Chapter 9: Television Appearance

A week later, I drove Carrie to the studios of WDC-TV, one of Washington’s primary television stations. Marjorie met us at a side door as arranged, and hustled us into one of the interior studios so no one could look in from the street and watch what was happening as they could with some of the other studios.

In the studio were only a half-dozen other people: two cameramen, a soundman, a production assistant and editor, an assistant producer, and the main producer and VP for all WDC-TV programming. Princess Caroline met each person and thanked them for their help in removing some of the drama from the past three weeks since her disappearance and also for their confidentiality until the interview was broadcast.

I could tell she was in ‘princess mode’ by the increased formality in how she behaved. She was dignified and truly regal, an affected style I hadn’t seen from her before, yet she pulled it off as though it was as natural as screaming at a ballgame.

I knew this interview was top news and would command a very high viewership not only in the Washington area, but also across the country and in Europe and Australia. The VP was salivating he was so excited about this scoop Marjorie had uncovered. We went out of our way to be sure he knew this was her story. He told me he understood and had no intention of taking this away from her. He wanted this to be her big break. For her part, Marjorie knew that she couldn’t screw this up. This one event would leapfrog her career into the ‘big time’.

We’d worked up a rough script with Marjorie, building on the questions that she would ask Carrie about how she felt and why she was doing what she was going. The two of them had rehearsed over and over in my small living room – ‘our’ small living room.

In between working on the script, Carrie, Marjorie, and I had become a triad of lovers exploring polyamory. We were going to make it work for us. I stood in the background watching my two lovers at work doing their best. The fact that both women were full of my love potion made me smile. They’d both wanted to feel loved before we left the condo so that they were ‘fortified’ for the day’s work. Carrie must have felt my vibes because she came over and kissed me, and whispered ‘I love you’ to me. I returned the favor. Several of the crew noticed the affection and smiled.

For her part, Carrie had revived the Princess image with a wig, a lot of work over the past two days to get rid of the rose tattoo on her neck, choosing long sleeves to hide the fading remnants of the barbed wire tats, and some return to a way of acting and behaving she’d obviously been programmed for in her home country.

A makeup girl came onto the set and helped ensure that both women were TV ready and looked their best. Carrie was wearing a stylish business suit ensemble that Marjorie had bought for her to wear. Marjorie wore a stunning pants, blouse, and blazer outfit that also looked very professional Both women wore spike heels, my great weakness because of how sexy they make a woman’s legs and feet look.

Marjorie and Carrie sat in the stark studio in two armchairs, and started the interview. The cameras followed the Q&A. I watched with some of the others in a control and sound booth hidden from view of the cameras.

The entire interview took four hours to film, but that time included a couple of breaks. I cried at some of Carrie’s revelations about her sterile life as what she recalled her life as a ‘Bubble Girl’ where she was sequestered away from what she called ‘normal daily activity’. I also laughed at some of her humor, particularly about a couple of her previous attempts at escape.

Carrie laughed, and she cried. She was humorous and serious. She teased, hinted at a few things such as the relationship with me and Marjorie, and told Princess stories. In the end she made her case for being on her own on her own terms.

We had talked about how much to reveal about her whereabouts and her friends, specifically me. Carrie talked about having ‘old friends’ in the country that she relied on for their help and confidentiality. She told of having a serious love interest or two, but did not go into details. She expressed surprise at the drama regarding her disappearance; apologized for the trouble she’d put the police through.

She told of the several contacts she’d made using burner phones to let people know she was alright and living on her own. She also talked about having enjoyed many sights and the hospitality in the entire Washington area. She added that she would not be limiting her visit to only this geography in the future.

When the interview ended, the producers scrambled away to produce a forty-five-to-fifty-five-minute abridged version of the interview for a one-hour TV special two nights later. They also picked out a dozen or so sound and video bites they planned to use for publicity as soon as they could get them on the air.

Carrie, Marjorie, and I went home to my condo after stopping for a late lunch to await the broadcast two evenings later, and to see what the aftermath would be. Marjorie had told us that the police were still looking for us, and we laughed about how the airing of the interview would drive them crazy. After all, we hadn’t done anything wrong, plus we’d always answered their questions truthfully – well, most of them.