By the time the clock on her laptop had struck five, the last of the parents were driving out of the parking area behind Ivy and leaving their daughters behind. Some had just come back from cosy family farewell feasts in town, whilst some had to stay behind a little longer to console a few of the younger girls who were already feeling homesick.
Ellie sat on her bed with her window open, listening from her third-floor bedroom to the sounds of those coming and going down below. It was a welcome distraction from the chaotic mess of plans that she was trying to get her head around, which was proving immensely difficult despite the vast array of lists and charts that she had spent the last few hours preparing.
Weekly timetables packed with sports and club meetings in every free period, with even more sports and clubs squeezed in between them. Lists of the girls that she knew in Ivy, colour coded to signify what cliques they were in or what clubs they were a part of.
Purple for Field Hockey, blue for Football, orange for the Swim team...
These were all distractions too. Hours ago, Ellie had intended to head downstairs and join the rest of the house in the common room, a time to mingle and reunite with friends for a few hours before the evening where, as was tradition, there would be a 'Welcome Back Ivy' party. Normally she would skip it, or quietly head off back to her room after half an hour when nobody was looking. As with everything to do with her school life this year, this night would be different.
Once her parents had left, she stripped off her school uniform and flung open each of her suitcases to piece together a dozen different outfits to try on. Each one she laid out on her bed, beside the large mirror that sat on her pillows and leaned against the wall, allowing her to get ready for the evening from the comfort of her fuzzy purple bedspread.
Yet it was somewhere between brushing her hair and doing her eyeliner that her eagerness started to drop and her bravery started to fade, when that little sting of self-doubt crept in and slowed everything down. With her parents there, with everyone's parents there, the girls of Ivy House were friendly and welcoming. Parents had a way of dampening that typical school atmosphere of popularity contests, bullies, peer pressure and hormones.
With the first day excitement blanketing over everyone it was easy to forget incidents like the one with Ruby Brower the year before, who got locked out of her room when she came back from the showers and earned the nickname 'Ruby Cheeks' for the rest of the year. Then there was Florence Hutton, a sixth form girl who passed out in the common room during Ellie's 2nd year, smelling of vodka with her panties around her ankles and her eyebrows shaved off. She was expelled from the school for indecent behaviour, but everyone knew she wasn't the sort of girl to get blackout drunk.
The girls of Ivy could be brutal, vindictive and petty. Everything Ellie needed to have a horrible evening of socialising.
The makeup on her bed vanished under dozens of different coloured pens and highlighters, the dresses and jeans that she had picked out were crushed beneath piles of drawing pads and notebooks.
Her frustration grew as the hours passed, each club that she found conflicting with another, each giggle or snippet of chatter that she heard from the corridor as girls headed downstairs to the party. Each minute that passed without her leaving her room, with every one being a reminder of how easy it had been to talk to people just hours before. Every moment she would curse herself for being stupid enough to think Marlborough could schedule every activity it had available without any of them clashing.
How could they? There are hundreds!
Every time she shuffled her notepads more club leaflets would fall out onto her bed, each reminding her of something she'd already signed up for that she'd have to work into her schedule.
If I can ask to get out of Maths five minutes early, I can just about get to Tennis tryouts on time and hopefully those finish before Shakespeare Society starts at four o'clock, but then I can't do Drama club on Sunday afternoons, at least until the Hockey season is over. Maybe if I ask Mrs Moon to move the meet to Fridays instead, but then that would mean...
Thump, thump, thump!
Ellie shoved a heap of notepads, bras and makeup out of her sight, sending them all clattering onto the floor just as a dozen loud knocks drummed against her door. The noise caused her to jump, sending more of her things across the room and making her clutch her chest to stop her heart from bursting out.
Three of four girls lingered outside her door, laughing and chatting between themselves as they delivered the same drumming to the other bedroom doors along the corridor and clearly having all the fun in the world.
"Screw it." Ellie tossed the rest of her notebooks aside and picked up her eyeliner again. "I'll figure it out tomorrow."
She spoke aloud to herself, willing herself forward. Ivy may be a jungle, full of hidden enemies and lethal predators, but she definitely wasn't going to be their fearful prey. She wanted to push herself this year and she wasn't going to fail on the very first night by keeping out of sight with her nose buried in inconceivable timetables.
The corridors were eerily quiet when Ellie stepped outside of her bedroom, except for the distant chatter of the common room downstairs and the quiet mumbling of girls in their rooms who were deciding to stay put. She immediately felt the nerves freezing her in place, making her feet feel like lead weights that lazily dragged along the carpet.
The risqué black mesh top that she'd decided to wear was already beginning to feel like a mistake, along with the more pronounced cats eye that she'd drawn on her eyes and the slightly darker shade of lipstick that coated her lips.
Keep going. It'll feel even worse if you turn back now.
Ellie tip toed her way forward, wanting to make as little noise as possible as she made her way past the doors of her neighbour's rooms. She listened to hear if anyone was in the rooms around her, curious to see who was inside, what they might be like and wondering if they were just as nervous as she was about socialising.
The room across the hall seemed strangely quiet and empty, but her next door neighbour was definitely there, rustling around inside her room and apparently unpacking something heavy. Ellie couldn't help but stand outside the door, looking at the moving shadows at the bottom of the doorframe and smirking as the girl inside clearly hummed a tune from the latest Wither Sisters album.
"That's a good sign." Ellie whispered quietly, pondering what other bands they might have in common.
The humming stopped abruptly, the girl's shadows freezing in place beneath the door and making Ellie's heart drop to the pit of her stomach. She could feel the girls stare burning its way through the wooden door, then the shadows started moving again, growing larger and larger, then the door handle started to turn.
Ellie sprinted away, desperate not to be caught in the act of spying on her first night back, especially on her next door neighbour. She ran around the corner and out into the main hallway where more girls were leaving their rooms and heading downstairs, then she hid behind the open door of the girls' bathroom. She heaved a sigh of relief when a door opened and closed back down the corridor without anyone coming around and looking for her, and when the coast was clear she quietly and gracefully made her way towards the stairs, desperately pretending she wasn't so flustered.
Awkward encounter number one is now out of the way.
The common room was absolutely packed when she arrived, since it was the first time that day that everyone was in the same place and doing the same thing without parents or unpacking to worry about. At least sixty girls squashed together, piling on to the dozen or so sofas and benches that were scattered around the room or huddled in groups around ten circular tables that were each painted a different colour. Some were still wearing their uniforms while most had clearly had the time to get changed into their best outfits. On top of the hundreds of different conversations and reunions going on, party music was booming out of large speakers around the room and forcing everyone to yell loud enough to be heard over both the music and each other.
One of the Ivy prefects, the pristine looking fifth year girl called Dana Cook was shepherding a bunch of first year students through the crowd and trying to be heard over the music. "First years, follow me, we have to finish orientation!"
Ellie ducked out of the way just as some of the smaller girls spotted her and decided to separate from the orientation group and head towards her, but Dana roared at them to come back and they meekly complied. Ellie always did her best to avoid the first year newcomers at Marlborough, those who weren't yet prepared to think of her as a normal student. She wasn't going to be rude and not say hello, but school was hard enough without people ogling her and following her around.
Alex waved at her from a table at the back of the room where she was happily talking with two of her friends from the third year, a pudgy brunette called Laura Houghton and Bella Stokesworth, a girl even smaller than Alex who tied her black hair into two thick braids that ran down her back. Together they were sharing a table with about six second year girls, who all watched Ellie closely as she sat down and immediately started whispering amongst themselves when they thought she wasn't looking.
"Didn't think you'd come." Alex said to her as she entwined their arms.
"You know I've been wanting to change that." Ellie said irritably as she looked around the table. Laura and Ashley had continued their conversation about trying out for the Fencing team, whilst the group of second years were whispering so loudly to hear each other that they didn't realise Ellie could hear them.
"Does she ever come to these things? I never saw her last year!"
"She came to the meetings but never the parties!"
"What?"
"She came to the meetings!"
"What?"
Alex turned in her seat so that she blocked the second years view of her. "Don't worry about them. Relax a little, sis."
It was easy for her to say. Alex had adapted to boarding school like she was any other normal girl, especially not one who had spent the years before being home-schooled and hardly having a social life. She had jumped at the opportunity whilst Ellie had sat and stewed, only occasionally getting her feet wet and testing her comfort zone when it came to making friends.
I don't want to wait anymore, I'm ready.
Alex was right though, it really wasn't so bad. Sitting at the table and talking with her sisters friends was a pleasant experience, she always knew it would be, but the struggle came with getting used to it. Her interactions with other students felt so few and far between, even with all the classes where she sat side by side and worked with girls and boys her own age, she had never opened up to someone enough to make a friend.
That's my goal.
"All right girls, settle down, settle down." Mrs Moon spoke over a microphone and then waited for the music to be turned down before she continued. "We need some more even groups here. Jane, why don't you go over there with Sadie. Hannah, why don't you guys join Trish's group down here."
Girls started shuffling around, frowning as their conversations were broken up and they were forced to find new friends for the evening. "Ah, Ellie, nice of you to join us."
Oh lord.
All the girls in the room rapidly twisted and turned around in an effort to find her. Like spotlights searching for a target, at least sixty pairs of eyes settled on her. Ellie raised her hand, smiling shyly and hoping for the attention to move elsewhere before she exploded. Alex reassuringly bumped her shoulder, letting her know she was nearby.
It's okay. You're used to people staring, aren't you?
"I'd say there's too many of you over there. Ellie, come and join Ashley and the girls at the front here." Mrs Moon beckoned her over, with each wave of her hands acting like a crane which slowly lifted Ellie out of her seat. She was just as comforting and friendly as she always was but this time, at least to Ellie, it felt a little evil.
Ellie's eyes darted around as she made her way to the front of the crowd, weaving between tables and avoiding looking at the girls around her who followed her every movement. She heard Alex's voice behind her, loudly pointing out that Sasha White quit the Fencing team last year and left a spot open, which thankfully restarted her friends conversation along with every other conversation that seemed to have stopped when Ellie's name was called. Using the noise as cover, Ellie hurried the last few steps around a few tables and sat down in the empty seat that Mrs Moon pointed her too.
Happy to be out of the limelight, she hadn't taken the time to look at who she was actually sitting next to. At first the girl didn't look at her, only briefly glancing at her arm with an offended look on her face, as if Ellie had no right to sit next to her, but when her large, doe-like hazel eyes looked up at Ellie her expression quickly changed to an eagerness.
