Once upon a Christmas Eve – not long ago or far away – the snow was falling gently on the Stone Palace by the Great River. Not far away, in a house with the magical Number of 10, the Strong-Willed Prince was reluctantly coming to the end of his long, and for the most part, unhappy reign.

There had been so much hope and happiness in the land when he had first been crowned. The people had loved him and believed that a new age had dawned – and there was hope in their hearts. But the Prince had become wilful over the years. He had stopped listening to the people. And he had even stopped listening to the Political Red Elves who carried out his orders. (He had never paid any attention to the Blue or Golden Elves anyway as he regarded them as inferior).

And so, against all advice, he had led his Kingdom into a treacherous war in far off lands at the behest of a very powerful, if somewhat obtuse Wizard, who lived in a Great White House in a distant land across the water.

Now many different types of people lived in the Prince’s Kingdom – and they came in all shapes and sizes and colours. There were white ones and black ones and brown ones – and all shades in between. And for the most part, if left alone, they all got along together. But to justify his war, the Prince had lied to his people. And a lie once told, begets all sorts of evil consequences.

And now the long Shadow of Mistrust was creeping across the land – and as it fell on each person, they began to lose their reason. They turned on each other, blaming each other for all the hatred and unhappiness in the land. And the Prince was sad when he saw the trouble that he had brought upon his people – for he was not a bad man – just a bad Prince.

So as he pondered deeply on Christmas Eve – three not particularly Wise Men came to his door. And they bore him gifts. The first gift from the Chief Blue Elf was Wisdom – although he had been considering a pair of flip-flops, but decided to keep them for himself.

The second from Chief Red Elf – soon to be Prince himself and a somewhat dour and grumpy Scottish Elf – was Humility (well, this is a fairy tale).

And the third and, of course, the best gift was from the Chief Golden Elf – who was very, very wise. And he said to the Prince: "I have no gift for you. For the thing you need most cannot be given. It can only be gained by he who lost it in the first place. But if you can find what it is you lost – then the Kingdom will be saved."

So the Prince set forth and travelled the length and breadth of the Kingdom that Christmas Eve – and on his journey he found himself in a forest where no light breached the velvet darkness. He was terrified and alone, and cried out for help. An Angel appeared and took him by the hand and said: "There is an Evil Wizard in these woods who would kill you and come after your people. You must kill him in order to be free and to save your Kingdom. I will light the way."

And so the Prince fought a battle royal and slew the Evil Wizard and escaped from the dark forest. But as he turned back he saw an army of the Evil Wizard’s creatures coming after him. He cried out to the Angel and said: "I did what you bid me do. But now even though the Evil Wizard is dead his minions are coming after me. I trusted you!"

And as the words left his lips he found himself back in his house at Number 10 sitting by the big, open fire. And then – like a blinding light – he understood what he had lost. He had lost the peoples’ trust. And he had lost it because he had misled them. The most precious gift had already been his – and he had squandered it. How sorry he was. How he wished he had done things differently. But it was now all too late. Or was it?

The Kingdom itself was indeed saved and the people were re-united once again. But for the rest of his reign as Prince and for the rest of his days on earth – he would work tirelessly night and day, day and night with all the rulers of all the lands around the country where he had brought such death and disaster – to bring peace on earth and good will to all mankind.

And I’m the Christmas Fairy!

Happy Christmas.