Editing The Royal Family

''Only the oldest child is absent: the Empress' Shadow, who did not Fall."''<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story) The Gift, ''Fallen London'']</ref></blockquote>After the Fall, the [[Empress]]' children began cultivating bees<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Reunion Reunion, ''Fallen London''] ''"The sound of the door shutting rings in your head. Not this don't make me see. It takes the siblings some time to decide upon which bee best suits their purpose. The hives are new, each prince and princess has cultivated their own. The competition is fierce."''</ref> and experimenting with [[Gaoler's Honey|gaoler's honey]] using their own servants,<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Reunion Reunion, ''Fallen London''] ''"They are new to this, and prone to squabbling. Wings are pulled, limbs plucked. The once favoured nanny trembles, as her old charge lovingly pins back her ears. The swarm, when it comes, is swift. The family lingers over the hives, waiting for the honey to come. Eventually, they tire, and the lure of honey nearer at hand draws them away, into red dreams. The dream carries you with it."''</ref> taking great joy in the act.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Reunion Reunion, ''Fallen London''] ''"You burst from the dead bushes, armed only with your fury that they are doing this to your old retainers. That woman was once their favourite nanny – and now they cage her and daub her ears with honey. Another paints her expression, capturing the moment with oil and canvas as they open the hive."''</ref> However, at some point they consumed a contaminated strain of red honey<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Crown_of_Thorns A Crown of Thorns, ''Fallen London''] ''"The colony is troubled. We try to control whose memories they are allowed to harvest, but some years ago there was a contaminant. The bees started attacking their own. Before we could sample the honey for an explanation, it was gone. Torn away in chunks."''</ref> that caused all but two of them to be transformed into monsters.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story)|The Gift|Fallen London|}} ''"A Sprightly Septuagenarian drones about the revels of his youth to a patient ingénue. "...and the gaoler's honey flowed like a river! Or at least a tributary. There were tureens of it. Vats! We didn't know, then, of course. Terrible thing. Bad strain. Hence all this..." he waves a vague hand at the darkness."''</ref> One stayed on the [[Surface]], and the [[Captivating Princess]], who was born in the [[Neath]], managed to avoid the effects (at least superficially).<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Reunion Reunion, ''Fallen London''] ''"The change imposed by the Red Honey was a gift. As it was to me. The rest of our family proved... inadequate to the wonders on offer. They grew indulgent, lazy. [...]"''</ref> One may see the siblings as they were before, but only in a mirror.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story) The Gift, ''Fallen London''] "''In the mirror, the company dines with poise. Knives cut sensible morsels. Silver forks dip. Behind you, you hear flesh tear. A crack, as a bone splits lengthways. Insistent, grisly chewing."''</ref> Thanks to this predicament, many of the royal children suffer from severe insecurities and other character flaws, but they still seem to retain sapience despite their appearances. Their quarters are hidden beneath the [[Shuttered Palace]], locked behind five locked doors.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_wine_cellars_of_the_Palace The wine cellars of the Palace, ''Fallen London''] ''"The cellars under the Shuttered Palace are constantly guarded and protected by five doors with five locks. There must be something interesting down there."''</ref> A senior Keeper of the Cage-Garden in the Shuttered Palace speculates that the royal children's transformation must also have something to do with their heritage.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Crown_of_Thorns A Crown of Thorns, ''Fallen London''] ''"Never touched honey myself. I've seen what it does. Not just to people like her, but to the takers. Makes everything inside come out, so you can see what they were trying to keep hidden. Doesn't happen to everyone. Think there has to be something in the blood before people start to, you know—" he jerks his head towards the mist-shrouded palace, "—get like that."''</ref>

'''Princess Helena Augusta Victoria '''(born May 25th, 1846) has become "an abhorrence of rusting quills."<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story) The Gift, ''Fallen London''] ''"[...] An abhorrence of rusting quills screams at you, flaring its spines like an iron sun."''</ref> She has a unique taste for red honey that is distinct from her siblings; namely, she partakes in honey extracted only from one individual, who is kept separate from the other prisoners.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Crown_of_Thorns A Crown of Thorns, ''Fallen London''] ''"H_____ will touch only honey from a single inmate of the cage-gardens, whose cage was kept away from the rest."''</ref>  