Oh, that Ashley.
Ashley Mills had a big reputation among the fourth years of Marlborough College. Her family was one of the wealthiest around and seemed to be top of the pile when it came to the rich kids of the school, everyone looked up to them, some even feared them. In a school where almost everyone came from money and powerful families, reputation meant everything and was the difference between popularity and social exclusion. Ashley's older sister Sarah was also the Head Girl, and the expectation was that Ashley would be following in the same footsteps.
The Mills family held onto power with an iron grip and held almost as much influence over Marlborough College as Ellie's family did, if not more. Ellie knew that if she was going to make any progress at school this year, she would have to deal with Ashley Mills.
Ellie decided to speak first, knowing that most girls were afraid of even sitting next to a member of the Mills family and that perhaps that was something she could relate to. Ashley wasn't known to be a bully or mean, just someone that held a lot of power among the students, particularly in Ivy House.
Maybe Ashley herself wasn't so bad, maybe it was her family that was the villain that everyone was afraid of. A powerful family could cast a very large shadow over someone's life, something Ellie was very familiar with.
"Hey." Ellie said, acting confident and making herself comfortable in her seat. She wanted to show Ashley she wasn't afraid of her and it seemed to be working.
Ashley's eyes were twinkling, her mouth slightly open as she watched her. Ellie could tell she was thinking, analysing her closely and pondering what to do with her. Ashley's speech was friendly, her words like honey and nowhere near matching the family reputation. "Hey, don't see you at these things often."
"Yeah." Ellie answered nervously, distracted by the openness that came with sitting at the front of the room. "I normally skip out after forty minutes or so, but I'm planning to try a bit harder this time."
She watched Ashley, hoping that she'd said the right thing and not ruined her chances of friendship already. On the contrary, Ashley seemed almost impressed with her answer. Lucy Morello and Lauren Beattie, Ashley's closest confidantes, both moved their chairs closer so that Ellie was squeezed in amongst them and the rest of the room was shut out.
"Well, you aren't missing much so I don't blame you. It's not really much of a party with all the kids around." Ashley turned her head and looked at all the first year girls that were gathered together nearby, all them quickly averting their gaze and pretending they weren't just looking at her.
"So why do you stay?" Ellie asked.
"Mrs Moon expects it of me, at least to stay for the quiz. Something about my influence and being a role model." Ashley explained nonchalantly. She leaned in closer to Ellie and hid her lips from the view of everyone but their table. "The girls and I were going to hang out in my room after, if you wanna join us?"
"Don't you want to relax with the rest of the house?" Ellie said, matching the whisper. She could feel girls around her leaning in and trying to hear her.
"You don't want to make friends with them." Lucy piped in, surprising her. Up until then it had seemed like only Ashley was allowed to talk.
"You were wise to avoid everyone." Lauren added.
"Yeah, Ellie." Ashley looked suspiciously around the room once again. "You're maybe not aware yet, but you should know most of these girls are Scheming. Little. Bitches."
Her words were vicious and harsh, directed at everyone around her and clearly coming from a girl who had been on the wrong end of several of these schemes. The whole of Ivy suddenly felt much more hostile and made Ellie appreciate the safety of sharing a table with Ashley Mills, a girl who was quickly revealing how difficult it was going to be to make real friends.
The quiz ended up being incredibly easy, the questions were aimed at the first years as a way to help them socialise and make friends whilst the older girls were allowed to sit back and only pretend they were taking part. Ashley, Lucy and Lauren made a conscious effort to involve Ellie in their conversation, even if it jumped from various girls, boys, classes and sports that she was yet to meet or take part in. Ellie could ease herself in, just as she had hoped to do. Her confidence was growing, as well as the sense that she was becoming part of something.
The girls even huddled around her protectively and gave the group stink eye to Rhiannon Wakefield, a Sixth Form girl who accidentally bumped into Ellie's chair.
It was startling to her how much being part of a group and having friends around her could change her perspective, allowing her to sit and be herself, to enjoy what she was doing without being worried about everyone else. She could look around the room and stare into the eyes of girls she had never spoken to before, girls who she would normally shy away from when she'd first come downstairs.
This included an older woman, tall, intimidating and well-toned, standing in a dark corner of the room and looking directly at her with her arms crossed. She looked too mature to be a student but too young and uncomfortable in the crowd of girls to be a new teacher, her body language was stern, stand-offish and almost as suspicious as Ashley was. She kept her eyes on Ellie as she left early with her new friends, her gaze so unsettling that Ellie had to rush the others to leave the common room even quicker.
She tried to put it out of her mind, focusing instead on the heavily decorated door of Ashley's bedroom.
"So what about you guys?" she asked vaguely as Ashley unlocked the door and led them inside.
"What about us?" Lucy asked back, casually slumping down on Ashley's bed.
"You said everyone down there is a scheming bitch, so what about... you?" Ellie was tentative and avoided looking at their reactions, instead focusing on the walls of the room which were already covered in photos of Ashley with her friends. Popular kids from all across the school were easily recognisable, making Ashley's status as Queen of the school even more obvious, as well as the fact that she was unfairly efficient when it came to unpacking.
"We're trying to save this place." Ashley commanded her attention again and pulled her onto the large queen size bed to join them. "Ivy used to be the best house in school, we had the best sports teams and we always won the House tournament. Now it's just filled with bullies and cliques while the rest just want to transfer to New Court or Elmhurst."
"Me and Sarah are doing our best, trying to make sure Ivy gets back on top, but the bad sort are still getting in and dragging us down. You know all about that though, right?"
The atmosphere inside the bedroom very quickly shifted as the three girls watched Ellie closely and silently, waiting for her to respond. Was she implying Ellie was the bad sort?
"What do you mean by that?" asked Ellie, feeling insulted.
"Just that you must be used to your fair share of fame hunters and leeches, Princess." Ashley gave her a knowing smile.
"Yeah, you're from the biggest family around. You have more power than anyone in England, let alone Marlborough. You're friends with movie stars and celebrities, just last week I saw you in OK! Magazine hanging out with Taylor Swift." Lucy added in an adoring tone that Ellie was very familiar with, yet her knowledge of the private lives of royals was worrying.
"Okay, chill fan girl." Ashley scolded her friend with a judging stare and looked warmly back at Ellie.
"There aren't as many as you might think, but yeah." Ellie said, moving on. "It's gotten a lot worse after Granny died, people coming out of nowhere and claiming we share a family connection."
It took them a moment to realise who Granny was, but that wasn't unusual when she was talking to people outside of the family. Ellie waited for the inevitable chorus of "Ohhh!" and smirked when the girls provided it.
"We should really stick together Ellie, your influence would really help get us back on top of the tables at school. Can you imagine what we could do with you on our side?" Ashley and the girls looked between her and each other, excitedly thinking about the prospect.
"Well I've been signing up for more clubs than I can count, and I've got more team tryouts this week than I've had in my entire life. What do you need me to do?" Ellie spoke honestly, she couldn't think of much more she could be doing to help make Ivy great again, and in truth she wasn't that bothered about it.
But if helping them means I can make some friends... why not?
"Oh, don't worry about tryouts. Ashley can get you on most of the squads easily." Lauren casually brushed aside her worries.
Ellie looked disbelievingly at Ashley, who was taking out her phone and nodding at her smugly, as if it was completely obvious that she had that level of power. "Do I have you on Facebook?"
Ah, great. I figured this would come up.
"No, no. I don't have a public Facebook account." Ellie knew if anyone gained access to her private account, there would be hell to pay when her parents found out. Private pictures were one thing, but when those pictures could then easily be stolen and sold, that was a risk nobody in her family could take.
"Well girly, that's gonna have to be our first order of business!"
They ended up making an entirely new profile for her in order to keep her family and photos private, despite repeated questions from Lauren and Lucy asking why her family's privacy was so important. Ashley was more respectful, and Ellie guessed she often had similar interactions with people wanting to befriend her. It was nice to have someone who could understand her, as well as reign in the girls when they got too curious.
"You just don't want us to see all your celebrity friends." Lauren sighed at her, pretending to be hurt.
"I don't have that many, actually." Ellies account was tiny compared to Ashley's, who had hers loaded up on her laptop to be an example for Ellie. She was more embarrassed by the fact that she had no friends her own age, while Ashley boasted over two thousand.
"Don't worry about that. You can easily make everyone in this school worship you." Ashley was looking at her like she was some sort of science project or ancient artefact, urging her to unleash her power.
"Ashley, I mean real friends. Like this." Ellie jealously gestured to Ashley's friends list.
"Like that." She pointed with her eyes to the walls, covered in vast amounts of photos of dozens and dozens of friendships. "What I don't want is people worshipping me, people pretending they're on my side. I want to make friends from shared experiences, from going out, from partying, from being together!"
The words were well rehearsed, spoken dozens and dozens of times in her head over the summer. Her voice had grown louder as she spoke, angrier even. Her cheeks were warm and flushed, and the girls looked at her, half in shock and half in awe as she sat and stewed in her frustration.
"There's only one place to start." Ashley squeezed in beside her, pressed their cheeks together and stuck her phone out in front of them. "Smile!"
Hours passed by late into the night as they took more and more photos together and started populating Ellie's new profile with her likes and dislikes, her favourite bands, her favourite hobbies and all these new profile pictures. The friend requests started pouring in when Ashley added her as a friend, making her phone buzz so often that it turned into one constant vibration. Lauren and Lucy delighted in re-doing her hair and makeup and gushed over how proud they were to be the stylists of a Princess. Ashley meticulously picked out outfits for her to wear and oversaw every style choice the other girls made with Ellie, clearly enjoying being able to thoroughly turn her into one of them.
Ellie was starting to feel like she belonged, but even more so, she was starting to feel like she had been claimed.
With all the photos she was uploading with her arm around Ellie, looking fiercely at the camera and daring anyone to try her, it was clear that Ashley wanted Ellie to be well and truly one of her girls.
"It's honestly so hard to stay friends without social media." Lauren told her when she was starting to hesitate over accepting the friend requests on her phone. Lucy accepted five more for her and then dragged her into another photo of them dancing on the bed to a Disney song.
Ellie decided she would take her time. She would only add people in her year, people she knew she would be seeing in class regularly. It was easy at first, adding a new friend between trying on different outfits from Ashley's wardrobe and posing with each other, but things were different by the end of the night, when she was heading back to her room at three in the morning wearing another girl's jeans and feeling better than ever than she'd ever felt at Marlborough.
