Alice
al-is. Origin:German. Meaning: noble, exalted.
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Alice was the perfect child, the embodiment of a perfect princess; beloved by both her mother and father from the moment they found out she was a girl; the glue that keeps her family togethe...
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Alice had been kept away from family drama, from the most part of course. She didn't know or care to know how her uncle's marriage had ended or if her other uncle had a new girlfriend and was one his way to the altar. If it didn't affect her directly she didn't need to know, that was what her grandmother had said in August 1998, during the Wales' trip up to Scotland.
However, it did come a time that she was forced to learn a few very bad kept "secrets" about her family.
It would be expected that a mans only daughter would be present at her father's birthday party, specially when it's a milestone like his 50th birthday. Well, Alice didn't have much of a choice over a few matters. Her grandmother had fought and stood her ground about her own attendance at the party, and was adamant that little 12-year-old Alice shouldn't attend either. You'd think that a father would know better than to take his daughter to a "grown ups' party", however, the Prince of Wales didn't care, at the time, what his mother had to say. The girl went.
Wearing a dark purple dress with white socks and her mother's butterfly earrings, she arrived to her father's country home's landing hall alone, before being whisked to a separate room, where she assumed photographs would be taken later on.
The room, when she was first instructed in, was empty, but soon the secondary door was opened and in came her father, followed by her two brothers, who seemed less than happy, which you wouldn't expect of such a happy occasion, or so it seemed.
"Lily."
"Papa. Wills, Harry. Are we taking photos?"
"Soon, Lily. Before we can do that I would like to introduce you to someone."
"Very well."
The same door, which Alice knew was linked by a small corridor to another sitting room, was opened again by her father and in came a figure Alice wasn't too sure who it was. She seemed familiar but Lily couldn't for the life of her put a name to the face, much less when they had meet or even seen each other.
"Lily, this is Camilla, my girlfriend."
The girl's eyes grew wider and her mouth fell slightly open, which won her father a disappointed look from her eldest brother. But she wasn't scared, not in the least, she had never been afraid of meeting people. And for what was worth the woman in front of her seemed terrified of the girl.
"Oh."
She wasn't exactly sure what she should and could say at a situation like this, and definitely not something to ease the poor woman's worried expression.
"Lily?"
"Could we take the pictures already? I have some school work to finish, and I am already tired."
Those words, Charles noted, wasn't what he expect to hear from his daughter.
The meeting between William and Camilla had been a cool one, from the prince's side, and a petrifying one from the Prince of Wales' side of the story. And Harry's wasn't much better, with the 13-year-old prince refusing to speak for the duration of the meal at York House, and leaving to God knows where immediately afterwards. The prince had expected a different, better reception from his only daughter; but thinking about it later expecting his daughter who had, more or less, just become orphaned of her mother, to welcome a strange women into her trusted family circle out of nowhere was just bonkers.
They ended taking all of the pictures in a few minutes, and before the princess went back to her own room the family took a photo with Camilla, and photo, Alice knew, the Prince of Wales treasured more than any other object in his possession.
