Alice Windsor | BRF Story

5.

Greece

August 1999

It was still early, but Alice had gotten used to it since she didn't have her mother around anymore. She got up early, ate her breakfast and got herself ready, and that was her routine even if she was at school or on vacation, like she was right now. 

The sun had awakened her early, and she was ready for a morning in the sun before any of her fellow holiday companions were up. The chef from the yacht had been careful to prepare the princess' favourite breakfast, one that she rarely got when living at school, pancakes. 

"It seems that you liked it, ma'am." The greek chef says, standing in front of the princess, who was sat in the kitchen table. 

"It is very good, Ilias. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, ma'am. But do wait some time before getting in the water, OK? We don't want an accident, do we?"

"No." The princess says shyly, flashes of her first day on the boat coming back to her. 

Alice was so excited to be at sea that she didn't waste a second before jumping into the open water, barely twenty minutes after having had lunch. Needless to say it didn't end well, and the princess made a mess on the wooden floor of the boat. No one was mad at her, but she felt bad seeing people having to clean after her mistakes, even though she wasn't physically able to do it herself, she still wanted to help. 

Her brothers and their friends, Alice believed, were still asleep, and she hadn't seen her father or his companion since the night before. Or Camilla's children for that matter. 

"Good morning." The voices of two boys, the same age as her eldest brother, come from the kitchen door, and get closer with every step. 

"Good morning." The chef smiles at the boys and goes back behind the small island that separated the small coffee table and the rest of the kitchen, while the two boys stay on the other side of island. "Anything for breakfast?" 

"Scrambled eggs?" The smaller boy asks, sitting down on one of the stools. The other boy stays on his feet, as the chef washes the eggs for the meal. 

The Princess, who barely seemed bothered by the presence of the older boys finishes her fruits and cleans her lips, getting up and taking her empty plate to the chef's sink. 

"Good?"

"Very. Thank you, Ilias. I'll miss your food." 

"And I'll miss your company, Your Royal Highness." 

The princess flinches before given the kind chef a smile. And just then the boys notice who the little girl was; immediately the taller boy bows his head while the smaller one just looks down. 

"Your Wills' friends aren't you?"

"We are, Your Royal Highness." 

"I've seen you around sometimes, when you visit. I'm Alice."

"We know, ma'am." The taller boy says without much thought, and in return receives a side punch on his ribs from his friend's elbow. "I'm sorry, I'm... I'm Edward."

"I'm Henry, ma'am." 

"You have my brother's name." The princess says with a snort and a smile, as she walks out of the kitchen, leaving the boys open-mouthed behind. 

The two young men look at each other not knowing what to say, and before they could think of something the chef puts two plates of the scrambled eggs in front of them, shutting them down before they could say anything. 

On her way to open top area of the boat the princess finds Camilla's daughter, Laura, relaxing on one of the lounge chairs. The princess stayed silent but gets inside of the small heated pool without any trouble, or much noise. 

"Boys..." The younger lady says, putting her sunglasses and looking over at the princess with a smile. "They think I don't know they are looking."

"Sorry?" 

"You're going to have the same problem, Alice, mark my words. Specially with who your mother was." The words seemed to slip out of the 21-year-old's mouth without much difficulty, and you were able to notice that when she winced and look at the girl once again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just..."

"Don't worry, Laura. I know I am my mother's daughter." 

"She was very beautiful." The Parker Bowles says, sitting down and scooting over to be closer to her mother's companion's daughter. "And you look more and more like her."

"I-I don't know about that."

"Well, you don't have to believe me, obviously. But I'm sure you'll have hundreds of boys falling on their knees for you."

"I don't really care."

"Not right now, but give it time."

The princess nodded, but really put that on the back of mind, burying as far she possibly could. Laura Parker Bowles was a very nice person, and she hoped they could become at least a little bit friends if they were ever to become family, but that conversation wasn't one Alice would look back on and be happy to remember. So the princess just smiled and looked up to the cloudless sky. Another beautiful morning, and one she really didn't want to end so early.