Over six hundred requests were waiting for her, from new kids in school to sixth formers who were in their final year. Ellie's restrictions had gone from her year only, to people on the teams she was hoping to join, to the years below and above her, to then finally all of the school. She was adamant that it wouldn't go any further than that.
As she made her way up the stairs to her floor and practically skipped through the corridors leading to her room, she reassured herself that the people on her page could only see what she wanted them to see. Ashley and the girls had been eager to upload every photo they had with her with captions like 'Look who I met' alongside others like "My new best girlfriend", but they had at least asked her each time whether she was happy with them.
It'll all be fine. They're all nice photos and it's all secure within the Marlborough network, it's good. You're good. The Palace won't find out.
She swung around the corner into the small off-shoot corridor where her bedroom door was waiting, but a tall, intimidating and well-toned blonde woman stood blocking her way. She was wearing all black skinny jeans and a long sleeve top despite the time and had clearly been waiting for her to show up.
Ellie almost fell over in her eagerness to stop. The woman crossed her arms and looked irritable, like a mother who had been forced to stay up late until her daughter got home.
"Your Highness, are you all right?" she asked in a Pennsylvania accent. Aunt Emma's influence in the decision making was now clear. Ellie's spirits immediately dropped.
"Oh, you..." Ellie mumbled, failing to hide her disappointment. She had easily forgotten after the night with Ashley and the girls.
The woman blinked, obviously a little hurt by the less than friendly greeting. "My name is Jennifer Jareau. I'm here as your in-house protection officer, Ma'am."
Ellie winced. Being called Ma'am was like a spear through the chest after the night she had just enjoyed. "The one sent by my grandparents, yeah." She couldn't help but sound snide.
"They had a hand in my appointment, yes, but I'm here fully at your service and that means knowing where you are at all times." She was clearly growing more annoyed.
"Isn't it your job to find out?" Ellie took on an aggressive stance, her arms crossed to match Jennifer. "I've been here three years and I haven't needed to tell anyone where I am or where I'm going."
"With respect Ma'am, things will be different this year." Jennifer gritted her teeth, her words curt and sharp.
"Oh, will they?" Ellie pushed past her, wanting to get away from Jennifer before all of her good vibes were crushed. "And don't call me Ma'am, not here."
She turned to her door and ignored the woman, but only when she tried turning the handle did she realise that in her nervous rush downstairs hours before, she had forgotten to bring her keys. Ellie pulled on the handle several times and each time the door stood firm, leaving her lingering with her back turned to someone who was quickly becoming, at least to her, the worst person at Marlborough.
"Here." Jennifer sighed, going into the bedroom opposite Ellie's and grabbing a spare key. She inserted it into Ellie's lock and opened her door.
Ellie mumbled an abrupt 'thanks' and slid back into her room, quickly closing the door in Jennifer's irritated face.
After being led inside and walked through the lengthy process of signing dozens of forms, collecting their room keys and having their student I.Ds renewed, Miss Hunt gave them a thorough tour of the whole house. The Housemistress was treating the day as a fully planned out royal engagement, neglecting the fact that Will and Kate were both well used to the layout of Ivy House by now, or at least as much as they needed to be considering they weren’t the ones who would be living there for the year.
It was still a comforting feeling seeing where her daughters would be eating each night, where they would be doing their homework and where they would be hanging out with their friends. Having a clear idea of what the common room looked like would help when she was missing her two eldest girls, with its plush chairs and bean bags, whiteboards where the day's events were organised, a large TV at the center of everything, pictures of all the girls of the house and their achievements covering the walls. It was one of the smaller houses at Marlborough and therefore one of the cosiest, offering a lovely home away from home for Ellie and Alex.
Kate hardly listened to Miss Hunt as she spoke. She was more focused on watching Ellie repeatedly leaving the group and introducing herself to the girls running the various club sign up stations that had been set up around the common room, and writing her name down on more registers than Kate could count. The girls on the other side of the tables all seemed shocked and excited to be speaking with Ellie, but this didn't seem to faze her daughter at all, it was clearly helping. All the energy of the first day back, as well as the raging, chaotic atmosphere of an all-girls boarding house was quite something to be a part of. Kate wasn't in Royal mode, she was even struggling to stay in Mum mode and starting to wish it was her going back to school instead.
"Would Miss Hunt notice if I threw on a Marlborough skirt and boarded with Ellie?" she whispered to Will, who smirked and seemed quietly excited about the idea.
In the end the tour proved useful, showing that despite the layout of Ivy being roughly the same as the year before, more rooms had been squeezed in to increase its capacity. Ms Hunt told them that they could house an extra twenty girls this year but that they were still struggling to satisfy a high demand for places, continuing the trend that had started when Ellie first enrolled at the school.
"How about the girls rooms?" asked Will, wanting to move them along.
"We'd like to get them settled in quickly." Kate added, doing her best to avoid sounding rude.
"Of course, right this way." Ms Hunt led them upstairs to a long corridor lined with pastel yellow walls and polished wooden doors. It had the 'start of year' look with no signs of use or ownership, but some girls were already decorating their doors with posters and stickers.
Kate greeted some girls and parents as they passed each other and waved to a gaggle of younger girls who had gathered at the end of the corridor just to watch them.
Ellie stuck to the back of the group and happily greeted each girl she recognised, doing her best to avoid standing out as anything like royalty whilst still sticking close to her parents. Alex was more in her element, hugging old friends she hadn't seen in months and repeatedly falling behind and making them wait for her.
Alex has always been happy go lucky.
They were led to a more secluded corridor on the third floor where the larger, more exclusive rooms sat open and ready. Ellie and Alex were on the same floor but several doors down from each other, a way of satisfying both the school rules of separating different year groups in the House and Kate's insistence that her kids be close enough to look out for one another.
On the way they left Alex and Will to sort out her room, and met Anna with a few more protection officers who were weaving their way between other parents and students dragging their suitcases through the narrow corridors.
"Just a few more cases ma'am." Anna reassured her when Kate offered to take one of the suitcases herself.
"As you can see we've given Ellie one of our best rooms, lots of space and facing away from the main road so she won't have to worry about photographers." Miss Hunt told her, a little too loudly, as she followed her into Ellie's room.
"Wonderful." Kate said as she scanned the space her daughter would be living in for the next year. It had a massive queen size bed, a desk and vanity, two wardrobes and a window that faced out to the back garden area below. It would be just as comfortable as Ellie's bedroom back home, but the fact that it was big enough for two or even three girls to live in was something that Kate always regretted.
The palace demanded it, not you. Remember that.
"Anyway, I'm sure you have other parents waiting for you." Kate said, not wanting to draw too much attention. The special treatment wasn't going to do much for her daughter's standing within the house and she wanted to get rid of Miss Hunt before any more damage could be done.
"Are you sure? We're all free to help." Miss Hunt said kindly.
"That's all right, we don't want to be getting in anyone's way."
"All right, it was a pleasure to meet you ma- Kate."
Kate started unpacking some of Ellie's things and enjoying the chance for some peace and quiet away from all the chaos outside. Her girls were luckily roomed on one of the calmer floors with less bedrooms, but you could still hear the commotion of students moving in downstairs.
"Ellie, where do want this?" Kate asked, lifting up an old shoebox of mementos.
When nobody responded, she looked around and realised she was completely alone. "Ellie?"
Kate stepped back out into the corridor and discovered her eldest staring up at a noticeboard and flicking through more leaflets of clubs and societies to join. "Come along now."
Ellie moved her mouth but didn't speak, looking at her and then longingly back at the board. "Mum.."
Kate could sense the desperation, the restlessness, she could see that Ellie wanted nothing more than to get the whole royal entourage out of there so that she could get started on her new plans for the year.
"All right." Kate relented with a sigh, hiding her disappointment. "Go and greet your friends, I'll handle all this."
"Thanks Mum." Ellie rushed towards her and kissed her on the cheek before running off down the corridor.
"And make sure your sister is settled in!" Kate yelled after her as she disappeared around the corner just as Anna reappeared.
"She's in a hurry." Anna said sarcastically.
"Been itching to get away from us ever since she arrived." Kate said, affectionately rubbing the spot on her cheek which Ellie had kissed. "Does she seem distracted to you?"
"Probably just first day nerves, Ma'am."
"Probably." Kate paused, folding one of Ellie's jumpers and tucking it away in one of her drawers. "She hasn't told you anything has she?"
"Just that she's planning to try harder than she has the last three years. Never seen her so driven."
Anna's lack of worry was reassuring, especially since she had become such a close confidant of Ellie's ever since she had joined the staff. Ellie would tell her everything about her life, treating her like a big sister and in some ways a surrogate mother. The growing family and the growing workload had been hard on everyone, especially the girls. Having Anna around definitely helped, but this didn't stop Kate from feeling slightly jealous of her.
She politely excused herself, leaving Anna to continue with the unpacking while she stepped out into the corridor and listened to the sounds of other girls moving in nearby. She glanced at the walls, mostly blank and empty aside from a few things that had stayed up since the last year, pictures of the girls of the house taking part in sports day, charity drives and school plays. Alex was prominent in a few, having joined the junior girls football team in her first year and had a role in the Marlborough production of Oliver Twist.
Pippa gave her an old skirt for the part and Alex wore it for two whole weeks before Granny insisted she changed.
Kate eventually spotted, after quite a desperate search of the wall, a rare school photo of Ellie standing with a couple of other girls, holding up essays they had written for the 'English Language School Wide Writing Competition'. She barely got a chance to read the description before the creaking sound of a door opening behind her drew her attention. A woman was backing out of the room next to Ellie's and carrying a washing basket full of dirty looking clothes. Kate didn't recognise her as she turned around, but the wide eyed surprise she was certainly familiar with.
"Hello!" Kate said, throwing on her best smile and hoping to befriend a fellow school parent.
"Oh, hello!" the woman said excitedly, hurrying to put down the basket and hide it from Kate. She beckoned for someone else in the room to come out too, without taking her eyes off Kate.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Kate." She extended her hand out for the woman to shake.
"Lydia, and my daughter Alice." Lydia shook her hand firmly and ushered her daughter forward. She looked about Ellie's age, with very rosy cheeks and thick-rimmed glasses stuck in her bushy brown hair.
"Alice." Kate glowed. "Hi, how are you?"
"I'm all right, thanks." Alice said nervously, then discreetly tried to get a look at who her next door neighbour was going to be. Lydia stole back Kate's attention before she could answer.
"Stressful day isn't it?" Lydia asked.
