The Youngest Royal

Chapter 2 The Sad Goodbye

The plane ride home was quiet, they had Diana's body with them. It had made the news, but none of them had seen anything yet. Mattie was laying down with her head on her father's lap. She had barely left his side since he walked into the hospital room. The doctor told im that she might be extra clingy to him after loosing her mother. Charles promised to give her all the time she needed. He was worried about all three of his children because all were very quiet, but not crying. He knew the boys had guilt over their last conversation with her, but he didn't know why Mattie seemed to feel guilty. She wouldn't tell him, he was praying she'd confide in his mother. But for know he would just give them all the love and time they needed. He knew that the news of Diana's death had already broken and he also knew that there would be a media circus outside of the palace. The Royal family had yet to release a statement. He wasn't sure what his mother's stance on all of it would be. Diana wasn't a member of the Royal family anymore. But he believes she deserved the honors of it anyway.
"Papa, does Granny know that Mummy died?" Mattie asked in a small voice, making her sound so much youger than her 11 years.
"She does sweetie."
"Will she be home?"
"Yes she will, she wants to see all of you."
"I wanna see her too." She said.
"Are you in pain Mattie bug?" William asked her as he pushed the blond hair out of her face. It broke his heart to see the pain in her eyes, pain that was so much more than physical.
"My shoulder hurts." She admitted.
He quickly opened up her medicine bottle as Harry grabbed a water and gently helped her to sit up. She took the pill with no problem.
"You need to eat Mattie." Harry said as he sat next to her.
"Not hungy."
"Yeah I get that, I'm not either. Maybe when we get home we can raid the kitchen like we useto when we were little and Mum..." He stopped suddenly and looked away.
"And Mum would make us a ice cream sunday." William said.
"It'll get easier to talk about her I promise." Charles said. "But kids, always remember that she loved you more than anything else in the world. Always carry that fact with you."
"We will Pop." William said.
Mattie laid her head on Harry and the older brother put his arm around her as Charles got up to call the Palace. William sat on the other side of their sister. He pulled both siblings to him, he was forcing himsef to be strong for them. He would mourn in private away from the eyes of them. William took his role of oldest very seriously, so he felt it was his job to get these two through this.
Charles looked at them and frowned, he would do anything to make this not true.
Soon they landed and were in a SUV with tinted windows on the way home. Diana's body was in a plane looking hearse behind them and she would be taken to the palace as well until the arrangements were made. Charles was hoping to convince his parents to make it offical. He knew that the people of England and the world would want to see it.
Once they got home they went straight to their apartment and the kids settled down on the couch as Charles left to speak to his parents. That was when they turned the tellie on and saw the out pouring of grief over their mother's death. They watched in stunned silence as they saw people crying and laying flowers at Buckingham Palace gates and here at Kensington Palace. They turned off the TV after a minute and the three looked out the window and could see flowers already buidling up.
Several days went by and still no word from the Queen was issued. Finally the three went to their grandmother. She held them close to her for a minute kissing them several times. When they sat down Mattie sat so close to her that she was almost on her lap.
It was five days after her death that the entire Royal family went to Buckingham Palace and the Queen gave a speech about Diana. She went on live and said the following:

Since last Sunday's dreadful news we have seen, throughout Britain and around the world, an overwhelming expression of sadness at Diana's death.

"We have all been trying in our different ways to cope. It is not easy to express a sense of loss, since the initial shock is often succeeded by a mixture of other feelings: disbelief, incomprehension, anger - and concern for those who remain.