A Princess of Wales

Chapter Six: Annus Horribilis

9 December 1992

It is announced from Buckingham Palace that, with regret, the Prince and Princess of Wales have decided to separate. Their Royal Highnesses have no plans to divorce and their constitutional positions are unaffected. This decision has been reached amicably, and they will both continue to participate fully in the upbringing of their children.

Their Royal Highnesses will continue to carry out full and separate programmes of public engagements, and will from time to time attend family occasions and national events together.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, though saddened, understand and sympathise with the difficulties that have led to this decision. Her Majesty and His Royal Highness particularly hope that the intrusions into the privacy of the Prince and Princess may now cease. They believe that a degree of privacy and understanding is essential if Their Royal Highnesses are to provide a happy and secure upbringing for their children, while continuing to give a whole-hearted commitment to their public duties."

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Kensington Palace

The sound of things being broken downstairs made William frown, hurrying towards the room where he knew his siblings were playing and determined to keep them from going downstairs to where their mother was. 

William had always done his best to keep the mess that was their parents marriage away from his siblings and the news that had broken that morning had been the worst to come yet. 

The announcement that their parents had separated was all over the news, there was no avoiding it even for William who had found out the news by television rather than being told by their parents. 

He wasn't even sure that Harry and Addy knew what had happened yet, their father barely came home anymore and from what he had seen from the staff, his things had been removed from the shared home. 

Then there was their mother who was constantly making secret phone calls, several of which seemed to upset whoever she was calling as William had heard a woman shouting at his mother to leave them alone. 

There were also the phone calls that his mother made late at night discussing everything that happened under this roof, every complaint that she had about the way her life had turned out. 

William was a smart boy, he wished he didn't know who his mother was speaking to but it was hard to ignore even when he was at boarding school that what his mother was saying tended to end up in the papers. 

Quickly closing the door behind him, William moved across the play room to turn on the television to tune out the sounds of things being broken downstairs. 

He was sure that once their mother had worked out her issues that she'd be right up to break the news that their father had moved out and their marriage was at it's end to his younger siblings more than himself. 

It sucked that they wouldn't see their father as much since he no longer lived with them, but William hoped that the separation would do his parents some good. 

"Willie," Adeline called staring up at her big brother confused why he looked so upset, she pushed herself up from where she was playing with Harry and made her way over to him. 

She wrapped her little arms around her big brother in a hug, she hated to see him so upset when there was nothing that she could do to cheer him up. 

"It's okay Addy, just school stuff getting me down," William lied softly, he hugged his little sister close knowing that there was no way that he could tell her what was really going on.