The Duke and Duchess of Clarence

Chapter Ten: The South African State Visit

22nd of November 2022 - Buckingham Palace

The mourning period that the royal family had observed had lasted a seven days after the Queen had passed away with plans under the name Operation Golden Orb already falling into place for the coronation of the new King and his Queen.

Camilla would still be formally known until the time of the coronation as Queen Consort to reduce any confusion with the late Queen; the date of the coronation having been set back in October for the 6th of May 2023. 

Charles had insisted that William and Adeline take an active part in organising his coronation, especially since he wanted to present a united front to the world. 

There seemed to be no ignoring the impending Netflix documentary that was expected to drop in only a couple of weeks' time, with Harry's book excited to follow shortly after the new year. However, attentions had shifted to the visit of the President of the Republic of South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa who had arrived Monday morning at Stansted Airport where he was greeted by the Duke of Clarence. 

Adeline had been unable to attend since Albert hadn't been well that morning but had been listed to attend the arrival of the South African party with her husband. 

The Prince and Princess of Wales had greeted President Ramaphosa that morning at his hotel, then they had travelled with the President to Horse Guards Parade, where the President had received a ceremonial welcome. 

The King and Queen Consort had formally welcomed the President at the royal pavilion on Horse Guards Parade where presentations had been made, the guard of honour giving a royal salute and the South African national anthem played. 

The President, accompanied by the King, had then inspected the guard of honour, found by Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards. 

Afterwards, the President had joined the King and Queen Consort, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, for a carriage procession along The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where they were met by a second guard of honour found by 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards. 

There had been a private lunch hosted at Buckingham Palace by the King, with a chance for the President to view the exhibition in the Picture Gallery of items from the Royal Collection relating to South Africa.

In the afternoon the President visited Westminster Abbey accompanied by the Duke of Clarence, where His Excellency and His Royal Highness had laid a wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. 

The two men then proceeded to take a tour of the Abbey, which included the memorial stone of Nelson Mandela, who served as President of South Africa between 1994 and 1999 from there they had travelled onto the Palace of Westminster. 

The President was welcomed by the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker before he delivered an address in the Royal Gallery to members of the Houses of Parliament and other guests. 

All that had been before the banquet that the King was hosting that evening, the first one of his reign and the King was expected to give a speech that he had been working on all week. 

Anne and Edmund had stepped in to take care of the children, insisting that they could handle Albert for a couple of hours knowing how important it was that Adeline attended. 

There had been a lot of talk about the first banquet of Charles' reign, people eager to see how both Catherine and Adeline would look for the event and trying to guess what tiara they would both wear. 

While Catherine had opted for a more classic look consisting of the Lover's Knot tiara that she had worn before, Adeline had opted for something a little different and was no doubt going to catch people by surprise.