Third In Line

Chapter Thirty Four - The Other Side of the Palace

For Emma it was always strange making the short journey between her and Harry's apartment and that of her in-laws William and Kate. It was mostly the decor that bothered her as they made the transition from one apartment to the other. Apartment 1A was never her in-laws main home, and so they never really spent much time making it feel 'lived in'.

Whenever she visited it always looked like a place perfectly fitting for royalty, no matter how much the girls dirtied their bedrooms. Everything was kept immaculately clean by the staff, and most of the furniture was ornate and refined. It was the perfect place for a Princess, and was everything Emma, an American, expected life in the royal family to be like.

Her and Harry's apartment was much more welcoming, but much less grandiose, which was exactly how she and Harry liked it. As soon as they had made their apartment at Kensington Palace their main home, she was desperate to add her own family atmosphere.

As much as she loved life as a Princess, something that any girl dreamed off, the housing that was provided by the family was far from comforting. The rooms were too big and spacious, no matter how much she tried to fill them with her own things. Half of the classical furniture that she had removed had to be put back in its place when there was still so much room to fill up.

I knew it would be a big job becoming part of this family, but a complete overhaul of our home was never something I was expecting.

But she had succeeded, the apartment was like walking into a modern penthouse, all the wooden stiff backed chairs that still dominated 1A had been replaced by soft and comfortable lounging chairs, old dusty cupboards replaced with walk in closets. Even the walls and floors were filled to the brim with high tech gubbins to make the place as modern as possible. The place was altogether much more fitting, without any space going unused, just how she preferred it. After being raised in such a large family in a crowded house, she wasn't sure she could live in a building any other way.

The fact that her nieces lived in such an empty place just next door would have been so much more depressing if she didn't know that they had proper rooms in Bucklebury and Norfolk.

But still, it wouldn't hurt Kate to try and spice up the place a little while they were living there.

Harry had been so supportive of all her efforts to modernise the house, if anything he was the chief motivator behind replacing everything old. He always said he was tired of being surrounded by things that made him feel ancient, so Emma knew that that was her first plan of action upon moving in.

He desperately misses the country though. I can tell.

It was hard not to feel jealous of her in-laws when it came to their abundance of housing options, and it was hard not to feel like there was some favouritism going on between Harry and his brother. Will and Kate had places to stay in Bucklebury, Norfolk, even Anglesey whenever they occasionally visited, whilst she and Harry only had their apartment in Kensington Palace. The hope was that they'd eventually be able to build a new home in Sussex, which was perfectly understandable for a couple titled the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but their plans were yet to come to fruition.

Harry nudged the door closed using his bum, his arms occupied with Alex after carrying her from one apartment to the other. "How long has it been Lexi?" he asked.

"Ages!" Alex answered irritably. "You and Ellie had all the fun at Trooping the Colour"

"It wasn't...always fun!" Ellie argued.

"Don't worry, you'll be up on my shoulders next time!" Harry encouraged her as they gathered in the foyer. Emma and her husband strolled into their home as usual but their nieces, as always, seemed overawed as soon as they stepped inside.