Princess Adeline, Duchess of Clarence

Chapter Fifty-Five: A Moment of Peace

29th of August 2019 - Balmoral Castle

Watching the children playing in the grounds, Adeline couldn't help but smile to herself as she recalled the happy times that she had spent in these gardens when she was their age.

It felt like a different lifetime that it had been her running around these gardens with her brothers and cousins; laughter filling the air as they played.

"You look deep in thought," Prince Philip noted with a smile as he approached Adeline, it was always wonderful to have her and her family visit them at Balmoral and he wished they could spend more time together.

Time was a funny thing these days, there never seemed to be enough of it in his opinion; it seemed to be speeding up, slipping through his fingers before he could stop it.

"Thinking about my summers here as a child," Adeline admitted with a smile, there had been so much happiness here as well as sadness; it was a place that Adeline would always hold dear to her heart.

It was their safe haven away from the press and the place that she had learned of her mother's death, it was a place that she had felt safest in such sadness while the world seemed to grieve the woman that they had set on a pedestal.

"It seems like such a long time ago that it was me running around the gardens playing with my cousins," Adeline said sadly, her thoughts shifting to Archie who was still kept so isolated from the family.

She had heard that Harry and Meghan had refused to come to Balmoral for even a few days over the summer so that their son could spend time with his extended family.

It was sad to think that Archie would likely miss out on such quality time with his cousins and great grandparents because of his own parents behaviour and stubbornness.

"It was. I still remember my first time here, a different world to what we know now entirely," Prince Philip mused softly, he didn't think that he had ever really thought about what the future might hold back then.

He doubted that he could have ever pictured his life turning out like this, that he would be so close to turning 100 years old and would have been married to the Queen for as long as he had.

There had never been the consideration that he'd have lived to see twelve great grandchildren being born; maybe one or two but not twelve of them and he knew how blessed he was to be in this position.

It was a great honour to see Simon take on many of his patronages, he knew they would be in good hands now that he was retired and it was a great relief to him to see them handled to someone who would care for them as much as he had.

British Heart Foundation, Capability Scotland, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Marine Biological Association, The Wildlife Trusts, Holding Hearts, Action Medical Research and Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland were just some of the patronages that Simon had taken over from Philip.

The young man growing in confidence with each new patronage that he undertook and Philip was thankful that both William and Adeline had chosen well with their partners.

Catherine and Simon were willing to do the hard work that was put towards them, they were growing into their own roles within the Firm and Philip did not think that they could be better matched than they already were.

It seemed like most of his grandchildren had married well, they had all seemed to find the partner that they needed most in life and had settled down quite well.

There was always going to be one issue, one grandchild that would cause drama and it saddened him that it was Harry; that he had settled for an actress who clearly didn't understand what she had married into.