by Mark Stanley
The Court Usher came forward and handed me a card and asked me in a clear voice to read the Oath.
"I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
"Please tell the Court, your full name and your occupation."
"Lord Mark, Charles, Hugo, Gerald Stanley. I'm currently the United Nations President of Eradicating Extreme Poverty."
Then it began;
"Good morning Lord Stanley, my name is Lord James Crane-Wallace QC and I am the Prosecutor for the Crown in this case. May I welcome you to the Court today and thank you for sparing the time to attend these proceeding."
"My Lord. My Learned friends awe is duly noted, can you please, instruct him to proceed."
Titters around the Court, which were immediately silenced as the His Honour Judge Lord Chambers QC looked down on proceeding.
"I will remind My Learned colleagues that this is the Central Criminal Court and the duty of such a Court is to hear the truth. I am also indebted to Lord Stanley for appearing so adroitly and it would serve the Courts well if all people were as fastidious in carrying out their duties. Proceed Lord Crane-Wallace."
"Thank you Your Honour. Lord Stanley can I take you back to that dreadful day the 26th December 2014..."
At lunch we were allowed to adjourn until 2pm which gave us barely time for a sandwich let alone a decent lunch. Still, CPO’s have many uses and one had been dispatched to fetch some sandwiches from a local shop, on his return we all sat in the holding room eating them and drinking okay coffee from a paper cup and no one seemed to mind.
"Well at this rate, you'll be back on Monday let alone tomorrow."
"I know, they did say that it would likely take two days to hear the evidence, they just want so much detail, what was the day like, were we jovial, how was the car running, had I farted."
"Had you? I didn't hear your reply."
"Lord Stanley, I want to bring you forward to your arrival, on the driveway? As you arrived, in your own words 'in high spirits', can I ask you, had you been drinking?"
"No, I hadn't..."
At 5 o'clock the Court rose and we were dismissed until 10am Friday morning when the cross examination would commence.
"Lord Stanley, would you describe yourself as an aggressive man?"
"No, not in any context."
"Do you look on yourself as some form of tough guy?"
"No not at all."
"What about, antagonistic?"
"Objection, to relevance Your Honour?"
"I think it's very relevant Your Honour, that we establish exactly the character of Lord Stanley."
"Overruled, you may continue Mister Cannon."
"Thank you, Your Honour. Lord Stanley the question was, do you consider yourself antagonistic?"
"No, I do not."
"Lord Stanley, we have seen the CCTV from that day and we have also seen BBC footage of an...altercation in Niger? Trouble seems to follow you around Lord Stanley does it not?"
"It wasn't an altercation it was an ambush and as for trouble following me around? If it does then I can assure you and the Court that it's not of my choosing."
"Perhaps, because, like a bad car driver who has witnessed lots of accidents, you've witness lot's of trouble!"
"Objection!"
"I withdraw the remark Your Honour. Lord Stanley might I ask you..."
At lunch, I met up with Victoria who was affronted by the line of questioning. We were sitting finishing our sandwiches when the door opened and Tom allowed Lord James in. He was smiling which was more than I felt like doing.
"Well done Lord Stanley! Jolly well done! He was trying to get your goat and failed. Keep your cool this afternoon and this will all be over in an hour."
It wasn't but it was over in two hours, at the end of my questioning I was released and went with the best wishes of His Honour and the ordeal was almost over. Now we just needed the verdict and the sentence, both would be determined next week.
Chapter 17 - April
We sat on the front row and watched him, squirming away, twisting, crying, shouting at one stage, before the Court was adjourned to allow him time to compose himself and then he and we had returned. The Judge had gone through all of the preamble and the basis on which he was sentencing.
"...And I am completely satisfied that you should be sentenced in accordance with the most serious offences including those which, if the charge had been murder, would come within paragraph 4 or paragraph 5 of schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Therefore..."
This statement of intent got Lord James turning around and clenching his fist with a silent 'YES'. At lunch he had told us what he hoped the Judge would do, this seemed like confirmation.
"...and that, had you shot a fraction straighter, that the World would have been robbed of a Great Statesmen, a Reformer, a Father, a hugely successful business man and a future husband. The prisoner will stand...Sal-ah El Kaliffie, you have been found guilty of the attempted murder of Lord Mark Stanley and it my duty to sentence you. The sentencing guidelines are very clear. With the intent you have shown and your level of culpability high, I have no alternative than to sentence you to...a whole life sentence. This means that you will not be released and you will spend the rest of your life behind bars...take him down."
As he was led away, he turned to look at me and spat a huge wad of phlegm in my direction but it was stopped by the protective screen that surrounded the dock. The prison officers dragged him through the door, with him shouting and screaming and this part of my life had reached a satisfactory conclusion.