"Definitely!" Kate relaxed a little more. "The girls hardly helped. Lucky we still got here on time."
"Alice only woke up an hour ago." Lydia told her, laughing while Alice's cheeks went even more red.
"Mum!" she complained. Alice still looked very neat and put together considering. Ellie and Alex probably would have turned up in their dressing gowns if she hadn't forced them into their uniforms herself.
"Do you have many friends here in Ivy, Alice?" Kate asked, thinking Ellie could do with a friendly next-door neighbour.
"A few, sure. But also some in New Court."
"I need to get this down to the laundry room." Lydia smiled at her and picked up the clothes basket. "Do you mind making sure Alice keeps unpacking?"
"Of course, I'd love to." Kate smirked when Alice rolled her eyes.
"New Court girls are pretty great." Kate said as Alice went back into her room. "But I'm biased, that was my old house."
"You went to New Court?" Alice asked, immediately sounding like she wanted to move there.
"Yep, not as nice as Ivy though." Kate said, trying to ensure she stayed put.
"Yeah, well I do prefer being a little further away. Ivy is nice and quiet." Alice told her.
"So what are the girls here like?" Kate asked, trying to get some good intel out of someone. Ellie definitely wasn't going to give her anything until she'd made some progress herself, and Alex was supposedly sworn to secrecy.
"Here in Ivy?" Alice asked back, looking around the corridor while Kate nodded encouragingly.
"They're okay I guess." Alice rubbed her neck and looked away awkwardly. "Some aren't as talkative. Some of the older girls are a bit snooty, that's why I have more friends in New Court."
Alice seemed to be being honest, but Kate was immediately worried that she might be referring directly to Ellie. Was her eldest coming across as snooty? Kate wouldn't believe it.
"Ellie is great though!" Alice seemed to easily pick up on why she was asking, and quickly jumped on Kate's spiralling thoughts. "Some of the girls can be a bit much but Ellie is very polite and considerate."
"That's nice to hear." Kate answered, feeling a little better. Alice's words still felt like those she'd hear from a teacher at a parent's evening, someone who didn't really know her daughter. It was just a polite way of saying that Ellie didn't talk to anyone.
"Are you two friends?"
"Well, not really. But I've talked to her a few times in class..."
Their attention was briefly distracted by a building noise of girls down the corridor and around the corner, where, from what Kate could gather from their eager whispers, people seemed to be rushing to get a peek at William and the rest of the entourage who were making their way towards them. None of them seemed to notice Kate and Alice hiding in their own quiet offshoot of the main corridor, and Kate wanted to ask something before that changed.
"Alice, do you mind doing me a favour?" She followed the younger girl into her room, standing in the doorway to hide better and watching as Alice packed away clothes. "Could you keep an eye on her, try being her friend?"
Kate was desperate to not come across as too overprotective, or to make Ellie out to be too dependent on her, but it was hard not to. Ellie always had trouble making friends and Kate was finding herself feeling more anxious about that fact this year more than any other. She didn't want anything to get in the way of her daughter's new ambition, and considering how many sports kits she'd had to buy for her over the summer Ellie was going to need all the support she could get.
"Wha- Me?" Alice stared down at a pair of red socks she was holding, apparently forgetting what she was doing with them. "Sure! Mum also wants me to make some more friends."
Kate could feel a massive sense of relief. "Exactly, I can see where she's coming from."
She leaned back and looked down the corridor again just as several girls retreated out of the way of William, pretending they weren't just watching him like hawks moments ago. He got her attention with a look, both of them knowing that they should probably leave before they cause any more distractions.
"Thanks Alice, it was nice talking to you. Have a nice term." Kate said, in a bit of a rush as she backed out of the room to join the entourage that was sweeping her away.
"Thanks! I will" Alice followed her out, lingering in her doorway, awestruck, to watch them pass by.
Will carried in one of the last suitcases whilst the girls collapsed onto Ellie's bed as if they'd worked themselves to death already. Ellie had a particularly large collection of leaflets and booklets that she'd gathered and deposited on top of her pillow whilst Alex was focused intently on connecting to the Ivy House wi-fi.
"Are we all done then?" asked Kate, surveying the room. "Alex's room?"
"All done." Alex mumbled, sitting cross-legged on Ellie's bed as she entered the password on her phone. Will lightly slapped her knee so she'd move her dirty feet off the sheets, before sitting down next to her and wiping his brow.
"Make sure you're both unpacked by tomorrow. I don't want any phone calls next week complaining about creased clothes, understood?" Kate stared at both girls with her hands on her hips and barely got a response.
"We're supposed to be all settled in and out of the way before the next load of girls arrive." Ellie reminded them, looking around impatiently at the entourage of staff who had come to help and protect them.
"All right, why don't we have some lunch in town and then you'll be rid of us." Will pulled both the girls up from the bed and ushered them outside. Kate touched his arm and whispered in his ear. "Are they really that bored of us already?"
"We're not as cool as their school friends, poppet." He patted her on the bum as he passed by.
"Clearly." Kate whispered, looking around the room again and picturing the younger, youthful and well-liked Jenny Moon sitting on Ellie's bed and giving her advice throughout the year.
I can still be cool. You're not done with me yet, girls.
Being out in Marlborough town proper provided some much needed relaxation. Kate enjoyed the feeling of being back inside a girl's boarding house, but the tight corridors packed with other parents moving their children in had very quickly become exhausting. She made a note for next time to not bring such a large group, palace safety experts be damned. If it was her and William carrying things inside, nobody would really bother them and they'd fit in as normal parents, just once.
They found a small pub off the high street with a nice open beer garden and a juicy looking lunch menu. Together they gathered around a large table in the garden and dived into their meals, enjoying each other's company for what would likely be the last time, at least for a few months. Anna and the protection officers shared a table nearby, where they chatted and laughed over burgers and beers.
"Are we still going to be followed around by the officers?" Alex asked as she returned from getting a refill for her Coke. She nudged Ellie as she sat down, who was nose deep in a booklet about the Marlborough Gymnastics team.
"Yep, same as usual." Kate answered, ignoring the synchronised groans of her daughters. She feared this question coming up again. "They won't be allowed inside Ivy but they'll be nearby."
Will put down his burger and wiped his mouth, his face growing serious. "Your grandmother has requested that you have a female officer who can stay in house."
"What?" Alex put down her glass of Coke with a loud thud. Ellie closed her booklet much more emphatically than she needed to and just stared at both her parents.
"Why?" Ellie's voice stank of disdain. "We're perfectly safe here, Dad. Mum, come on!"
"We don't need any more guards, the school does enough!" Alex added, pushing her chips aside like she'd suddenly lost her appetite.
Will gritted his teeth. Neither of them wanted this. "Still. We'd all like you to be safe."
"Safe from who?" The extra guards will just make us stand out more." Ellie was clearly holding back the anger in her voice. They had never had to deal with much palace intrusion at school before this, and Kate could feel the resentment spewing over, particularly on the crumpling edges of the booklet that Ellie was holding.
"Your grandmother is stubborn about this, but just give the officer a chance, for us? She might end up being a good friend." Kate tried to reason with them, but she was also just as reluctant.
Camilla had always wanted the girls out of Marlborough. It was one of the most exclusive schools in Britain and yet she still felt Ellie and Alex were better off somewhere else. Kate always saw this as Camilla wanting to exert the control over her children that she never had with Charles' children, and now that she was at the head of the family it was that much harder to resist her.
This was their compromise, decided months ago. The girls had had no say in how it worked out, but at least Kate was able to pick the officer herself.
"So who is it? Please say it's not that stern, stone faced one with the greasy hair? The one grandma likes?" Alex asked, rather desperately.
"We thankfully avoided that outcome." Will tried to present it as good news but neither of the girls perked up. "It's someone new, recommended by Emma. You'll be comfortable with her."
"That's not so bad, I guess." Alex took a sip from her Coke and looked longingly over at the other table, likely hoping one of the male officers could turn into a woman.
"Ellie?" Kate patted her eldest's arm. "How does that sit with you?"
Ellie didn't meet her gaze and instead dragged a French fry lazily through a dollop of tomato sauce. "Just... don't let her get too in the way. I want to enjoy this year."
She was downcast, sulking. Kate could see the wheels turning in her head, the big plans she had that were suddenly falling through.
"We know Ellie. We want to make sure you both have the best time here possible." Kate tried to reassure her, but Ellie was already closing up, diverting her attention back to her half-crunched booklet and slowly nibbling her way through her lunch.
The mood was low and sluggish as they made their way back to Ivy, gathered around the cars and said their goodbyes to each other. Kate had the stinging feeling of dislike whenever her children looked at her, a feeling that her mother had told her all parents would feel eventually.
"Remember what we agreed, regular Skype calls and you come home when you can." Kate reminded them after she'd given them both bone crushing hugs. She really didn't want to leave with them in this mood.
"I remember Mum, I'm not gonna forget you." Ellie told her, smiling briefly.
"Better not." Kate said in a mock warning tone, but quickly dived back in to give her a kiss on the cheek in case Ellie didn't pick up on the sarcasm.
"Mum." Ellie whined. Will leaned in to give her another kiss after which their daughters were physically pushing them away. "We'll see you soon."
"All right, love you both!" Kate yelled after them as they quickly disappeared, merely waving back at them in response.
"Come on, we better get back to the twins. They'll appreciate us more." Will gently led her back to the car.
"Until they get to school." Kate felt thoroughly disappointed in herself. The increasing security came at the worst time and she could barely lift a finger to stop it, yet she and Will were the ones that Ellie and Alex were taking out their frustrations on.
The long drive home was one of the worst she could remember.
The drive back into Marlborough was always difficult on the 1st of September. Traffic would grind to a halt in the sleepy little village as students started returning to school, their parents desperate to find an empty parking space so that moving their children's things was that much easier. The Cambridge family were no different, stuck in traffic in the middle of the high street as they waited for the roads to clear. It took them thirty minutes to travel a mile, and then another thirty sitting in a side road outside Ivy House as they waited for a parking spot to free up. Kate could still vaguely remember her own mother driving her back to school, in a time where Marlborough was less famous and the student body was still something that the small town could handle.
What days those were.
She passed the time by browsing photos on her phone, trying to pick from the hundred that she'd taken of her kids together on their first day of school. It was a good distraction from the growing restlessness inside the car, trying to find one photo where Charlotte was looking at the camera or one where Alex wasn't making her little brother laugh by pulling silly faces.
