A Princess of Wales

Chapter Nineteen: The Endgame

1st of August 1997 - Kensington Palace

Taking a deep breath, Diana busied herself with packing the children's bags as they prepared to head off to Scotland with their father for the rest of the summer break; it was a little sad that the next time that she saw them would be for school. 

The trip to France had been a success and Diana had enjoyed her time there and the time that she had spent with Dodi, the two of them had spent a lot of time talking. 

Diana had posed for photographers briefly to get them to leave her children alone, which from what she had heard had upstaged the birthday party that Charles had been throwing for Camilla in the papers. 

Diana had returned home to find a invitation from Dodi to join him in Paris, something that she had greatly considered since the children would be gone for the rest of summer. 

Her therapist had cautioned her against rushing into something, that she should take time to build herself back up after her divorce and the end of her relationship with Hasnat but Diana was reluctant to listen. 

It was refreshing when she spoke to Dodi, he held on to every word that she had to say, they had talked about their difficult relationships with their fathers and she found herself being honest with him. 

Diana had found herself an unlikely ally in her former step-mother, the two of them were frequently photographed meeting for lunch, Raine didn't have any hidden agenda which was refreshing for Diana. 

Diana's relationship with her mother had been strained; Diana and her mother had not communicated for several months due to her relationship with Hasnat which Frances did not approve of. 

Diana didn't believe for a moment that she was doing anything wrong with entertaining Dodi, she was enjoying being chased after especially after all his sweet gifts since she came home. 

"Dad's here," William called from another room, the sound of him rushing to greet Charles following and Diana felt a lump form in her throat; things might have gotten better between them since their divorce but she would always be nervous when it came to seeing him. 

Zipping up Adeline's bag, Diana dusted off her hands and moved to carry it down the stairs to where the other bags were waiting; she paused at the sight of Charles as he greeted their children. 

A small smile forming on her face as she watched Charles with each of them, despite everything that had happened between them she had never doubted his love for their three children and he had always defended them. 

"Hello," Diana greeted, she moved across the hall and pressed a friendly kiss to his cheek and she knew that they had been happy in this place for at least five years before it had all fallen apart and she wished that it could have lasted. 

There was a deep regret on both parts that their marriage had ended like it had, Diana admitted that she had been difficult and she wanted attention; she had wanted things that Charles hadn't been able to give her. 

A lot of her talk with her therapist had shown her that she had lashed out and tried to hurt him for not living up to the fantasy that she had created in her mind. 

They had hacked chunks out of each other in public, turning on each in the most awful ways, all anyone had ever wanted was the fairy-tale that had been their marriage; it hadn't been fair on either of them trying to live up to that. 

"Hello. You look lovely today," Charles said kissing Diana's cheek in return, he smiled at her knowing that they had grown from those two hateful people that were just trying to hurt each other at the end of their marriage.