Journal Entry 12

27. Juni 2020

The past week has been rather busy for the palace. King Jonas made his first in-person appearance since isolating due to the epidemic. Queen Claudia ventured out into the public as well; however, her highness remained very distant from most people except for Princess Emily and their security detail.

On Tuesday, Jonas visited the abandoned hotel that was the location of the attempted assassination upon his life in early February. Thankfully, the king has made a full recovery. The assassin remains locked up in our country’s highest-security prison, and he still refuses to divulge his identity or his motive. Facial recognition searches by Dorstenland Bundesnachrichtendienst (DBND), INTERPOL, BND, SVR, Mossad, MI6, and the CIA have all come up empty-handed. It is as if the assassin never existed.

One thing we do know is that he is connected to Prime Minister Northcott, albeit indirectly. DBND uncovered photographs of the would-be-assassin just hours after the attempt on the king’s life. These pictures include a few occasions in 2019, which show the would-be-assassin standing near the news media during Northcott’s press conferences in Eberbach. Last week, Germany’s Bundespolizei sent me a photo showing this same man in a restaurant only two tables away from Northcott while the prime minister was on holiday in Baden-Baden, Deutschland.

This morning during our workout, I floated the idea to Jonas that he may want to visit the prisoner. Perhaps seeing the king would be the key for the man to confess his reason for trying to kill Jonas, as well as divulging his own identity. Not surprisingly, Jonas smiled in agreement with my suggestion. The king is not one for following typical royal protocol. Perhaps that is why he is so widely loved by the public. It is not every day that you see a king who wears jeans and prefers to work behind a tool bench instead of a desk.

I am reminded of the times when Jonas and I were younger. Sometimes we would sneak out of the palace in disguise so that we could mingle with the ordinary citizens of Dorstenland. Of course, we had the help of a couple of our favorite palace employees who were more than willing to have the king experienced a somewhat traditional life.

Early this evening, Karina mentioned that she and our children might have been followed today while they were out shopping. Karina said that a woman appeared to be taking pictures of her and the children in multiple stores. The incident is concerning; however, it is not unheard of for the tabloid press to follow my family. Tabloid photographers and journalists will do just about anything for a picture or a headline to add to their resumes.