"Oh! How 'bout this one?" Kate asked hopefully, holding up her phone so that Ellie and Alex could see from the back seats of the family Range Rover.
"No! Only one of my eyes is open there!" Ellie shot her down quickly and impatiently, like she'd done for the entirety of their journey.
"You've rejected every one so far Ellie." Kate pouted at her in the rear view mirror. Getting her eldest daughter to take nice photos was always difficult, but Ellie's pickiness meant Kate could take as many photos as time would allow and then get to coo endlessly as she scrolled through every single one. Will had noticed her getting teary eyed more than a few times during the trip to Marlborough.
"Just pick one already. It's obvious she's not gonna help out." Alex threw her head back against the seat and groaned at her older sister. She would have been perfectly happy with any one of the last hundred that Kate had showed them.
"Can we get in yet?" Ellie asked, noticing a car leaving the parking lot.
"Nope, still full." Will said, glancing around the cars ahead. "I'm sure if we let them know we're here, they'd make a space for us."
"No!" Ellie denied him quickly. "It's fine. We can wait."
"Speak for yourself why don't you?" Alex rolled her eyes at her sister.
It was hard not to find Ellie a little irritating. She had been restless and overeager to be back at school ever since they'd left London. Kate had tried to get her to unwind over the journey but her daughter was having none of it, she was a bundle of energy that was itching to explode.
Kate had never seen her eldest acting this way, definitely not when it came to her education, something which for the last three years Ellie seemed only half interested in at best. This year there was a spark inside of her that had never been there before, a drive to do well and achieve great things. Kate was loving her daughter's new spirit, but she couldn't help but be a little worried.
She's planning to do everything. Every class, every club, every team, every sport. Even ones she knows she won't like. She wants to make a million friends and pass every exam with top marks. She wants to craft the perfect school life for herself, but she thinks it'll happen straight away.
Kate wanted her daughter to do well, as any mother would, but she didn't want to pressure her. The performance reports she had been getting from Ellie's teachers implied that her daughter was an average student, that she wasn't trying, and most worrying of all that she wasn't making any friends.
Kate couldn't figure out what to do. She knew Ellie was being naïve thinking she'd be able to do everything and not have it affect her classes, but she didn't want to crush her daughter's new found adventurous attitude. This wasn't the Princess Eleanor she'd been raising previously, this was her Ellie, her bundle of curious and excitable energy before she'd been told what her future role would be.
Kate wanted to keep that going, but she didn't want Ellie doing all this because she felt she had to, she wanted her doing well in school because she wanted to. Kate could only hope that the school would look after her daughter, help her achieve everything she was aiming for this year and not pressure her to do anymore.
Ellie is putting enough pressure on herself as it is. And besides, Marlborough makes no secret of being proud to teach two Royals. They want them to be shining examples of excellence.
Ivy House itself was a collection of buildings that had been squeezed into a narrow plot of land, stretching back at least half a football pitches length away from the high street. The oldest part of the house was all anyone could see from the main street and was built in the sixteenth century, but the rest of Ivy was built via multiple extensions over the years to accommodate more and more girls. The whole complex was so squashed into the middle of the town, a hundred meters from the school grounds and requiring a ten minute detour to get to the parking spaces at the back.
Kate regretted Ellie and Alex's placement into Ivy House every year, with the struggle for parking spaces and the squashed atmosphere, but she knew that the girls would be comfortable once everyone had moved in. Ivy was one of the smaller houses at the school even after Marlborough started accepting more students, and on any other day it would be relaxed and peaceful, the perfect place for her girls to live while studying.
When they were finally able to get a parking spot outside, Ellie couldn't wait to get out of the car. They were all restless after sitting on traffic for hours, but Ellie was on another level. She was outside, closing her car door and breathing in the Marlborough atmosphere before anyone else had a chance to undo their seatbelts.
"Did you bring the toddler reins?" Will asked her, wiping pretend sweat from his brow.
"We'll have to buy some in town." Kate told him, gathering her things and sliding out the car gracefully.
Immediately she could feel the eyes following them, excitable young kids carrying suitcases were stopping in their tracks to watch their every move. Kate waved at some of them before their parents smiled apologetically at her and shepherded their children away, allowing the chaos of moving in to return.
New students.
Kate looked around for her own children. Alex had already rushed off and was hugging another girl, a short and awkward looking girl who beamed at Alex and proudly introduced her to her parents. Kate couldn't remember the girls name, Susie was her best guess, or Lola. Alex had never spoken at length about her friends at school, only that there were lots of them.
Ellie was a different story. Kate found her hovering by the old noticeboard that stood by the back entrance, reading all the different postings for clubs and sports teams. Kate watched her for a moment, seeing how she acted around the other girls who were nearby. Some girls said hello to her, but nobody greeted her like a friend they hadn't seen in months. Kate could sense her daughter's nerves as she tried to hold conversations with other girls, obviously fighting herself to be more talkative. She knew how awkward her daughter must be feeling, but a smile was forming on her lips.
Kate watched proudly, clasping her hands together and full of joy. Ellie was immersing herself in school and putting herself out there. She wasn't standing out either, wearing the same uniform as all the other girls meant there was no hint of a Princess there, which seemed like the only thing that was holding her daughter back.
Will tapped her on the shoulder. "Kate, the new housemistress wants to say hello."
He had Alex with him, having wrangled her from her friends, and was gesturing to a strict looking older woman in her forties, with wavy red hair, a large nose and wearing a black pantsuit. She was waiting patiently, briefly and politely greeting other parents. Kate found her gaze unsettling as it repeatedly focused back on her and William, clearly showing which royal couple she wanted to speak with.
"Ellie. Grab your things." Kate called back over her shoulder to the group of girls at the noticeboard, hating to ruin her eldest's fun. When no response came she turned and tried to pick Ellie out from the crowd, but the oddest feeling stopped her. She couldn't recognise her daughter, all the girls seemed to blend together. Normally Ellie's awkwardness made her stand out, but now all she could see were a bunch of giggling school girls in the middle of a reunion.
"Ellie." Kate shouted again. Her daughters face snapped to her direction and immediately Kate could see the disappointment in her eyes. She said her goodbyes and trudged away from the group, leaving the rest to keep talking.
"You can go back to them in a bit." Kate said, putting her hand on Ellie's back and looking at the girls, wondering if all this time her daughter really did have friends here. "I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, Mum." Ellie said to her casually, not sensing the significance as she repeatedly looked back over her shoulder.
The housemistress stood at attention as Kate approached. Another woman was beside her, looking slightly younger and more welcoming. Her summery dress and sandals came across as less professional, but there was an obvious friendliness about her that Kate could appreciate.
The older woman shot Ellie a glance and then subtly looked at Kate.
"Mum, this is our new Housemistress Rachel Hunt." Ellie looked quite put out as she hastily introduced them, her voice professional and slightly bored. Kate watched and smiled as the older woman's chest swelled with pride at the sound of her new title.
"Your Royal Highnesses" Miss Hunt sunk into a deep curtsey as she shook both her and Will's hand. "A pleasure to meet you both, ever since I was made Housemistress of Ivy I've been looking forward to this moment."
"Please, just Will and Kate is fine." Will heartily shook her hand with a disarming smile.
"We're just excited and proud parents today." Kate told her as she shook Ms Hunts' hand gently.
"And our House Dame, Jenny Moon." Ellie introduced the younger woman in a clearly more excited voice which Kate and Will quickly picked up on. Mrs Moon offered a lighter curtsey, focusing more on a relaxed, welcoming handshake. "Nice to meet you both."
"So you'll be making sure the girls don't get into trouble?" Will asked jokily, wrangling Alex with his forearm like she was a wild lioness as she rolled her eyes and snickered quietly.
"Of course, though Ellie won't be any trouble. We can count on that." Miss Hunt said proudly whilst Ellie looked away and grumbled.
"And we'll make sure Alex cuts out the late night T.V" Mrs Moon said, crossing her arms and already laying down the law, yet her familiarity with the girls made her seem more like a big sister who wanted to watch the T.V in peace.
"Don't worry." Alex laughed mischievously. "There's nothing good on this year."
You would think that news reports would keep up with modern times, that they would consider the viewers ever decreasing attention span over the years and do their best to keep you interested. Ellie found this wasn't the case as she sat in her bedroom watching a rebroadcast of her great grandmother's funeral while her suitcases sat around, empty and waiting to be packed.
The broadcast was slow and dreary, and since it was filled with old footage of the Queen in her glory days, most of it was in black and white. It was like watching a funeral in the fifties, but thankfully without the old, echoing and grandiose man commentating over everything and pretending to know what Ellie and her family were thinking.
Instead it was a younger man with a much less dramatic voice that was hosting. He seamlessly described the whole event down to every last detail, even knowing the designer of the dress that Ellie was wearing that day.
It was surreal to listen to. To have her thoughts laid out by strangers, to have her actions closely watched and analysed.
Despite all this, it was hard for her not to watch it over and over again. Her parents would normally be discouraged from watching herself in videos or on the news, but this time it was different. Ellie could feel something whenever the cameras focused on her family, a feeling of longing, a desire to see something happen, a desire to know more. The coverage made her watch closely, hoping to see a hint of a reaction from one of the royals on screen, with every angle seemingly willing something to happen.
Ellie had seen herself on television dozens of times and cringed at every one, but on this occasion she was able to feel like any ordinary royalist, at least a little bit.
"Are you watching it again?" Ellie's mother marched into the room, carrying a pile of freshly washed Marlborough kilts and looking at her in complete disbelief. It was clear to Kate that her daughter had barely moved since the last time she saw her.
"I cant stop watching it!" Ellie complained.
Kate pulled her up from the bed. "Come on, you need to stop getting distracted. I asked you to be packed hours ago."
"Yes... well.." Ellie tried to pretend she had a response.
"Anna, can you deal with Ellie's bags? We'll be late otherwise." Her mother called down the corridor, ignoring Ellie.
She knows I hate packing.
Anna gave Ellie a disapproving roll of her eyes as she entered the room to take over packing duties. Ellie had at least folded a few cardigans, but most of her back to school wardrobe was still scattered around the room in various piles that only she could figure out. When Anna started grabbing other things from her closet Ellie felt the need to take over, but her mother was having none of it.
"If you start telling her what not to pack we'll be here for hours." Kate caught her looking longingly at a leather jacket that Anna was ignoring. "Come along now, you need to be in uniform."
"Anna I need those for the winter!" Ellie pointed to a pair of boots that Anna pushed aside.