That night we had a champagne celebration. A celebration to know that the perpetrator had finally started his jail sentence and also to celebrate life, there was much to be grateful for, but not necessarily with the arrival of Danny and Melissa. They had turned up a little after lunch and we're sitting comfortably as we landed outside. Welcomes exchanged and relief of the verdict and the sentence, the party could begin. Adelice had prepared a feast and it was a noisy but incredibly happy table. As was now usual, Flora sat in her high chair adjacent to me. Since I had returned home she had clung to me, figuratively as well physically and I love every moment. I passed her another piece of apple which she loves as much as all of the other children did and do. Richard and Henry had already been fed and taken to the nursery and Flora had been allowed to stay up so that she could join in.
"She's a beautiful child. When will the adoption be confirmed?
"Oh there are lots of reports and forms Mummy, but they've all been done and it's waiting in the list to be accepted by the Court."
"When will we be adopted Victoria?" Asked Charles for it had become an issue, almost immediately after Daphne's death. They asked, often. It wasn't anything about being disrespectful, more like needing the security. We suspected it was also allied to my hospital stay and their fear that they might be left alone.
"Well, hopefully the same day, if you're really sure that you still want me to adopt you?"
"Of course we are, stop asking silly questions Victoria!"
"Will we call you Victoria or Mummy?" Asked a very thoughtful Hugo.
"You'll call me Victoria Hugo, because although I'll be your legal Guardian along with Daddy, I'll never be your Mummy. But if it's less complicated to call me Mummy with your brothers and sister around then that'll be fine too."
"I'll call you Mummy." Said Charles.
"I won't!" Shouted Hugo.
We started laughing, which we found had a great calming effect on the situation, not treating it as a joke, because it wasn't, but keeping it light-hearted, certainly helped.
"Are you watching me or the terrible duo tomorrow Dad?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Us!"
"Me!"
Victoria succumbed to the pressure and was going to take Melissa to watch Lulu play tennis I was watching the boys play cricket and of course that left me with Danny. As always, Lulu was exc
elling and played tennis, already to County standard, due in a large part to Daphne's love of the sport and good coaching. The boys are still finding their way although both are in the respective 'Firsts', for their years, but I don't expect to be a spectator at 'Lords' in years to come, cheering them on. It was a bright but decidedly chilly April morning and we and the other spectators were still dressed for winter.
"Hairy moment in Niger?"
"Yes it was."
"Still made for riveting television."
I didn't answer. Victoria had been giving me some coaching in my interview techniques and this was one of her favourites, silence.
"I hear the BBC have been bowled over with the viewing figures and they want to do more?"
"No more."
"Quite right, leave them wanting more. But there seems to be a lot of interest from the States and particularly from the people behind the 'The David Ruskin Tonight Show'? They want you and Victoria to do the programme and they'll structure it around you?"
"Must we?"
"We think it would be good. The States are extremely important to the plans and this is a high-profile show watched by a whole host of movers & shakers, it also gets broadcast at peak-time, which is a big consideration."
I didn't speak.
"I'll set it up then shall I?"
"No, I'll let you speak with Victoria first and get her agreement and if you manage to do that, then you can set it up."
His turn to pause before, "I'll get Melissa to have a word, it'll probably come better from her."
He paused as I shouted some encouragement at Hugo.
"The UN is over the moon with you and the way that you've kicked the department up the arse. Talk is about seeing if you'll extend your tenure and stay for another year?"
"No."
"Of course, I fully endorse you. By the end of this year I think there will be major developments on the PM front and now with the experience gained and the friendships made doing the job at the UN, I think that the time to strike will be close."
"I don't want it..."
"Now hold on. You made a deal with Melissa and I and we've stood by our part. We paid you the three hundred million that you demanded and we've put your relationship with Victoria back on the rails. We have nurtured you and promoted you into a job at the UN which nobody wanted you for, and yet, you've vindicated the selection and shown what an asset you are to not only the UN but to this country. The press is very complimentary about you and Victoria, not just your work ethic, which is outstanding but the way that you represent yourselves and the UN."
"If you'll let me finish please, I don't want it but I took your thirty pieces of silver and in doing so I've betrayed myself and my principles. I'll do your bidding Danny, all of it, because I know what the repercussions will be but don't think for a moment that I like it or that it somehow makes us close. I despise you Danny and everything that you say and do, Victoria despises you for different reasons and I doubt that there's anybody that actually likes you. But you're powerful Danny and I can respect that and the doors that you can undoubtedly open but I'm not a lackey and I won't do another job on the way to being PM so you either deliver the job or I walk away, because if you can't make me Prime Minister then I think our agreement has been broken, by you."
