiest debutante in town had transformed herself into a beautiful swan with the help of a gown that was to die for.

As for clumsy gentlemen like me, we did our best to impress the ladies with our conversation, charm and dancing skills, taking special care not to step on any one's fancy dress. Since I hated the tight clothes I had to wear to the event and was one of the worst dancers a girl could pick, I joined Mr Applebee and his middle-aged friends and listened to their tales of past balls at this very court. Apparently, the balls had been grander and more joyous occasions in the good old days when King George III had still been well enough to appear alongside his beloved wife.

As had been expected, Prince Christian caused quite a stir when he arrived together with Queen Charlotte, who appeared to be quite happy to announce that the tall, blonde German was her special guest tonight. A great commotion ensued as some people rushed forward to greet the queen and others were craning their necks to have a good look at Queen Charlotte's extravagant dress.

The prince was not the most beautiful man in the room, but he was ruggedly handsome and charming in a way that immediately alarmed the wise matrons in the room: He was just too sexy and too rich for his own good! The queen herself appeared to be besotted with him. That was not surprising: When he thanked her for the warm welcome, even his low baritone voice sounded as if he was ready to seduce her even though she was old enough to be his grandmother and married to a king. The effect his presence had on the young girls in the room was astonishing: He became the center of their universe around which they circled awkwardly, batting down their eyelashes whenever they thought he was glancing in their direction. It was obviously considered rude and inappropriate for an innocent maiden to be caught staring unabashedly at this embodiment of male sexuality.

"Isn't he a gorgeous sight to behold?" I heard a lady say.

I turned around with a start, not knowing whether she was talking to me. As a matter of fact, I had noticed that my companions had deserted me to greet the queen, but I hadn't realized that anyone else was standing right behind me. She must have sneaked to this part of the room to have a better look at the queen and the foreign prince.

"I wouldn't know. I'm not interested in men that way, Ma'am," I replied truthfully and hoped that my remark sounded witty enough.

At least it made her laugh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that you were interested in Prince Christian."

"Apology accepted. But I have to admit that I can understand the debutantes fawning over him."

"And why is that?"

"Because he is good-looking, rich and a prince. That is a lethal combination."

She laughed again, and her laugh sounded like glasses of champagne clinking together.

I liked her honest laugh and warm voice, but I felt uncomfortable in her presence nonetheless because her green eyes reminded me of a cat's eyes and she seemed to be flirting with me. Strangely enough, I had never seen her before even though I knew everyone else at the ball. She was far older than the debutantes and even a great deal older than I was, so I couldn't really make out why this devastatingly beautiful woman should be interested in the prince. Perhaps she was someone's mother who spent most of her time in the family's country residence? At her age, she was probably a married woman. I couldn't imagine anyone looking as sensational as she did in her figure-hugging red dress being single, and I didn't want to commit the blunder of the evening by flirting right back. If I were her husband, I would fight with anyone who tried to take this beauty away from me.

"I don't think he will be overly impressed by any one of the young ladies tonight though," she said mysteriously.

I thought she was referring to the rumour that Prince Christian had come to London with his mistress and asked her, "Why? Has he already fallen for someone?"

My question seemed to surprise, if not outright shock her. "As far as I know, he's still single and doesn't feel ready to get married yet. At least that's what he told me earlier tonight," she revealed.

I sensed that I might have committed a blunder and asked a really stupid question. "You know the prince?"

"I should think so. I'm his mother."