Her mother grew tired of waiting and leaned in to unbutton her jeans. "Mum!" Ellie shouted at her.
"Don't make me undress you." Kate gave her a stern look.
"All right, all right!" Ellie did the rest of the work, pulling off her jeans and stepping into the blue and green tartan kilt that her mother laid at her feet. The black tights came next, then the blouse and finally the navy blue pullover which was branded with the Marlborough crest.
"There, my little school girl." Kate smiled at her, with the proud tilt of the head that only a mother would have.
Ellie stood there, grumpily staring at her. The first time back in uniform was always enough to make her moody and this was something her mother was very aware of. The fact that Ellie had worn the same uniform since she was twelve made the embarrassment even worse, but her Mum always loved how cute it made her look.
"Happy now?" Ellie asked sarcastically. She wanted to get back to packing and make sure she had something fashionable in her suitcase before Anna sealed them away.
"Not yet, I need you to sort through the things in the living room that you want to bring, then your Dad wants to take a photo of you and your sister." Kate took her by the hand and led her out of the room.
"Like this year's photo is going to be any different!" Ellie complained. She desperately looked back into her bedroom to see Anna grinning evilly, holding her favourite leather jacket and debating whether to pack it or not. She waited until the very last moment Ellie could see her before stuffing it inside one of the suitcases.
Everyone loves to tease me today. Every year. Back to school is the worst.
"We do it every year. Your brother and sister want to be in it too." Kate brought her into one of the upstairs drawing rooms and made her stand still. She hovered above Ellie with her hands on her shoulders, surveying every item that had been laid out for the return to Marlborough. The room was acting as a staging point for all of her and Alex's things, the last stop before being packed into the cars and driven to school. Past years had been easy to pack for, Ellie didn't do any sports or clubs and spent most of her time in her room, so all she had to bring was clothes and a few things to make her room super comfortable.
This year was different.
This year the living room was filled with all sorts of equipment, tennis rackets, squash rackets, golf clubs, football boots, hockey sticks, ice skates, tennis dresses, swimming goggles. There was even a telescope in case the Astronomy club came back. Ellie had gone through every newsletter, flyer and invite that had been handed to her during her first three years at Marlborough College, using them to build a list of all possible clubs, sports, teams and hobbies that were available to her while she was there.
She wanted to try new things this year, but she couldn't deny that compiling such an exhaustive list had also helped to keep her occupied during all the family upheaval over the summer.
"So sweetheart, have you decided what you're taking?" Kate asked as she tucked her hair behind her ears, eyeing the heaviest things in the room and ready to work. It was clear that the massive increase in stuff they were bringing to school was causing her mother to stress out a little more than usual on the first day back.
Ellie looked at her, confused. She thought all this had been sorted out ages ago when they bought everything. She then just gestured to the whole room. "Everything."
For too long she had been happy with coasting along through school, coasting along in life in general. She wasn't trying, she could recognise that now. The Queen, her mother, everyone was right, she had so much power and yet believed she couldn't do the simplest of things like going out or riding a bus.
There was so much she wasn't taking advantage of, even when it was perfectly within her rights to try everything.
"Everything?" her mother asked.
Kate seemed happy, but there was a sense of surprise that Ellie also picked up on. Ellie could tell her mother was feeling hopeful and excited when she first asked her for enough equipment to play fifty different sports, as if she didn't want to get in the way of her daughter's new approach to school, but why was she now surprised?
"Well we did buy everything, so why not use it?" Ellie asked.
"-I- bought them all." Kate quickly reminded her.
"Okay, but still, why not use them?" Ellie repeated herself.
"You don't have to bring everything you know, you can leave stuff here for next term, or even next weekend!" Kate reasoned.
"I don't want to miss out on any of the teams Mum." Ellie told her, grabbing an unopened pack of tennis balls, some football boots, and a field hockey stick and holding them together protectively.
"Are you sure you won't be a bit overwhelmed honey?" Her mother asked her, clearly worried.
Ellie saw no problem at all. "Nonsense, they wouldn't have it so that you miss out on anything. It would all be properly scheduled."
Her mother clearly wanted to say more, but she didn't. Ellie watched the wheels turning in her mother's head, with her eventually deciding that whatever she wanted to say wasn't as important as getting them to school on time. She eventually left Ellie to go check on her sister Alex, who was coming back for her third year at school and was probably still in her pyjamas.
Ellie sat back on her bed, smirking at the thought of her mother and Anna sweeping into her sister's room and bombarding her with hairbrushes, school uniforms and suitcases. The return to school on September 1st was one of the busiest days in the year, a day where their appearances had to meet the expectations of both a Marlborough student and a Royal. They wouldn't be able to relax until they had finally settled in to their boarding houses at the end of the day. They still had to take photos for the press office to send out to mark the occasion, and then the chaos of actually arriving at the school which was an entire royal engagement in itself.
Every year when they showed up with their royal entourage, Marlborough College made a point of treating them like the royals that they were as well as holding Ellie and her sister to much higher standards than any other students. This would all fade as classes started up and she started to blend in with the rest of the students, but for that first day back the school really enjoyed letting everyone know that they had the honour of being the place where Princess Eleanor was taught.
Nobody seemed to recognise how much pressure this put on her, and how much it isolated her from every other student. It was hard enough being shy outside of the palace, but constantly being held up as the gem in Marlborough's crown and given that little bit more attention than anyone else meant making friends was incredibly difficult.
On top of that, Ellie knew she was a disappointment. There was so much pressure for her to excel in everything, to ace every class and captain every sports team, to win competitions and put Marlborough College on the map. This was expected of her. She was meant to be their greatest student ever and so far she had avoided even thinking about it.
I don't want to be remembered as the Princess who failed her GCSEs.
Ellie grabbed her rucksack, the last thing not to be taken down to the cars, and peeked inside. She'd packed it with snacks, stuffed teddies and some books, but something else was missing. Her Dad called to her from downstairs, and she could hear her family gathering for the photo but she decided to keep searching her room. She knew as soon as the photo was done they'd all be getting the cars to leave straight away.
"We're short on time Ellie!" Will shouted up the stairs.
Ellie frantically searched the drawers of her desk, flinging them open and shoving everything aside. It didn't take long to find what she was looking for, a white envelope with a broken red wax seal and 'Eleanor' written on the front in neat cursive font. She checked inside to make sure her letter was there, held it close to her heart for a moment before tucking it away in her rucksack.
Ellie had to take a long hard look at herself that summer. Things were changing, Charles and Camilla were bringing new rules in, her parents were stressing out and the pressure of expectation was starting to boil over. She needed to start living up to that expectation, to start doing well at school and start living her life. Marlborough could be so much more to her than just school, more than just a place she could hide away from her position and fame.
I'll never be anything other than Princess Eleanor until I put myself out there. I want people to see who the real Ellie is. -I- want to see who the real Ellie is.
She looked around the room once more, shuffling her rucksack on her shoulders to feel the weight of everything inside and reassure herself.
"Ellie, come on." Will urged her, now standing at her bedroom door.
"Coming." Ellie chirped happily, brushing past him.
Ordinarily Josie would be excited about staying in London for a few days, especially in the summer time. There were so many things she could do compared to back home in Bucklebury, so many places to see, so many photos to take. A trip to London always felt like a mini holiday, travelling in on the train from Reading which she always loved, hitting up all the big tourist spots in London, having drinks and food at some bar along the South Bank, seeing a movie in Leicester Square in the evening.
Any time she'd ever gone down to London she had had an amazing, fun filled day, but today was different.
Josie stepped off the train behind her family, lugging her suitcase along with her. She'd packed it with clothes and the usual essentials for a short trip, but she'd also packed a few other supplies. Cardboard, large sheets of paper, paint, glitter, brushes and a signed, neatly sealed letter.
She expected most people around her on the crowded platform at Paddington Station carried something similar, letters, placards or flowers. Josie could tell, for certain, that everyone was feeling the same way, upset, confused, concerned... broken. Thousands of people from different ages, races, genders and ethnicities, all feeling the same way.
No, Josie was not excited to be in London this time around. In fact, she couldn't remember a time where she'd arrived in the capital feeling so terrible, but how else could she feel when she was going to see a state funeral?
This was the first state funeral in twenty-six years and the first time a monarch had died in seventy-six years. Josie wasn't even alive the last time Britain had endured something so crushing, but it still hit her just as hard as anyone else.
Some people were apathetic towards the Royal Family, but Josie was a self-confessed fanatic. She could understand why others may not care or just outright dislike the royals. They were an outdated tradition, largely ceremonial and holding no real power in the country. They controlled vast amounts of wealth and yet ordinary citizens like her paid taxes to keep the monarchy going.
Josie found it hard to argue with them. Everything that was said against the royals was true. Josie would say they bring in heap loads of cash in tourism, that they support charities and causes that otherwise wouldn't be well known. The truth was Josie looked up to the royal family, she idolised them. She had a whole blog dedicated to them. Britain without the royal family was like Japan without the Samurai history, France without the Eiffel Tower, Brazil without Carnivale, America without American Football. To Josie, Britain without the royal family would just be... Britain, a country.
They were a huge part of the countries identity, and without them Josie felt her idea of Britain would be lost. She wasn't exactly patriotic but having the royal family around was something she was proud to support, without them there wasn't much in her country that made it feel stable, consistent.
That was why today was so hard. She could feel the anti-monarchy movement building. With Elizabeth dead, Charles had become King, and Charles just didn't have the same popularity as his mother. Most of the peoples' love went to the younger royals, William, Kate, Harry and Emma, along with all their children. They were the royals that people loved to hear about, they were the royals that Josie and her friends gushed over on their blogs. Charles was nice, but he just wasn't as appealing to young people.
She respected the fact that Charles was the next in line, but many people around the world didn't. Many people felt this was the right time to get rid of the monarchy. Rather than spend money on a big coronation for Charles, just end it here. Just close this entire chapter of British history altogether. Josie was having none of it.
There wasn't much she could do to ensure the future of the monarchy as just a lowly teenage girl from Bucklebury, but she dreamed of becoming a journalist and a future royal reporter, reporting on all the great things the family were doing. She often fantasised about getting to meet her favourite royals and interviewing them. First Emma, the Duchess of Sussex, who Josie had loved since her acting days, and then Princess Eleanor of Cambridge, the firstborn daughter of William and Kate and Josie's more recent favourite.
"Josie, come on!" Her mother called. The family was waiting for her on the other side of the ticket barrier.
"Coming mum!" Josie called back, rushing down the platform.
