𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛. ʙʀɪᴛɪsʜ ʀᴏʏᴀʟ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

4 ♔♕ 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱

'𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟼

Bella never really knew about what was going on between her parents.

She knew that they didn't like being together.

She knew that some of her friends parents were like hers, most weren't though. Most of her friends actually lived with both of their parents at the same time.

She couldn't really remember doing that.

Her parents had separated when she was 6. There were pictures of course and vague memories, but nothing concrete.

For the last four years she had spent the school week at Kensington Palace with her mother and then the weekend at Highgrove, or Windsor, or wherever it was her father was at the time. And, rather unusually, she loved it. She got to spend so much time with both of them, especially later on when her brothers went to boarding school.

And, there was no fighting. She had hazy memories of their parents fights, of her brothers trying to distract her from their shouting parents. She knew her brothers actually knew what was going on. William in particular, he would sometimes sit with their mummy whilst she was upset and Harry would take her somewhere to play together. They tried to protect her as much as possible, her parents did too.

Bella was their 'third time lucky'. They did their best with her, not that they hadn't with the boys. But with her, they were more experienced, they knew what to do know, and they wanted to protect her, to make sure she didn't have to experience any of the bad things. That she didn't have to see what William and Harry had seen.

And it showed.

Bella was easily pleased, give her a horse (or any animal really) or a good book and she was happy. Members of the royal household would say later how her laugh or the sound of her chattering away would always precede her.

An inquisitive person naturally, she enjoyed school and would rush to tell her mother, or her father, or her brothers, or just anyone that would listen really, her fact of the day. She revelled in history, perhaps some of it was to do with the fact that everyday she lived it, after all, Queen Victoria was her great-great-great-great grandmother, not many people could say that.

She was a ball of energy. It was her father who taught her to ride, and she basically hadn't stopped since. Bella loved being outdoors, being in the fresh air, being surrounded by nature. But at the same time, she loved to read, to escape into another world.

She was happy. She had a happy childhood.

Until one accident took it all away.