Princess Hope

chapter twenty

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BREAKING: King Albert II of Belgium's love child sues for recognition

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Belgian Royals embroiled in scandal days before Prince William's wedding

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Will we see Princess Hope with her boyfriend Prince Joachim at her beloved older brother's wedding?

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Belgium's Prince Joachim: Is he good enough for our Princess?

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1 day before Will and Catherine's wedding...

Andra was eating breakfast with her brothers and her grandparents when her grandmother's personal secretary entered the breakfast room with a stack of tabloids.

"I'm sorry to intrude, Your Majesty," he bowed.

"What is it, Christopher?" The Queen asked.

Andra turned her head up to look at the man. He looked like he was hesitant to voice out what he wanted to say, she noted.

"Well, ma'am... these are today's front page," he carefully laid each of the tabloids down. "The Princess is being dragged along with the recent scandals of Prince Joachim's family."

The Queen sighed. With regret, she glanced at her granddaughter. She knew what had to be done. The Crown must always win.

"I'm sorry for that, granny. I talked to Joachim. I decided that it's best he doesn't attend Wills' wedding." To the Queen's surprise, Andra spoke. Harry looked at his sister with disappointment.

"Dear, we could have dealt with it," she gently said.

"It's alright, granny. I don't want to ruin Wills' wedding," Andra smiled reassuringly. She wiped the sides of her lips with the serviette. "I'm finished. Can I go ahead?"

"Of course, Alexandra."

Prince Philip silently watched his granddaughter exit the room. He looked at Harry who matched his gaze. Harry let out a breath before following his sister without further ado.

"Is this all, Christopher?"

"Yes. Excuse me, ma'am." The private secretary bowed before exiting the room.

Prince Philip cleared his throat. "Andra is much like you even though she looks like Diana," he stated.

"You think so?"

"Yes," he said. "Look at how she put her own relationship on the line for this family. Duty over everything."

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"Hope Alexandra," Harry called. He was following his sister. She stopped in her tracks and looked back. "Why would you do that? Ask him to not attend because of a scandal?"

"It's for our family."

"No, it's duty speaking. Sometimes, you have to let go of duty, Andra. Or you'll lose anyone who dares to love you."

"Duty is everything, Harry. My family is where my loyalties lie. Don't you understand that?" She asked, frustrated at her brother. For her, Harry always chose the things he wanted than his duty to their family. He was doing all the rebelling for both of them.

"I don't understand why you would do that," his voice raised.

"I did it for our family. If Joachim came, we'd be dragged along with their scandal. There would be articles comparing ours to theirs. I don't want that on Wills' wedding," she tried to be calm. She let out a deep breath. "Your whole life, you've spent in the spotlight, Harry. When we make bad decisions, it's not just us who suffer. Our family comes down with us."

"So, you're saying Joachim's a bad decision?"

"Harry, I'm saying there's a thing called timing. If Joachim comes here even with everything that's happening in his family, that's a bad decision," she said strongly. Harry frustratedly let out a huff. "I know you don't understand me but please, don't condemn me for choosing to protect our family."

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"Good morning, granny, grandpa," William entered the breakfast room. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed his siblings weren't around. "Where are Harry and Andra?"

"Your sister asked Joachim to not attend your wedding to avoid bringing us into his family's problem. She excuse herself, and Harry followed her."

"Oh, no." William blurted out. He quickly excused himself and ran out of the room to find his siblings. He instantly knew what would've happened.

"You're doing the same thing Dad did to Mum! You're setting Joachim aside for duty!" He heard Harry scream.

"Harry, please stop," Andra said. She was tensed. Her jaw clenched as she tried to keep herself from saying anything that she wouldn't be able to take back.

"No, you're the one who doesn't understand. You are hurting him, Hope Alexandra. What you did, was a mistake." Harry furiously continued.

"Do you honestly think that I'm not hurting too?" Andra asked in disbelief. "Choosing my duty to my family is a mistake? I'm like this because you're doing enough selfish things for the two of us."

"Andra! Harry!" William called out, warningly. He pursed his lips as he watched them. He noted that Andra was crossing her arms in front of her chest, an action she does when she's trying to control her emotions. He noticed that Harry's fists were curled into balls.

"What were you fighting about?" William asked.

Andra's face softened as she composed herself. "Nothing to worry about, Wills," she forced a smile on her lips. "What time will you be going to Dad's?"

"Before lunch," William sighed. He knew she didn't want to talk about whatever she and Harry fought about. "Wait, you're not going with us?"

"No, I'll be staying here," she answered. "I'm attending the pre-wedding party with Granny and Grandpa."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow?" William smiled empathically at his sister. She replied with a small smile, then she kissed his cheek before walking away.

William watched his sister go down the hall. He waited for her to be absolutely gone before he gave Harry a look.

"You went too far," he said.

"I said my point," Harry said.

"Do you know what Mum and Andra have in common?" William asked, his hands inserted into his pockets.

"What?" Harry asked.

"They both love their family more than anything in the world. Andra's not selfish, you know. She's not setting him aside, she thought it was the best thing for everyone."

Harry sighed in realization. "I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," William responded. He tapped his brother's shoulder before leaving to eat his breakfast.

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Author's note: Holy shiitake mushrooms! We're currently at 21k reads! Thank you so much for supporting this story, and for waiting for updates. <3