Ever since she met Eleanor in a Tesco superstore in the middle of Bucklebury, completely casual, no tiaras or paparazzi, Josie's love of the royals had gone into overdrive. Eleanor had been so normal, so down to earth, even a little shy. She was there shopping with her mum like two ordinary commoners, she was relatable. Josie felt they could have even been friends.
That was a big reason why she'd convinced her whole family to come down and attend the funeral. None of them were as fierce monarchists as her, but they weren't completely anti-monarchy either. They would have been perfectly happy to watch the funeral on the television where they'd arguably see it better, but Josie wanted to go in person because to her, Eleanor was a friend.
This was a time for everyone to come together. That was Josie's thinking. So, she'd convinced her entire family to catch an early train from Reading and spend a few days in London, to join the packed crowds of the city and show their support.
After checking in at their hotel, Josie, her parents and her younger brother headed out. They got on the Underground at Waterloo and got out at St James's Park, making their way from there to the gates of Buckingham Palace. They were able to buy white lilies along the way at a news stand, where all the front-page headlines were about the Queen. They were also selling flags, but there were enough union jack flags everywhere, on hats, on jackets and on banners and placards of support. Josie was happy with the flowers and a little letter that she'd addressed to the entire royal family. After making their purchases they joined the crowds that were all converging on the same point, all moving in the same direction as if they were on a pilgrimage to a holy site. There didn't seem to be anyone heading in the opposite directions, off to work or somewhere else. Everyone was there for the same reason.
Even on a hot summery day there wasn't a person who was just lying down in the park. Everyone was moving towards the same point. When they arrived on The Mall the crowds were even thicker. The long red road was channelling thousands of people towards the great gates of Buckingham Palace, where the royal standard flew to indicate that the monarch was in residence.
The atmosphere was quiet, contemplative. The people around her were all in mourning, all in shock. Josie had her tributes ready, but from the looks of things it would take ages to get to the front and have the chance to lay them at the gates of the palace. She needed to climb up the steps of the Victoria Memorial to see better, only then was it clear.
The tributes, a massive variety of colourful flowers, notes, handmade signs, photographs and candles, there were so many of them, so dense that they completely covered the hard ground outside the palace fences and severely restricted where people could walk. They covered the roads so that the entire area was a no go for traffic, they even went as far as touching the Victoria Memorial itself. The only open space was a path that had been cleared from the palace gate itself, and then the palace forecourt behind them.
"It's like Diana all over again." Her mother remarked. There were nods of agreement from dozens of mourners around her.
"Hang on, there's some movement."
Josie looked up, watching the windows of the palace up ahead. She saw a few curtains shift on the upper floors, but nothing obvious. She struggled to see straight ahead to the ground level, instead having to rely on what people were saying.
"Look! The gates are opening!"
"They're coming out!"
"Who do you see? Who do you see?" Josie asked desperately. The crowd around her were all pushing forwards, just as eager to see as her.
"Looks like Charles, and I think maybe William, and one of the young girls." Someone said.
Moments ago, people had been turning up, paying their respects and then making their way back through the crowd to leave, but there was no chance of that happening now. Everyone wanted to be at the front, everyone wanted a chance to hand their gifts directly to one of the royals, to be able to see them up closes, to even be able to speak with them. Josie knew she'd never get the chance, there were still masses of people in front of her and this definitely wasn't the place to start yelling for attention.
She heard their voices as they got closer. From what she could hear from the crowd's reactions, the royals were browsing the letters, making their way along the outside of the palace, collecting flowers and thanking people for being there. Josie kept straining to see, peaking between arms, jumping to see above heads and shoulders. She wasn't the only one.
It was Ellie up ahead, out with her father and grandfather. Josie could feel the warmth of the crowd, a sort of protectiveness of a worried parent, all of it being directed towards the royals. She started to hear Ellie speaking as the people quietened, all eager to hear her. She sounded upbeat, from what Josie could hear. Thanking the people and calmly reflecting back their words of encouragement.
It wasn't the shy Eleanor that Josie remembered from Bucklebury, but then again it had been three years. Three years in which the young Princess had rarely been seen in public, instead being closely guarded while at boarding school, a fact that Josie and her royal blogger friends knew all too well.
The three royals didn't stay out for long however. Soon they were heading back through the gates and across the forecourt, then disappearing back into Buckingham Palace while everyone in the crowd spoke of feeling uplifted by how friendly and approachable the royals had been.
It took another hour before Josie could get to the front and lay down her gifts with all the others, and by then the sun was starting to set. She waited to see if any more royals would appear and watched all the palace windows closely, but nobody came out. Josie's mum eventually convinced her to head back to the hotel with the family.
Later that night Josie was on her laptop, sharing some photos on her blog that she'd taken of the immense crowds in central London and down the Mall. She'd taken some outside Buckingham Palace but all they showed were people's backs. None of them were good angles of Charles, William or Ellie.
The whole fandom was in overdrive, blogging like crazy. All Josie could see after hours of scrolling was photo upon photo of London, the crowds, the memorials, the mourning, Elizabeth tributes and pictures of various royals. She stayed up late into the night talking with her friends, answering questions about what it was like to be in London in that moment and what the royals were like. She struggled to find the words to describe the day and eventually gave up, telling her followers that she'd come back with more soon.
The next morning, Josie and her Mum lined up with crowds along Westminster Bridge. What felt like the entire population of London had queued up and were quietly shuffling towards the Palace of Westminster where the Queen's body was lying in state.
The roads were mostly quiet, even in what was normally such a busy tourist area of the city. Only a few buses and cars were passing them by, but they were hardly noticed, even the big red double decker buses. Everyone was in their own worlds or quietly chatting in their groups, just as the crowds were the day before.
It probably would have felt different if Josie's parents had gotten a hotel room that was a bit further away from central London, where all the funeral events were taking place, but even then, the round the clock coverage in the news would be enough to put them all in the same mood. Josie could tell her family were a bit moody about having to spend their time focused within a small area of London that was the center of millions of people's worth of grief and sadness, but she honestly felt that this was where she wanted to be. She needed to be part of it.
The rest of her family didn't feel so strongly, so her dad and brother had gone sightseeing instead while her mum stayed with her.
Being inside Westminster Hall was probably one of the most surreal experiences of Josie's life. What little chatter that had been going on outside quickly died down as they entered the grounds. The whole area was usually closed off to the public, but for something as huge as the Queen's death they were willing to allow people in, although it was still heavily guarded. Thousands of people were streaming into the heart of the British government, so it would be surprising if she didn't see a whole lot of armed soldiers keeping a close eye on things.
Josie had never been in the midst of such high security, whilst also being surrounded by such history, sadness and grief. Combined with the fact that this was such a world changing event, the biggest that she could remember, it made sure that nobody had any idea what to do with themselves. Josie held her mum's hand as they entered the building, almost fearing what would come next.
Inside the Hall was a wide-open expanse, with a high centuries old ceiling which directed all the light towards one specific spot, the spot where the Queen's coffin rested. It was covered in the royal standard, a flag that bore three English lions, the red lion of Scotland and the golden harp of Ireland. On top of the standard was a single flickering candle which cast an eerie glow over the whole thing.
The strangest part of all were the royals that were standing vigil all around the coffin, dressed in black and staring solemnly down at the ground. Josie recognised all four of the Queen's children, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew were there wearing their Royal Navy uniforms, Princess Anne as well and Prince Edward. They stood at the four corners of the raised platform, their backs to the coffin that was lying on a podium behind them.
Josie couldn't help but feel like it was all very old fashioned, she wanted to be able to speak to the royals, but she couldn't. All anyone could do was respectfully and quietly make their way around the vigil, paying their respects and enjoying the presence of Queen Elizabeth one last time.
It was grim and heart wrenching to be so close and to see the thinly disguised emotions of the Queen's children right in front of her. She could tell they were all going through an incredibly rocky time in the family, and at times Josie thought that Charles was barely keeping it together. The whole thing felt unfair, even though she knew that the royals didn't have to stand vigil, it still felt like something they were forced to do.
By the time she made the final turn to start heading outside, Josie could feel tears running down her cheeks. The atmosphere inside the hall was so overwhelming with emotion, with the walls effectively containing an immeasurable amount of sadness. She saw the light of day just up ahead, but more royals caught her eye.
High up above, watching the vigil from a secluded perch, Josie spotted what must have been Kate, Alex and Ellie, all dressed in black with their faces hidden behind veils. With Prince William standing beside them, the three women surely couldn't have been anyone else.
Josie didn't get to look at them for long as the crowd continued to move, forcing her to move with them. She stepped out into the sunlight just wishing she could go back inside and get another peek, disregarding the completely crushing atmosphere that the hall was overflowing with.
"That was just dreadful." Her mother said, wiping her eyes.
"It must be so horrible to stand up there like that." Josie told her. "I couldn't do it."
The next morning Josie left the hotel on her own and travelled up to Kensington Palace. She had loved the royal family for a long time, loved reading about them, loved blogging about them. She'd gone to dozens of events to see them in person, but now she was starting to worry her obsession was being overwhelmed by so many frequent sightings.
It was another day until the funeral procession, so she gave her family the day off from grieving so that she could be alone, allowing her to embrace her love of the royals without any judgement. Her parents didn't talk to her much about it, but her brother was often joking about her interest, although he'd thankfully not said a word against them whilst the family had been in London.
He would probably be shouted away if he did make any jokes, that much was clear as Josie walked across Kensington Gardens towards the palace. The whole area felt like a sacred shrine just like Buckingham Palace, except there were far less tributes and the roads weren't blocked.
Josie placed down more flowers outside the gates, beside hundreds of other tributes that were honouring the Queen and supporting the other royals. She had to gingerly tip toe between candles and gifts that had been laid out to get her flowers lying next to all the rest. The bouquet of violets was, according to rumour, Princess Eleanor's favourite flower, so she wanted to get them as close to the gates as possible.
Josie wanted to put her letter down too, a more personal one that she'd written just for Eleanor herself, but as she looked around at the thousands of letters that were already there it became clear that none of the royals would ever read her letter. It would probably be read by the staff, or never even opened at all.
Instead Josie stuck with the desperate hope that she might meet Ellie face to face once again, where she'd would be able to give her the letter in person and tell her how much she and the royals meant to her.
