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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Charles and Camilla excused themselves after Alice blurted out her news. It was too much, even for them, even for Alice sometimes, who, by then, already knew about the pregnancy for a while. They went to a vacant room nearby and Charles did what any worried parent would do, he cried. Camilla rubbed his back while he asked what had happened, how had he not noticed something was wrong with his daughter. The couple stayed like that for nearly an hour, locked away in that room, putting their thoughts in order as well as their emotions.
Then came the call. William, as expected, had heard from his grandmother that his sister was in hospital (no one else had bothered to call him or Harry), and he immediately connected the dots. If Alice hadn't told Charles yet then William should, it was his duty to his sister, to his mother, to keep his sister safe and healthy.
Another hour passed, father and son talked, William explained everything he knew, which wasn't much to begin with, and now Charles and Camilla were up to date on Alice's situation. It wasn't ideal, and Charles was upset that Alice hadn't told him first, before telling William, but there was nothing he could do now, not when she was in a hospital bed and the media were on their way, ready to rain hellfire to find out what had put the young Princess Alice of Wales in hospital. And there was no way they could let the media find out of Alice's pregnancy.
Another half hour later, and a call to Her Majesty The Queen, Charles and Camilla were in front of Alice's hospital bed. The young woman had just woken up from a nap, after being given her afternoon medication, which left her very sleepy.
"What do you want to do?"
"Sorry?"
"Do you want to keep it? Do you want to give it to a family? We need to decide it here and now, Alice."
Her father's voice was distant, cold and you could hear how it pained him to say those things to his own 19-year-old daughter, but he was doing exactly what he had been instructed by his mother and her private secretary. If they had to handle it, they would handle.
"I..."
Alice looked over at her step-mother who had a sympathetic smile on her face while keeping her expression to a minimum. Camilla didn't want to interfere with whatever needed to happen between the Prince of Wales and Princess Alice, this was more than a father and daughter matter now, this changed everything about the Firm.
"I can't be a mother. I'm too young, I'm not ready." Alice blurted out, shaking her head. She couldn't imagine herself as mother at 19, especially not a single mother.
"We can find a family, or a clinic. What do you prefer? It's your choice."
"A family."
She hadn't thought it much about it, but Alice had become attached to the idea of pregnancy, of carrying to term, and it made her feel a little bit better that a family out there would be happy with a child even if she couldn't be a mother.
"We'll arrange it. For now, we'll talk to the doctors, see how soon you can be discharged."
The young princess was left alone after that, neither the Prince of Wales nor the Duchess of Cornwall returned to see her that day, and the only known face she saw was one of the royal doctors early in the evening, who announced she could leave the hospital the next morning, which had been a relief. When Alice left the hospital early the next morning the Prince of Wales was by her side, keeping to himself as they walked through the hospital, stopped to thank the doctors, nurses, as well as the director, before stepping outside, where a sea of cameras was waiting, all snapping the same photo. The princess smiling as she was hugged by her father and escorted by him into the awaiting black car, away from the craziness.
They stopped at her flat before going to Holyroodhouse, where the helicopter was already waiting to take them to Birkhall.
That night Alice didn't sleep. She turned and changed positions, trying every side of the bed she had slept many times while growing up, but nothing helped, nothing could shake away the thought and feeling that she not only had done something bad but she was also letting down her family, who were everything to her.
