Princess Adeline, Duchess of Clarence

Chapter Ninety-Six: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

8th of September 2022 - Balmoral

It was surreal to arrive at Balmoral knowing that the Queen was no more, Andrew, Edward and Sophie were guided to where Anne was waiting for them so that they could say their goodbyes to the Queen. 

William and Adeline were lead by Sir Clive to were the new monarch was waiting for his children to arrive; neither of them saying a word as they were guided towards the office that Charles had taken over. 

"His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Clarence," Sir Clive announced to the king, he bowed to Charles who was seated by the desk where he had been sorting through everything that needed to be done. 

There was so much being placed in his hands despite the fact that his mother had not even been dead two hours, his grief clear to see on his face. 

It was surreal to hear William's change in titles as they bowed to their father, Adeline staying back as she watched her brother first approach their father and press a kiss to his cheek before she approached and did the same. 

"I am so sorry Dad," Adeline whispered taking his hand, he looked so tired and she was sure that he had enough on his plate without dealing with what was about to land on their doorstep. 

Harry was unreachable as he was still in the air, people were still trying to get a hold of him but there had been no success at this time while pressure was growing on them to announce. 

It had been lucky that the staff were still on hand since they had been due to change shifts and things were running smoothly with Edward and Clive keeping on top of everything that needed to be done. 

Already in London things were being down swiftly, within minutes of the Queen's death work had stopped on Buckingham Palace refurbishment with the project managers sent home and their office taken over for funeral planning. 

In France, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was enjoying the last days of his holiday in Normandy but having seen the earlier statement by the Palace had begun to prepare to return with his wife. 

The words 'London Bridge' slowly starting to echo around the world, the Prime Minister also being notified and forced to drop out of a G7 meeting although that signalled to other world leaders just what had happened. 

"She left you a letter," Charles stated holding out the sealed envelope that had been set aside with a letter for himself and a letter for Sir Edward that had been found inside the red box that the Queen had worked on every day for seventy years. 

It was clear enough that the Queen had known that the end was imminent and had planned accordingly; similar to how her own mother had done in her final hours. 

Adeline took it in her hands, the letter feeling heavy as she turned it over in her hands; the parchment making a lump form in her throat and she couldn't bring herself to open it at this time. 

"Is there anything that you need us to help with?" William asked their father, his mind still spinning that this was actually happening; it hadn't really hit him until he had been called the Duke of Cornwall that his grandmother was actually gone. 

Charles shook his head, everything was running smoothly as his team worked with the late Queen's to get everything in order and notify everyone before an announcement was made. 

"I just need to reach your brother before the announcement goes out at 6:30pm," Charles stated knowing that it wasn't going to be easy, no matter what they did Harry wasn't going to be happy. 

William nodded his head, this was something that he wasn't looking forward to and he could only imagine what was going to happen when Harry arrived and how he would act.