10 February 2005
The Duke of Edinburgh and I are very happy to announce that the Prince of Wales and Mrs Parker Bowles are to marry. We have given them our warmest good wishes for their future together.
Queen Elizabeth II
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Buckingham Palace
"Congratulations," Adeline said with a smile upon her face as she first hugged her father then she moved on to Camilla, the news had been long awaited and with the press release issued it was official.
Despite her birthday party last week, this had been the first time that Adeline had seen Camilla since before Christmas and her father's proposal; school came first and no one could blame her for that when she was so close to finishing school.
"Thank you," Camilla replied, she still couldn't quite believe it, she had never thought that they would be able to marry; contenting herself to spending her life just as Charles' partner.
It had been most relieving to see that their plans to wed were being approved, she had feared that they would be told no and Charles was too much of a gentleman to pull what his great uncle had done to marry her.
Not that Camilla would have accepted him in such a way, it was his duty to his country and the realms that his mother governed that made him who he was.
Without it, Camilla wasn't sure he could be happy especially when he had always done what was asked of him; she would never forgive him if he dumped the responsibility of being heir on William at such a young age.
Her engagement ring was a Windsor family heirloom that had belonged to the Queen Mother, a 1920s platinum setting with a square-cut central diamond flanked by six diamond baguettes.
It was perfect in her opinion, she hadn't wanted anything that stood out too much or was too flashy; she would have been happy with anything that Charles had given her.
In support of their engagement, the Queen and Prince Philip had insisted on throwing this little get together; all their children had been invited along with their partners, although it seemed like only Adeline was single at this moment in time.
Camilla had pondered if allowing Adeline to invite a friend to the wedding would be appropriate, someone her own age that she could hand out with since all the other children would be allowed to bring a plus one.
Tom and Laura would be bringing their partners Sara and Harry, it was expected that William would be attending with a Catherine and Harry would likely bring Chelsy with him since the two of them seemed to have patched things up.
That left Adeline on her own to either third-wheel with one of her brothers and their date or spend most of the evening alone.
Adeline excused herself once she had said her congratulations so that they could continue to greet people, she glanced around to see if she could spot either of her brothers who were meant to be in attendance tonight but she had no luck.
Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Adeline made her way across the room to where there was a bench and plopped herself down; she tucked her right foot behind her left and smoothed down the pink floral dress that she was wearing.
Her eyes wandering around the room as she watched all the grown ups talk and mingle, she felt rather out of place at the engagement party.
"Mind if I sit here?" asked a woman that Adeline didn't quite recognise, she looked almost as awkward as Adeline felt and looked rather relieved when Adeline invited her to sit.
The two of them sat in silence for a moment, Adeline feeling rather selfish conscious next to the blonde who she thought looked rather pretty in her dress; she cleared her throat and turned to the woman.
"So, bride or groom?" Adeline asked deciding to make conversation with the stranger that had sat next to her, she couldn't be seen being entirely anti-social at such an event.
There would be some 'palace insider' that would speak to the press about how unhappy Adeline was and how she sulked in a corner at the engagement party; even if it wasn't true at all.
"Bride," the woman replied with a smile, she turned back to Adeline doubting that the younger woman would even realise who she was since they had never really met before now.
Charles and Camilla had done a pretty good job in keeping their lives nearly separated until now and only crossing over when necessary to avoid upsetting people.
"I'm Laura... Camilla's daughter," the woman said introducing herself, she was sure her brother was about and she hated that he had sort of abandoned her to talk sports with her boyfriend while Sara had disappeared off to the toilets.
Standing in such a grand setting, Laura had never imagined that this day would come; they had put it off for so long and there had been a time that she worried her mother might never be happy.
Although Laura was happy for her mother, she couldn't deny that since the announcement there had been a few noticeable upsets from the public about their decision to marry.
"I guess we're going to be sisters then," Adeline stated with a tilt of her head, she hadn't even really thought about what Camilla marrying into the family would mean other than her father's happiness.
It had also escaped her mind that Camilla had two children of her own, there had been such a divide when it came to their lives because they had feared upsetting people if they found out.
"I always wanted a sister, Tom's no fun especially when he stopped letting me play dress up with him," Laura laughed with a shake of her head, she would never let her big brother live it down.
With his wedding coming up in September it was very likely that she would use that opportunity to embarrass him as only a sister could; she was pretty sure she had pictures of him somewhere.
"I am sure he looked rather beautiful," Adeline joked, a smile on her face and she felt a little more at ease than she had felt moments ago when she had sat down on this bench.
Adeline had never really been a child that liked dressing up, not that it had ever stopped her as a child getting into her mother's make up that had led to a scolding.
"He did look rather dashing in mum's tights and her make up," Laura told her in a whisper, she leant close so that only Adeline could hear that part but the mischievous smile on her face told Adeline that she had many more stories like this to tell.
The two of them grinning as they shared little stories until Laura spotted her brother wandering around the room no doubt looking for her.
"Tom come and meet Adeline," Laura called to him and waved him over to their small spot at the side of the ballroom, the bench that they were seated upon nestled just out of the way so that they weren't bothering anyone.
Tom looked rather like his father in Adeline's opinion, she vaguely recalled seeing Andrew Parker Bowles somewhere about with his wife, Rosemary when she had arrived earlier that evening.
Him and Camilla were apparently on rather good terms since their divorce in 1995 and had instead focused on ensuring that their children had a stable home rather than fighting.
"So, this is where you disappeared off to," Tom stated, his eyes nervously taking Adeline who was seated next to his sister.
She was the one Wales sibling that he had yet to meet and while William had been okay, Harry had been unpleasant to say the least and that wasn't even taking into consideration his antics in the press at this time.
"Well, you were talking about football, what did you expect?" Laura teased lightly, she patted the bench to invite her brother to join them since there was no time like the present with the wedding only two months away.
They were going to be family afterall, their parents were happy together and no one could deny that especially with the smiles currently on their faces.
"I hear you're rather fond of your mother's tights," Adeline said trying to keep the amused smile off her face, when Tom turned an interesting shade of red at her words.
Laura laughed out loud at her comment, she had a feeling that she and Adeline were going to get along perfectly fine.
"I can't believe you told her that," Tom grumbled covered his face with his hands, he should have known that Laura would bring that up eventually.
Was it wrong to hope that his sister would keep their childhood games between them, perhaps but that didn't mean that he couldn't get even.
It was there that Tom started his telling of how Laura had fallen into that lake while they had been hiking as children with their parents.
Across the room from where Adeline was getting to know her future step-siblings, Harry stood in the corner stewing as he clutched at his drink while he watched his sister enjoy herself.
This was not what he had expected when he had arrived with Chelsy, his girlfriend having disappeared off somewhere when he had started to complain to her about Adeline having a conversation with Laura.