The Prince's Secret (Prince Harry Fanfic)

Part 49 - Walls Come Tumbling Down

Meg

"Have you seen this?"

Jennifer Mahoney looked up at the outrage in her friend's voice. They sat stretched out at opposite ends of the couch, their feet together, while Jennifer's three children built Lego castles on the floor next to them. Simone, Jennifer's only daughter, was trying desperately to play princess with her dolls, concocting elaborate scenarios on castle balconies, while the boys bulldozed their creations around her, blocks flying wildly.

Meg bent over her tablet, scrolling madly. "At least three different papers have photos of Harry and her," she said. "He's been seeing her while I've been gone! He took her off for a romantic weekend in Cornwall! While we are still engaged! He's not even trying to hide it!"

"Does it say who she is?" Jennifer asked.

"No. Not yet. It only says that she is a polo groom." Meg looked up, dark eyes flashing. "Obviously he met her playing polo. Can you believe it? He's carrying on with some...some...stable hand! She probably smells like horses and barns and...and...shit!"

"Meg, he can't fall in love with someone like that," Jennifer said. "They are worlds apart. It's just a fling. He'll get over it sooner or later."

"It's going to be sooner if I have anything to say about it," Meg said, typing furiously. "I'll find out who she is. I've got friends in London. I'll hire a private investigator to track her down. She can't be that hard to find. Once her name is in all the papers, and people start sending her hate mail, she'll think twice about seeing Harry again. I'll have them publish her address too. Then the haters will be showing up right on her doorstep, shouting and yelling at her. Threatening her. People will be so angry at her for trying to break up our fairytale romance! Already the comments are starting. I'll make her life miserable. You wait and see."

"Are you sure that's the best way to handle it?" Jennifer asked. "You don't want Harry to take her side in that kind of situation."

"Harry'll never know I had anything to do with it. No one will know. I can have someone else tip off the press. And then—" Meg looked up with a smile, "I'm going to write a note to Prince Charles and one to the Queen, begging them to help me make Harry see that he needs to spend more time focusing on our relationship, not running around and cheating on me."

"Would they do that?" Jennifer asked, then as Simone squealed, she added, "Jean, stop terrorizing your sister!"

Meg nodded. "They are on my side. The Queen won't let him cause a scandal. She hates scandal. And I have Prince Charles wrapped around my little finger. He feels sorry for me. He would do anything I asked. And after all that—" Meg went back to her screen, "I'll go to the press with my very sad story of how I am trying so hard to to hold my relationship together and how badly Harry has treated me, but I am so in love with him I just want us to marry quickly and have some time alone together. That should tie it all up very neatly. I still want to get married in May."

"I thought you said the Queen postponed your wedding."

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I'm a princess and you have to do what I say!" Simone suddenly shrieked, clutching her doll above her head, as Jean and Michel rammed their trucks into the base of the Lego castle.

The castle collapsed, blocks tumbling everywhere. Simone ran to the couch and buried her head in Meg's lap, sobbing. "Tell them, Auntie Meg. You're a princess. Tell them that everyone has to do what the princess says!"

Meg cuddled the teary Simone while Jennifer ordered the boys to pick up the blocks.

"The Queen hasn't announced the postponement of the wedding yet. And it's MY wedding. I can tell her that the sooner Harry's married, the sooner all the scandal would stop and the quicker he will settle down. Besides," Meg said, with a tiny sneaky smile, "I have ways of making the Queen speed things up. Once she hears my news, she'll want Harry and I married as quickly as possible."