Princess Adeline of Wales

Chapter Seventeen: The Unexpected Luncheon

2nd of August 1999 - York House, London

Smoothing out her dress, Camilla tried to squash the nerves that threatened to take over as she stared up at the house; she had to admit that she had been rather surprised when Charles had called to invite her for lunch. 

She had not really seen him since the children had come home for the holidays, she had spent the holidays with her own children and had gone away with some friends. 

Closing the car door, Camilla slowly made her way to the front door not exactly sure what to expect; out of the three meetings with Charles' children only two of them had gone well and she doubted that would change anytime soon. 

This would be the first time that she would be seeing all three of the children together; a fact that made her even more nervous, she had no idea what Charles had been thinking when he had invited her. 

Entering the house, Camilla was quickly shown through to the lounge where Charles was seated reading a book to himself; a hot cup of tea beside him and it made her smile. 

"Camilla Parker-Bowles, Your Highness," his butler announced offering Charles a quick bow, he left once he had announced Camilla to Charles leaving the couple alone. 

Looking up from his book, Charles turned to see her rather surprised, he had not been expecting her and he was sure that she would have called before showing up like this. 

"Camilla," Charles greeted with a smile, he got up from his chair, he set down the gardening book that he had been reading on the coffee table before making his way over to her. 

He kissed both of her cheeks and eyed the dress that she was wearing wondering why she had come so dressed up; he did not think they had any plans especially not with two of his children home at present. 

"You invited me for lunch," Camilla reminded him upon seeing his confusion, she was surprised that he had forgotten so quickly when it had been only this morning that she had received a call from one of his staff to invite her over for lunch. 

The look on Charles' face said enough and Camilla started to wonder just what was going on her, she knew Charles and he would never forget something like this; he was never the forgetful sort.

"Didn't you?" Camilla asked wondering if she had been tricked in some way, she had been so sure and now she was not sure what to expect since Charles clearly had no idea what she was talking about and she felt like a fool for just showing up like this now. 

She took a deep breath feeling like a fool, she did not know what to say now and she deeply regretted not checking the details with someone that she recognised instead of accepting what a random member of staff had said to her. 

It was unlike Charles to have anyone but his secretary contact her but she had not even thought anything odd about the situation since Charles was busy with the children; she felt ashamed that she had jumped at the chance to come and see him. 

"Actually, it was us that invited you," a voice called from the door way, the two adults turned to see William and Adeline at the door way: the smiles on their faces making the couple uneasy. 

The two of them wore matching smiles, something that made Charles wonder just what they were planning; he eyed them curious as to why they would invite Camilla and not say anything to him. 

"We thought it was time that we all had lunch together... and we knew that you hadn't seen each other all summer," William explained taking the lead, it had been him that had convinced the staff member to call Camilla and he had to admit he was surprised it had worked.