22nd of November 2011 - St Mary's Parish Church, Hampton
Climbing from the car, the Earl of Munster took a deep breath as he stared at the coffin of his father as it was removed from the hearse ahead of him; it seemed unreal that he was standing here right now.
The last few weeks had felt like some sort of dream, he had never thought that this was possible that at twenty-seven years old that he would be in this position; that he would now be the 9th Earl of Munster and his father would be gone.
His mother was now a Dowager, looking to him as the head of their family and she had not been the same since the news had broken that his father had died.
He startled from his thoughts as Adeline gave him a squeeze of the hand, she stood by his side as they watched the coffin being removed from the car and prepared to head into the church.
It had been his father's upmost desire to be buried here and not at the local family church where all his children had been baptised but here at St Mary's where the 1st Earl of Munster had been laid to rest.
That had always been his desire, the one wish that he wanted more than anything; he wanted to be here with his ancestor away from all that he had ever truly known so people would remember him.
Squeezing her hand tightly for a moment more, Simon was reluctant to let go but knew he had to; he moved to link arms with his mother, who despite being ten years younger than her now late husband looked like she had aged ten years since his death.
Black was not a colour that suited the Dowager Countess, a veil covering her face to hide away her tears; she needed to be strong for her children.
Susan and Rupert were still teenagers, both having to attend their father's funeral and they were both putting on brave faces as they walked behind their older siblings and mother.
Simon and his mother were the first to enter the church after the coffin, behind them were Adeline and Lucy who had linked arms when Simon had let go of her hand.
Then it was Rupert and Susan, the two younger siblings already had tears falling as they followed behind their father's coffin; the weather had been fair to them at least on such a sorrowful day.
The congregation made their way inside following the mourning family as they followed after the coffin, the Cambridges, Harry and a few of mutual friends had also come to pay their respects to the late Earl of Munster.
Adeline released Lucy who moved to take her seat upon the front row of the pews along with the rest of her siblings and her mother while Adeline slipped into the row behind them.
She didn't feel right sitting amongst the family when she wasn't family yet, she sat behind Simon and Lucy as the rest of the mourners took their seats.
William and Catherine sat themselves by Adeline, with Harry seated at the end of the aisle; the foursome were silent as the doors to the church were closed as the funeral was underway.
"We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Edward Anthony Frederick FitzClarence, 8th Earl of Munster, Viscount FitzClarence and 8th Baron Tewkesbury," the vicar stated solemnly, his eyes peering over the top of his glasses at the mourners.
The church had filled up nicely with people that had come to pay their respects to the late Earl, he had been a man of many talents and while he had been rather prickly; it was good to see all these people come to pay their respects.
"He was husband to Anne, father to Simon, Lucille, Susan and Rupert and a friend to many," the priest continued on, nodding to each person as they named them and offering a reassuring smile to the mourning family.
It was a hard enough to lose a father and husband, to be on the world stage while you grieved was not easy; the church had been warned that there could be paparazzi around that might wish to spy on the funeral and see the grave of the Earl.
"He was a man that knew his history, refused to see it repeated and while distant at times. He knew how to be loyal and supportive to those that he cared about," the priest said nodding to the dowager countess.
Anne smiled at that softly, they might have had their differences but he had always been loyal to her if nothing else. He had never strayed from their martial bed and for that Anne thanked him for the life he gave her.
***
FitzClarence House
"You must be Adeline, I have heard so much about you," a man said shaking Adeline's hand, a sad smile upon his face as he greeted her, he had been pleased to see that his nephew seemed to have picked a good one.
It was hard not to see how supportive Adeline had been to Simon today, she was just what her nephew needed during the hardest part of his life.
George Robinson hated that he hadn't been able to be here sooner, he was a elementary school teacher in New York; living half the world away from his older half-sisters and their families was never easy.
It had been his conception that had brought an end to marriage between the Marquess of Bristol and his third wife Esther; although the late Marquess had been far from faithful to any of his wives before his death nor did he treat them well.
"May I introduce my wife, Nancy," George said signalling to the woman next to him, she smiled politely and shook Adeline's hand not quite sure what to make of the princess.
Nancy was American, she wasn't sure what to make of nobility and royalty after her own country had overthrown such notions over two hundred years ago during the revolution and the founding of America.
"It's lovely to finally meet you both," Adeline said politely with a smile, she had heard a little about Simon's uncle who lived in America; Simon had been very close to his uncle before he had moved to America nearly twenty years ago.
His cousins had all been born there and Simon had hoped to make a visit there when he had the chance, even spend a couple of months there with his uncle's family if he'd had the chance.
"How are the children?" Adeline asked recalling that George and Nancy had three children, Sydney, Elijah and Aubrey who had remained back in America with Nancy's parents.
The three of them were far too young to attend a funeral with Aubrey only turning one last month, Sydney was seven and Elijah was five both had school.
"They're well. Sydney and Elijah are enjoying school," Nancy replied smiling at the thought of her three children, she adored them and thanked God every day for their health.
After being told that she would have fertility issues and unlikely to have children, she would never have thought that she'd have her three angels and a wonderful man that treated her well and was a wonderful father to her children.
"I hope to meet them one day. I know Simon would love to spend time with them," Adeline said smiling, the divide between the Hervey siblings was not an easy one to bear.
She had heard how awkward things were between Anne, Mary and George because of the troubles that had been brought about by their mother's actions.
"I am sure that His Grace will get the chance to do so, perhaps over the summer," George stated thinking of the new Earl of Munster, his nephew had a large weight on his shoulders now.
His entire life had been turned upside down, his desires for the future would need to be put on hold while he sorted out the transfer of his father's estates and other enterprises.
The new role that he now occupied came with responsibilities that needed taking care of and there were still whispers of Simon's desires to take on one more deployment before he ended his military career.
Despite not being of noble blood like his sisters, George knew better than anyone that Simon needed an heir especially having seen the mess that had been both the Earldom of Munster and the Marquess of Bristol regarding heirs.
At present if anything were to happen to Simon then the Earldom would pass to Rupert, who was seventeen at present and it would be a lot for the teenager to deal with.
"I should go and check on him," Adeline stated looking around the room and not spotting Simon, she wasn't sure he'd had anything proper to eat that morning and she knew that the office had whiskey which wouldn't end well if he'd decided to drink it on an empty stomach.
More than once since the news of his father's death had broken, Adeline had found him sitting in the office with the bottle open and a glass in his hand.
The loss of a parent so suddenly was never easy to go through, the death of Edward had brought up a lot of thoughts about her own mother's death.
It stung to think about even now and she wished she could go back in time to that last phone call and not rush off to play with her cousins.