"𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍..."
Beatrice "Birdie" Isley Kane is many things: a trust fund baby, a child star turned teen icon, and, in an unexpected twist, a British Royal.
But just months into her marriage to Prince Edwa...
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July 16, 1988 Buckingham Palace
—CHRONICLER—
"So, he's not going to the MJ concert because ... he's playing polo with his prep school friends?," Beatrice's cousin, Toni, delineated mockingly, before snorting. "And you believe that motherfucka'?"
Beatrice twisted her mouth as she bit her cheek nervously. She and her cousin had been on the phone all of 20 minutes before Toni could make Beatrice feel like the fool she often felt she was.
"He likes polo," she mumbled, squirming uncomfortably in her chair. Even she wasn't convinced. Who misses three Michael Jackson concerts for polo? For anything, really?
"Who the fuck you know miss a Michael Jackson concert, Birdie," Toni cried out with irritation, verbalizing Beatrice's own thoughts, "Don't make me fly across America and over the Atlantic to whoop some sense into you bitch."
"Alright! Fine. He could be lying."
"He lyin' girl," her makeup artist, Louis, who was also her cousin but not her 'blood' cousin like Toni, chimed in, having listened in to their entire phone conversation as he worked on her face.
"Fine. Riddle me this then. Why would he lie, and so poorly, at that?," Birdie asked them, though, knowing her cousins, she knew exactly where they'd go with this. Still, she felt she might need to hear it out loud.
"He's cheatin'!" "He's gay!", they exclaimed at the same time, the first allegation coming from Toni and the latter, from Louis.
"Wait, what?," Toni faltered, Louis' answer having registered in her mind. Laughing, she added "Where'd that come from?"
"He don't give y'all a gay vibe?," he asked out loud, waving a foundation brush in the air. "I mean, sure, I would know, but I thought it was obvious. He has that 'pray the gay away' kinda vibe. Like he hate that he's gay and he's gotta hide it. Y'all don't get that vibe?"
Beatrice blinked at him, while Toni's laughter could be heard through the corded phone in her hand.
"And that would prevent him from attending this concert with me three times now because...?"
"Well, you the one who said he ain't touch you in months. He obviously got like a secret rendezvous thing goin' on and now's the best time. Now, personally," Louis stated, poking around one of his makeup cases as he continued, "I wouldn't miss a MJ concert for some dick cuz Michael's my man in my mind but Edward might not be into that. He might be fuckin' wit big, buff, Irish guys. He obviously likes con-tro-ver-syyy."
