As a distant relative to the Queen, I had my place in the succession to the throne, of course, but I wasn't seriously studying matters of state, for my place on the throne was a distant possibility. The real Royal Line was as follows: The Queen, The Prince, Edward "Winnie the Pooh" Bear, and Piglet.

Pooh and Piglet were not always in direct succession of course, but were appointed to their unusual stations after a particularly successful diplomatic friendship with another powerful kingdom to the North had been established. Before this time, they were just Court mascots.

The Queen was preparing to embark on a mission of diplomatic discussion, and wished to bring gifts from our Kingdom, gifts that would prove the profitability of establishing good relations with us.

The Prince said: "Take some of our blue gemstones with you."

The Vizier said: "Take some of our rich coal with you."

The Duchess said: "Take some of our pearls with you."

The Earl said: "Take some of our cunning clockwork with you."

Pooh said: "Take some of our honey with you."

Piglet said: "Take some of our jam with you."

The whole court laughed and laughed at their silly, sweet suggestions, but undaunted, Pooh insisted: "But it must be our FINEST honey."

And Piglet added: "But it must be our FINEST jam."

So the queen took honey and jam among her gifts. It seems that the Northern Kingdom was too cold for fruit trees, and where there are no fruit trees, neither are there bees. The members of the foreign Court were pleased with the value of the other gifts, but the honey and jam were so exquisite to their palates which were accustomed more to salt fish than to sweets, that they eagerly established ties and began giving grants to invest in the proliferation of our orchards.