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's heart had been torn apart and she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to feel or what to feel, it felt like the world was spinning and moving on without her, while she was stuck in the same place, unable to move. It felt like she was back at that bed in the early morning of a sunny September day.
Everything had seemed fine that day. Alice got up in her St James' Palace apartment and went for a run before receiving a call from her father's Highgrove butler that the Prince of Wales requested Princess Alice's presence at Highgrove as soon as possible. Although it was a Sunday, and a very hot day in august, Alice hadn't planned on leaving London so soon, but she didn't think much about it as she drove the 100 odd miles to her father's country estate. But she should have noticed something was odd, shouldn't she? Everything seemed quieter and the guards around the house didn't even try to make eye contact with her as she passed through the gates and parked in front of the house.
The next clue should have been that her own father was waiting for her at the entrance of the house. The Prince of Wales didn't do this, and if he did it was because he was anxiously awaiting your arrival, and not in a good way. But Alice was happy, it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and she was just happy to see her family. So they ate lunch. Everyone was silent and it was then that Alice started to feel her stomach turning; she was afraid to ask what was happening, so she just kept quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts.
The breaking news came as Prince Charles and Alice walked outside, into the beautifully manicured gardens her father was so proud of; Camilla decided to stay behind but Alice could see her stepmother's figure at the back door of the house that opened to the gardens.
Her father walked slowly and after they passed the fountain and were already many meters away from the house Charles finally stopped, looking at his daughter, his pride and joy, the daughter he had always dreamed of, feeling his own heart ache even before he was able to open his mouth and tell her what had happened.
"There was an accident."
"What?"
"Yesterday morning, they were driving from Sydney back to Newcastle, when a car drove into them."
"What?"
It felt like a dream and Alice was desperately trying to wake up.
"The father passed away almost immediately, and the other son is still in hospital."
Alice's head was spinning and apparently so was the world around her. She couldn't concentrate on one particular thing and her eyes kept travelling from her father in front of her to everything around them. That couldn't be true.
"He passed away just a few hours after arriving in hospital."
And there it was, the confirmation Alice did not need. The Princess looked back at her father who seemed just as broken as she was, before looking back at her stepmother's figure still standing by the doorway. Alice's knees gave way and she fell into the soft grass, large tears streaming down her cheeks as she felt her chest aching. And as she gasped for air she did what any mother who had just lost their child would have done, she screamed.
