Royal Duchess | BRF Story

Prince Frederick

Frederick had had the life of privilege many teenagers could only dream of. During secondary school he was the popular boy at Eton, he was the boy everyone wanted to be around, not simply because he was Prince Frederick, but because he was fun to be with. Freddie was the one person who was always invited everywhere, was in everyone's guest list and had free access to every nightclub and pub around London and Eton. Frederick was someone everyone knew and someone people either wanted to emulate or be with, and he loved the feeling. He loved the feeling of being the most important person in the room, he loved being the centre of attention. And it was that love that caused him the most damage when he arrived at university. 

He had always been close with his siblings, but especially, and as expected, with his twin sister Alice; Alice was his polar opposite and that was one of the things that made their relationship perfect, in Freddie's honest opinion. Alice was the one person who always knew where Frederick was and with whom, she was the person Frederick couldn't keep a secret from and the one person, apart from their mother, that Frederick actually felt comfortable talking about anything that was going through his mind at a particular moment. It was easy to say that Alice was his rock and safe place. 

Freddie decided that if he needed to go to university it should at least be something he enjoyed. Frederick ruled out reading at St Andrews because it would have been expected of him, too many people in his family had already gone there, even if it gave him the option to be close to his twin sister, he didn't want to be just another number, another name. Oxford was an option, and staying in London was another contender, a big one, with London having such superb institutions, however, in the end, he followed his paternal grandfather's footsteps. During his final year at Eton he was accepted at Cambridge, where he read Geography, following his uncle's footsteps. 

University wasn't the experience he expected it to be; he didn't find it fascinating and academically stimulating like May had, or just another stepping stone into her destiny, like Vicky had. He found it interesting to make friends and discover new things, as well as get a degree, as his parents made sure to instil on all their children the importance of a good education. After the three years, though, he couldn't go through twelve months to get a masters he wasn't sure he would be using. Instead he followed the footsteps of the men in the House of Windsor, and went into the army, spending instead ten months at Sandhurst, where he got his commission. 

For the rest of his career he served in Household Cavalry, in the regiment of the Life Guards, until his retirement at the age of fifty, when he had achieved the rank of staff corporal; upon his retirement became a part time working member of his Family and was given the position of Colonel of the Regiment of the Scots Guards. 

It was a few years before he left his position in the army, however, that he met who would become the love of his life. He was in a pub, in Windsor, where he was living at the time, during one of his free nights where he was able to meet with a few of his Eton and Cambridge mates, many of who had relocated to that area of the country or at least nearby ones. He had said goodbye to the last few of his friends and was finishing with his beer when someone caught his eye from across the room. Well, truly as he was making his way across the room. He couldn't be much taller than Frederick himself, but had the clearest eyes Frederick had ever seen, even in the dark room from the pub. His hair was a curly mess, dark with highlights, or at least that was what Freddy thought the moment he laid his eyes on him, and even in his third pint of beer he felt his chest fluttering. 

"It's rude to stare." 

"Pardon?" 

He let out a laugh that made Freddy's stomach turn and his cheeks warm, like he was back at Eton, having his first crush on one of the prefects all over again.