'''Princess Louise Caroline Alberta '''(born March 18th, 1848), the [[Recalcitrant Sculptress]], is "the gaunt thing with a coat of glass feathers."<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story) The Gift, ''Fallen London''] ''"[...] a gaunt thing shivers in a coat of glass feathers. [...]"''</ref> Since her transformation, her sculptures have taken on the appearance of horrifying and warped humanoid shapes.<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story) The Gift, ''Fallen London''] ''"Before each step, you nudge the feathers aside with your toe. The glassy sounds are shrill in the cellars' hush. There are shapes in the dark: statues. The Recalcitrant Sculptress was gifted when she still had hands. Now, her works are crude; as twisted as dying oaks. This one has a set of stubby, vestigial arms protruding from the sides of its head. Another, further in, has a narrow torso covered in mouths. You pass between the monstrous statues as swiftly as you dare."''</ref> She was known as the prettiest of Victoria's daughters and a skilled artist.  

<blockquote>''"It was all and yet none of these. You must return, and return again, until you have eaten your way through to your own rotten core, and devoured it. Until then, this torture is no less than you deserve."<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Crown_of_Thorns A Crown of Thorns, ''Fallen London'']</ref>''</blockquote>'''Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert '''(born May 1st, 1850), the [[Bellicose Prince]], has become "the weeping horse-sized grub."<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story) The Gift, ''Fallen London''] ''"The carcass of a goat stretches across the table. Around it, horrors congregate. [...] A weeping, horse-sized grub half-mounts the table [...]"''</ref> After a string of costly errors during his service in the [[The Campaign of '68|Campaign of '68]] against [[Hell]], he began consuming his own red honey as "penance."<ref name=":0">[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Crown_of_Thorns A Crown of Thorns, ''Fallen London''] ''"For weeks, you let the bees tear away pieces of your mind. You relive the torture every time you swallow your own honey, but the agony is nothing to that of confronting yourself. Sometimes, the pain recedes enough for you to see what is happening to your body, but it comes as no surprise. This new form matches who you have always been."''</ref> He had initially been put off by the honey his siblings were taking, and thus avoided becoming a monster at first,<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Crown_of_Thorns A Crown of Thorns, ''Fallen London''] ''"There is more honey than you could possibly eat, in any flavour you desire. You ask for soldiers' memories, but there must be something wrong with the honey because these recollections taste only of boredom and pain. You cast the spoon aside and watch as your siblings eat, and grow monstrous."''</ref> but his relapse resulted in his eventual transformation.<ref name=":0" />  

'''Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore '''(born April 14th, 1857), the [[Playful Prodigy]], is "the spider-thing with face-hands and needle-fingers."<ref>[https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Gift_(Story) The Gift, ''Fallen London''] ''"The Playful Prodigy makes no sound as she stirs from the ceiling. You do not hear her unfold her spindly limbs. You do not see her long hands reach down, or the frightened, child-like faces that peer from each palm. You feel the needled finger, though, as it pricks a vein in your neck. Sharp as a bee sting."''</ref> In the ''Sunless Skies'' timeline, she was able to return to human form, and has become known as the '''Generous Princess.'''<ref>[https://sunlessskies.miraheze.org/wiki/London#The_Silken_Salon The Silken Salon, ''Sunless Skies''] ''"The Generous Princess manages many affairs of court. She cultivates alliances, forms opinions, sets trends, makes introductions, suggests promotions and dismantles reputations. She attracts rumours like a lantern attracts moths. It's said that she fears the light of the suns, and that her gifts inevitably destroy the recipients. She can sometimes be found in her salon, where she welcomes visiting captains."''</ref> The real Beatrice was babied by her mother, became Victoria's constant companion after Albert's death, and married a German prince (to Victoria's exasperation at losing her innocent baby daughter).