Princess Adeline, Duchess of Clarence

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Cause for Concern

1st of March 2021 - St Bartholomew's Hospital

The final agreement on the exit of the couple had fallen into place on the 19th of February, with Buckingham Palace confirming that the couple would not be returning as working members of the royal family. 

It was further added that the couple would not 'continue with the responsibilities and duties that came with a life of public service', as a result Harry and Meghan were required to give up several military, honorary and charitable appointments. 

With Harry keeping his patronages of the Invictus Games, Sentebale, WellChild and the Walking with the Wounded, while Meghan would keep Smart Works and Mayhew. 

However days before the agreement had been made, it became clear why Harry was so eager to get the agreement through sooner rather than later with an interview being confirmed with Oprah.

 The interview that would include Meghan discussing 'stepping into life as a royal, marriage, motherhood, philanthropic work and how she handled life under intense public pressure'. 

Harry joining them to 'speak about their move to the United States and their future hopes and dreams for expanding their family'. 

This announcement had come in time for the couple to announce that they were expecting their second child only the day before on Valentine's Day. 

All this had been happening behind the scenes as Prince Philip entered hospital on the 16th of February as a precautionary measure after feeling unwell. 

It had only been a month earlier that he and Queen Elizabeth had been vaccinated against Covid-19 by a household doctor at Windsor Castle. 

It was reported by Buckingham Palace that Philip was responding to treatment for an infection that he had and he had been visited at the hospital by Charles, with him expected to remain at the hospital for at least another week while he recovered. 

During this time the Queen had performed her first face-to-face event of the year, when she had knighted a royal aide during a private socially-distanced ceremony at Windsor. 

The most-recent official engagement that Prince Philip had done saw him hand over his role of colonel-in-chief of The Rifles in a ceremony at Windsor to Adeline, with the Queen and Prince Philip celebrating their 73rd wedding anniversary by releasing a picture of themselves opening cards from their great grandchildren.

However there was no ignoring the talk that morning when Prince Philip left King Edward VII's hospital by ambulance for St Bartholomew's Hospital to continue treatment for an infection and additionally to undergo testing and observation for a pre-existing heart condition. 

Taking a deep breath as she made her way towards the hospital, Adeline tried to keep her face devoid of any negative emotion that she might have. 

Paparazzi had been stationed outside the hospital since Prince Philip had arrived that morning, they had followed him over from King Edward's and there was no doubt that they suspected that something wasn't right. 

The Duke of Edinburgh's health had been deteriorating in the past decade, heart problems and other issues plaguing him in his advanced age and it only seemed to get worse each time. 

Ignoring the flash of cameras as she pulled up to the hospital, Adeline wasn't sure what to make of the situation with everyone trying to keep calm and carry on with their duties. 

Things were slowly starting to return to some sort of normalcy and Adeline was relieved for that, she missed seeing people and it had been a rather odd birthday and Christmas if she was honest.