She decided to do a bit of sightseeing, wanting to enjoy her time in London whilst she was there and pretend her plan wasn't incredibly stalkerish. Josie figured that the royals would likely want to get some fresh air, away from everything that was going on in the family. She also knew that William and Kate had been spotted walking in Kensington Gardens before, as well as Eleanor, Alex, Emma and Harry. It would have to be a massive stroke of luck to find a royal in the massive park, but Josie was feeling lucky.
She started off by enjoying her inner history nerd, journeying to each of the monuments of former kings and queens that were dotted around Hyde Park. Each one had its own collection of tributes, even if the monuments themselves weren't for Queen Elizabeth. Josie could understand wanting to avoid her offerings getting lost in the masses, but laying flowers and candles in front of the Albert memorial seemed a bit out of place.
I guess that, as distant as it may be, they are all related.
Josie finished her tour at the Diana memorial, a large egg-shaped fountain that seemed completely out of place when compared to Albert's massive statue beneath a gothic pagoda, but it seemed to fit Diana perfectly. Kids loved to play in the water and jump from one side to the other, and the drastically different style was exactly how people thought of her when she was alive. Diana had changed the royal family immensely, and everyone loved her for it. Now it seemed like a good place for everyone to gather and reflect as more big changes were about to hit the country.
"Josie? Is that you?"
Josie looked to see where the voice was coming from. Almost immediately a girl was sitting beside her and smiling broadly at her. She was wearing a baseball cap that was pulled tightly down, and she was dressed casually in a normal pair of shorts and a t-shirt. To anyone she would have been completely inconspicuous, with the red maple leaf on her cap enough to throw anyone off, but Josie recognised her voice straight away.
"Oh my god." Josie whispered, almost fainting. She felt her heart skip a beat.
"Are you okay?" Ellie asked her, sitting down on the grass beside her.
"It's really you." Josie was on the verge of tears, and for once it was for a good reason.
"We've met before, ya know." Ellie smirked at her. She seemed so relaxed, even jokey.
"Yes, yes, I remember." Josie reached across to hug her, but quickly stopped herself. She didn't want to overstep the boundaries. Ellie stared at her, confused. Her arms were up and ready to hug back, she was ready for it. She even seemed hurt that Josie had stopped herself. A moment passed and instead of Josie excitedly hugging her idol, Ellie hugged her back just as if they were good friends.
I can't believe this is happening again.
"It's nice to see you again." Ellie told her.
Josie was blown away by how much Eleanor had grown in three years. Josie was supposed to be older than her, like she had done the last time they had met, but now she couldn't help but feel a bit small and overawed by her presence. Ellie seemed so different to when Josie had last met her in person.
"I didn't think I'd see you out in public again. Especially not now. What are you doing out here?" Josie asked. She looked around at the masses of people that were in the park, the people walking past them and within inches of a real-life Princess. Did any of them know that Diana's granddaughter was sitting at the memorial with them? And how uncomfortable must Ellie be feeling right now?
"Trying not to be so awkward anymore." Ellie looked around, adjusting her cap and avoiding eye contact with anyone but her. Josie could tell she was nervous, but it didn't seem as bad as before.
"Dads been helping me with my anxiety." Ellie pointed to a tall and majestic man that was sitting in the middle of the egg, also dressed in casual summer clothes and sporting sunglasses and a baseball cap. He seemed to just be sitting, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere like everyone else.
"He's been coming out to the memorial a lot over the last few days and I wanted to join him." Ellie told her.
"No guards?" Josie looked around, trying to find a well disguised protection officer.
"No guards." Ellie smiled proudly, quite smug about it.
"Wow, you've really come far." Josie grinned back at her, surprising herself. She could feel her body starting to relax.
"Definitely." Ellie seemed comfortable sitting next to her, like she had an ally. Josie couldn't help but feel fiercely protective of her. She'd fought in Ellie's corner online whenever the haters would criticise her for not appearing in public, today was no different. If only she could think of more things to say. She felt like Ellie was reaching out, but what do you say to a Princess?
"Oh! How are you and the family doing?" Josie asked. She needed to remember that as much as the world had lost a Queen, the royals had also lost a massive part of their family.
"We're getting there. Dad and Grandpa are taking it the hardest but I'm helping them out where I can."
Josie couldn't help but feel proud. Ellie was definately someone worth sticking up for in the online forums.
"I want you to know that everyone is with you. Everyone I've spoken with is ready to help you get through this."
"Thanks, Joze" Ellie said gratefully. Josie shivered with excitement at that. "It really means a lot. We went outside the palace yesterday and the support was just... overwhelming."
"I was there, you handled it really well." Did she just give me a new nickname? God, now I MUST change my blog title.
"Yeah, just about. Sorry I missed you."
"Don't worry about it." Josie patted her hand reassuringly.
"So, what are you doing now? Still in Bucklebury?" Ellie asked, taking out her phone from a back pocket.
Josie couldn't help but steal a glance at Ellie's contacts. It was intoxicating. For years she'd run a blog and obsessed over the royal family, but always from a distance, always dreaming of feeling closer to them. Now she could see 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' on the phone of Princess Eleanor and know exactly who they are. It was wild.
Is there even a point to running a royal blog anymore? I just feel like I know so much already.
"Oh, yeah." Josie remembered to answer. "But I'm studying Journalism at Reading Uni."
"Awesome. Maybe you'll end up being the next big royal reporter?" Ellie smiled at her.
"Hope so!" Josie said coyly. She decided not to ask for a job at the palace.
"Hey, why don't you give me your number? We can meet up again when we're both back in Bucklebury." Ellie suggested, holding her phone out to Josie.
Ellie laughed back at her. "Yeah, why not? Otherwise it'll probably be another three years till we see each other."
"Of course, definitely." Josie hurriedly obeyed like it was a command, but, it seemed much more like Ellie was just eager to be friends. Josie's fingers trembled as she took Ellie's phone and started typing in her number, resisting the urge to explore all her contacts and even browse her photos. She was a swipe of a finger away from what could have been the cutest family photos that she could ever hope to find.
I can't believe she trusts me so much. So many people online would kill to have this much access.
"Time to go Ellie." Josie's heart skipped another beat. Prince William stood imposingly above them and helped Ellie get to her feet. His warm smile had Josie frozen in her spot.
"Dad, meet my friend Josie." Ellie helped her up and presented her to Will proudly.
"Lovely to meet you Josie. Short for Josephine right?"
"Hiiii, yes. But everyone calls me Josie" Josie nervously mumbled back, her cheeks turning red.
"Dont embarrass her Dad." Ellie shoved her father's meaty arm. It barely moved.
"Hah, well sorry to break things up girls, but we really need to be heading off." He looked at her apologetically.
"Of course. Definitely. Yeah." Josie signalled it was okay, blushing even more as she handed Ellie's phone back to her. They had barely walked more than two steps before she blurted out again. "Oh, sorry! Wait!"
She searched through her bag, desperately looking for her letter to Ellie, not realising in her nervous rush that she was looking straight at it. Josie detected a hint of irritation in Will's face as she handed her letter to Ellie, who took it gratefully.
"I was holding out hope I could give this to you in person, and here we are." Josie laughed, trying to keep her cool and appear relaxed, but struggling.
Both Ellie and William were growing more conscious of the attention they were getting. Several people around were starting to recognise them, and the whispers started circulating.
"Thanks Josie, thank you. Hope to see you again!" Ellie waved at her, going along with her dad. It was clear that neither of them wanted to cause a scene.
Josie watched as they hurriedly walked off and disappeared into the park before a crowd formed. Then she watched in satisfaction as a few paparazzo's arrived not long after, obviously following a tip off and just missing the royals. They looked around, questioning people at the memorial and looking stumped.
Better luck next time losers.
On the final day of her family trip to London, Josie stood on the edge of the Mall awaiting the funeral procession that would pass them on its way to Paddington Station. From there the Queen's body would be taken by train to Windsor Castle and buried there, but all that would be much more private. She had been able to watch the funeral from super screens that had been set up in the parks, and now waited for the mass of soldiers, foreign royals, dignitaries and family members that would escort the Queen on her way.
While the thousands of people in the crowds waited, they listened to the one hundred and four gun artillery salute that was echoing throughout London whilst Big Ben tolled along with them. It was one for every year of the Queen's life, and for the first time that week Josie quickly realised how old the Queen really was. When they got to seventy, she heard someone in the crowd surprisedly say "Really, how old was she?". Everyone truly thought she was ageless.
When the salute was finally over, anticipation in the crowd slowly grew as the procession started making its way from Westminster Abbey. Josie could feel it, like a sadder alternate version of a Mexican wave, as she watched the screens and saw the procession turn onto the Mall. The crowds around her pushed against the barriers and the people in front, including herself, as they were all eager to see.
A parade of horse guards came first, followed by the guardsmen wearing their bright red uniforms and bearskin caps, who were then followed by the slow-moving gun carriage that carried the Queen. The guards that lined the sides of the road saluted as the coffin moved past, and hundreds of onlookers bowed their heads or removed their hats. Everyone was in almost complete silence, the only noise coming from the clopping of horse hooves and the slow trudging of the people in the procession.
Behind the Queen's coffin looked like a carbon copy of Diana's funeral in 1997. Elizabeth's four children, just as they had done at the vigil, were staying close to their mother's body, walking slowly behind it all the way to the station. William and Harry joined them as well, but there was no sign of the women. They followed behind, hidden away inside stately cars. It was hard to recognise Ellie, sitting in the back of a car with her family and dressed fully in black. Compared to the girl that Josie met in the park the day before, the one sitting inside that car along with her mother, sister, aunt and cousin James was someone completely different.
After them came more royals than she could count. Josie was familiar with most of the royal families of Europe through following other blogs who weren't so Britain focused. She loved seeing the foreign royals there supporting the Brits, but soon enough she stopped recognising faces and the whole thing became much less interesting.
The crowds started to dissipate not long after and by the evening the entire Mall was empty, with just tributes left behind and candles still burning, which made the long red road glow and flicker in a warm orange light. The past nine days had brought seemingly the whole world together into one spot to share their grief, but now they were all gone.
Josie could feel the unease that was starting to build just as she and her family were getting on the train to go home. People were already talking about Charles now being king, and morbidly joking about how long he would last. The monarchy needed something good to happen, but Josie knew that Charles was nowhere near as popular as his mother. Elizabeth had held majority support for most of her reign, Charles couldn't hope to repeat that.
And then, with a big expensive coronation on the way for a moderately popular monarch, now would be the best time for those anti-monarchists to rise up and get their way.
The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge attend the wedding ceremony of Princess Eugenie to Mr Jack Brooksbank at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor // 12 October 2018
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