A Princess of Wales

Chapter Twenty-One: The Last Phone Call

30th of August 1997 - Paris, France

"Hello, darling. Finally, we can talk!" Diana said with a smile on her face, she sat down on the couch relieved that she could finally speak with her children and that in a matter of days they would be reunited.

They had left the Olbia Airport, Sardinia, on a private jet and arrived at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, where they had stopped on route to London after spending the preceding nine days together onboard Mohamed's yacht Jonikal on the French and Italian Riviera.

They had plans to spend the night at the Hôtel Ritz Paris, rather than the apartment that Mohamed owned just off the Avenue des Champs Elysées.

"Sorry, we haven't really got very long. It's dinner," William said, it had been a long day and he was so excited since his grandfather had taken him and Harry out deerstalking.

Philip had taken extra care to spend time with the boys when their father was busy, keeping them busy so they didn't have to worry about their mother's exploits as she was pictured with Dodi.

"Yes, I know, but quickly, how's Scotland?" Diana asked knowing that this would be the only chance that she got to speak with them before she saw them again in a couple of days' time.

It would be a sort reunion for the family before the children headed back off to their boarding schools, William was set up at Eton College now with Harry set to join him this year while Adeline was at St Andrew's School.

Diana and Charles had already been discussing the further education of their daughter, she was expected to enrol in Downe House School when she was thirteen years old.

"It's good," William said, he loved being outdoors and it was great fun despite the fact that his mother found the place boring and often complained about the weather.

It was a place where he could be himself without worrying about what others thought, he didn't have to worry about the cameras which followed his mother everywhere.

"Wet, cold, and full of midges?" Diana joked with a smile, she had hated the place when she had been forced to spend the summer there when she had been married to Charles.

Diana peeked outside the curtains of the apartment where she was staying, the media presence only growing with each passing moment that she was inside and the Mohamed's security struggled to keep them back.

"Just how you like it?" Diana asked with a smile, she moved away from the window not wanting to focus on what was happening outside; not when she had the chance to speak with her children and that was what mattered.

"Oh yeah, guess what?" William said excitedly, she could just see the smile on his face from the excited tone that he had something to share with her; it made her heartache that she wasn't with them right now.

It was hard to believe that William was fifteen, he was nearly all grown up and then he wasn't going to need her anymore; it made her a little sad to think she was losing him.

"I shot my first stag today," William told her, his words causing her heart to drop a little at the news that her eldest had been killing things; she would have to speak with Charles about this matter.

Diana didn't understand the desire to kill something that wasn't doing any harm to anyone, the fact that the royals hosted hunting parties were something that never really sat right with her.

"Oh, don't tell me you got blooded too," Diana said trying to control her distress, she didn't want to upset William when he had sounded so proud of himself; she was sure he saw it as a victory of some sort.