It had been a difficult few minutes, but thankfully Simon and Lucia, finally arrived to cheer on their own sons and I could move position and chat with Simon, leaving Lucia to the charms of Danny.
"Got the Father-in-law, here today then?"
My face must have said it all.
"Moving on, how’re you? Coping with the sleepless nights? Oh no, I keep forgetting, you've an army of staff to take care of those grubby little chores!"
"Will you please stop spending my money?"
He laughed. "It was only four hundred grand."
"But I don't want any more carthorses I prefer to buy animals that can run faster than me not ones that my Dad could beat."
"They're not that slow. Two winners at the Cheltenham Festival including a second Gold Cup and still you're not satisfied."
"But now we have ten of these beasts and they're just so slow. I turned on the television and saw that one run at Sandown, when was it, last Thursday? He was awful Simon."
"Yeah he was. I couldn't go as I go to work, unlike my partner!"
"At least at your work they don't try and kill you."
"True. We watched the final episode in the life and a time of the ‘Stanley’s’, looked like fun!"
"Next time, I go to Niger I'll take you with me."
"So you're going back then?"
"If I did, it wouldn't be Al-Qaeda that I'd be worrying about."
"They said on the film that they were aligned to ISEL now?"
"One terrorist is much the same as another, only the name changes."
"When's Royal Quest running?"
"Robert wanted him to have a good rest after last year’s exploits and so he's getting him ready for Royal Ascot in the 'Prince of Wales Stakes'? Then I think it's Sandown for the 'Eclipse' and then back to Ascot for the King George VI and Queen Elisabeth, beyond that, much the same as last year."
"Sold him yet?"
"No, we're in deep negotiations and I think we'll strike a deal with Coolmore for a number of reasons, they're genuinely nice people, they want to do the best for the horse, they'll promote him in the right way and of course they're offering the most money."
"How much?"
"That depends on whether he enhances his already fearsome reputation this season, but if he does then I think he'll be the first hundred million dollar horse."
Simon's mind did the calculation. "So over sixty million quid? We can buy a few more jumpers then!"
I enjoyed the cricket, once Simon and Lucia arrived. They're good friends and loyal, which can be hard to find. After the matches had finished, we returned, minus the Burns, it was just a shame that we couldn't have exchanged Danny for their company. Danny was sulking, it's what he does. I had been really surprised the first time it had happened but now I simply ignored him. Victoria took me to one side when I got in.
"My fucking Mother, aargh!"
"I had the same with your Dad."
"Did you agree to do the interview in the States?"
"No, I said that he had to speak with you and he said that he'd get Melissa to do it and I assume she has?"
"Oh she did that alright, along with her other, requests or should that be demands!"
"What does she want?"
"Higher profile still, at your side more, seen at the right functions, what a bitch! I said that it may have escaped her notice, but I'd given birth to two children recently and my time was somewhat limited."
The discussion went on for a little while longer but then it had to be suspended as we went to rejoin the others.
This afternoon we were all going across to the Ascot Park and to view the progress. Neither of us had been here since just before Christmas. That's not to say that we were idle, far from it. Victoria was still designing various rooms, furniture, fabrics and colours. I had seen all of the mock-ups and could well imagine a career in interior design if the bottom ever fell out of her billionaire bank account. I'd changed various areas, as Victoria required and I had finally finished the basement layouts over the Easter break, much to the builder’s delight, as the area needed to be finished. There was no point in flying, it's so close and so we left in our normal convoy, I hate to think what the neighbours take on us is.
As we arrived, the first thing that struck me was the aesthetic beauty of the building.
"You would say that Daddy, you designed it!"
"Thank you Lulu for pointing that out, I'd quite forgotten."
"Oh course you had...not!"
The scaffolding had long been removed and the sheer scale of the house was just so impressive, leaving aside my undoubted talent as an architect and for once also my modesty, it looked magnificent.
"Wow Billy, I bet you wish
ed sex was on the menu tonight, for I can imagine it'll be throbbing after seeing this!"
We were walking hand in hand, some distance away from the others, thankfully. But she spoke the truth, I did hanker for a full session, but she's still hors de combat and so I'd have to make do with DIY, again.
"Still, I should be back to my true fighting weight and the lady parts should all be functioning in time for the 'Met Gala'."
We have lots of functions that we're invited too but few that are as de rigueur as the 'Met Ball'. Held, traditionally on the first Monday in May, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, to give it its correct title, is the major annual fundraiser, Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief and chair of the event for over twenty years, still personally oversees the benefit committee and the guest list and of course Victoria being the magazines muse, would be first on the list.
"What are you wearing?"
She laughed. "Does it really matter so long as everything else is in working order?"