Princess Adeline, Duchess of Clarence

Chapter Nineteen: The Queen at 90

21st of April 2016 - York House

"Do you think I'll get to ninety?" Simon mused plopping down on the couch next to Adeline, it was a little surreal to think that this year's trooping the colour celebrations would be to celebrate the Queen turning ninety this year. 

This year's trooping would see many firsts, including Simon riding in the parade as the new Colonel of the Scots Guard; a position recently granted to him by the Queen as the Duke of Kent stepped down. 

It had been a surprising move but the Queen had insisted that it would be a good fit considering his connections with Scotland, a place that he held dear and where he and Adeline had gotten engaged. 

"Not if you keep leaving your dirty underwear on the bathroom floor," Adeline joked with a smile, she had no doubts that he would live a long life and as his wife she certainly hoped so.

 She didn't even want to think that far ahead, they were only in their second year of marriage and their daughter was only one year old. 

There was still so much left for them to do, they wanted two or three more children if possible and then there was still so much left for them to experience in their marriage. 

Simon laughed at her words and nodded, it was hard not to think about their future at times like this; to wonder what their own lives would look like compared to that of the Queen's. 

Ninety years of life was not something that could be sniffed at, there weren't many people around now that remembered a time before the Queen had been on the throne; some only knowing her reign that had spanned sixty-four years now. 

The longest reigning monarch that the UK had ever known, having surpassed Queen Victoria in September of last year; something that could not ever be taken from her in their lifetime. 

It was unlikely that they would ever see the like of Queen Elizabeth's rein again in their lifetimes, the Queen was in good health and there were no signs of her slowing down anytime soon. 

Although there had been talk in recent months of Prince Philip retiring next year, he was ninety-four afterall and knew that his time as a working royal was coming to an end now. 

There were more than enough younger royals to take his place, he was happy to see the next generation take over and his health hadn't been right since the start of the decade. 

His patronages and commands would be reallocated overtime, giving Philip the chance to retreat from the royal front and enjoy the twilight years of his life; giving him freedom to relax and enjoy his time as he so pleased.

It was the Wessex children that he spent most of his time with these days, Louise taking carriage lessons from her grandfather and they were often seen riding around Windsor together when Philip had the chance to do so. 

Adeline knew that it was a rare opportunity that she got to spend time with grandparents like she had done as a child, things were different now and she missed the rambles that they'd gone on when at Balmoral as a child. 

Balmoral had always been a safe space for them, somewhere that they could be a family without expectations or protocol getting in the way of things too much. 

"How is your grandmother doing? Lucy said she was having trouble getting about," Adeline recalled looking to Simon, she hadn't seen much of Esther when she had visited Anne and Susan for wedding preparations. 

The FitzClarence-Shing wedding preparations were underway and they had gone wedding dress shopping over the weekend but had come away empty handed since Lucy hadn't been able to find something that she had liked.