2nd of September 1997 - Balmoral Castle
"Adeline there you are," the Queen Mother greeted spotting her great granddaughter coming down the stairs for breakfast; a kind smile appeared on her face as she patted the seat beside her for her to come sit next to her.
Things had been rather quiet since the news had reached them that Diana had been passed away, the news spreading around the world and people mourning the loss of the People's Princess.
There was no ignoring what was happening in the world around them even if they did try to shield the children from what was happening; the people grieving for Diana was hard to ignore even with how they were all feeling.
It seemed that nothing they did was good enough, from what she had been told the people were disappointed with how the Royals were handling Diana's death.
"Your brothers have gone deer stalking," the Queen Mother informed her, they were trying to keep the children distracted so that they could not think too much about what had happened.
However, it was not hard to see how grown up the three children had been since they had been told about their mother's passing.
They had each seemed to age over night with the news and it was hard to try and keep things as normal as possible for them while they grieved for their mother.
It certainly did not help with the public outcry that was happening around them, displays of floral tributes had appeared so numerous at Buckingham and Kensington Palaces that the main entrances onto the complexes have to be rerouted.
A small nod from Adeline was her reply and the Queen Mother was at a lost to what to say to the child that had lost her mother in such a way; she recalled her own mother's death and how lost she had felt at that time and she'd been a grown woman.
The little girl had been ever so quiet since she had been told her mother had passed, no one was sure how she was handling all of this since there was so much going on right now.
Charles had returned from France with Diana's body and was in the process of sorting things out with Diana's family for the funeral; they wanted a private affair but the public outcry seemed to suggest otherwise.
The people wanted to grieve along with the royals and seemed rather upset that they had stayed at Balmoral instead of returning to London right away; they seemed to forget just who had suffered the most at the loss of Diana.
Their concern was to care for Diana's grieving children was interpreted as a lack of compassion and that bothered them most of all; people seemed to forget that these children had lost their mother not just some public figure head.
"Perhaps you would like some breakfast?" the Queen Mother suggested signalling for someone to fetch Adeline something to eat, she was sure the girl was hungry since she had only picked at her dinner the night before.
Adeline chewed on her lip, she was not feeling hungry and she had not felt hungry since her father had told her that her mother had died; she chose to look down at her feet instead of saying anything.
"Now tell Great Grandmama what is on your mind?" the Queen Mother insisted smiling at Adeline once they were alone, Philip was keeping the boys busy and she was grateful for that.
They needed a distraction but so did Adeline and she felt bad for the little girl that had been sort of forgotten with everything that was going on; not that it had been intentional just that the boys were easier to deal with.
"What will happen now?" Adeline asked softly, she peeked up her blue eyes big as she watched her Great Grandmother; no one had really talked about what would happen now that her mother was gone.
It was not something that was just going to be forgotten even if everyone around her tried to keep things going as if nothing had happened to stop her, William and Harry thinking about what had happened.
Silence filled the room for a moment and the Queen Mother was not sure what to say, she did not wish to make promises that could not be kept especially with the public outcry against them.
Charles had not left much instruction on what should and should not be told to the children, he had already busy with making sure that Diana got the funeral that she deserved since she was the mother of the future King.
Though the Queen Mother was sure that would appease those who claimed that they had been the cause of the poor woman's death, like it had been them chasing her in the tunnel that night and had refused her proper protection.
"We will return to London on Friday and the next day we will attend your mother's funeral," the Queen Mother said knowing that no matter what happened, it was better to be honest with the ten-year-old.
There would be no hiding when they returned to London and it was looking very plausible that the funeral would be a public affair; meaning that it was best to prepare the children for what was to come.
"You know that your mother loved you very much," the Queen Mother stated, she was aware that things had been tense even after the divorce and there had been a lot of things said that would probably come to light for the children.
Adeline had been shielded for the most part from the fighting since she had been young when her parents had separated; however, the likelihood was that the rumours would come back in full force.
There were those that still whispered that she was not Charles daughter, that she belonged to Diana's lover and the rumours seemed to pop up every few years for both her and Harry.
There was no love between their family and the Spencer family, and it would not surprise any of them if Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer decided to turn the funeral into a personal attack on the family.
It had not been forgotten that the man had refused to allow his sister Diana to live in a cottage on the Althorp estate, despite her pleas, after her divorce and how he had turned his back on her.
It was only right that Charles was helping in any way that he could with the funeral but as Earl Spencer liked to point out; Diana was no longer a Windsor and it was his duty to make sure everything was prepared for the funeral.
"It is a sad time now and that's okay... but when the time is right, your mother would want you to be happy," the Queen Mother said carefully, she did not wish to confuse Adeline and with everything going on; there was so much that even she didn't have the answer to.
Despite everything, Diana had loved her children more than anything in her life and she would not want them to spend their lives mourning her sudden loss; she would want them to move forward with their lives and be happy.
Adeline nodded her head, she did not know if she could be happy without her mother now that she felt so alone in the world; she felt so lost and nothing made sense anymore with her gone.
Things felt so unreal and at times she had found herself even forgetting that her mother was gone until she suddenly remembered and felt bad that she had forgotten.
"You can talk to me anytime you like," the Queen Mother assured her, she did not want Adeline to feel that she could not talk to anyone; she was not alone and she could not hide away forever especially when they returned to London.
Things might have been quiet here in Scotland, but that was going to change when they returned to London and people were upset about what had happened.
A member of staff returned with some food and set it in front of Adeline before they were dismissed by the Queen Mother; things were peaceful in the castle with everyone out with Philip and the boys.
Queen Elizabeth was taking a call from the Prime Minister with some suggestions to fix the issues that they were facing because of the backlash of how they were dealing with the death of Diana.
It would be awhile before they would be disturbed and the Queen Mother wished to make the most of it; she doubted things would be peaceful again anytime soon for them all.
Adeline nodded her head before she started to eat the food that she had been given, she was not that hungry but she did not want to worry her Great Grandmother by not eating.
Her appetite had disappeared along with her mother it seemed, even dishes that she had once loved made her feel sad and she felt sick sometimes just looking at them in front of her.
The last thing that Adeline wanted was to worry anyone with everything that was going on; she was sure that they all had other things to deal with instead of having to deal with her.
Picking up her fork, she started to poke at her food a little before moving to take a bite; she stared down at her plate wondering if she would ever feel normal again.