𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑿𝑿𝑿𝑽𝑰, 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔

Victoria had agreed to make a speech at her grandfather's coronation. A few days before she had received the manuscript of the oath she was to swear in front of her grandfather, but she had not yet had a chance to study it, which made her quite nervous.

She spent the hour it took to get to Westminster Abbey reading the speech over and over again. She knew it was only a rehearsal, but she was so demanding of herself that she couldn't allow herself to make any mistakes.

As she arrived she could see her parents and grandparents talking quietly. William had his hand on his wife's back as he spoke animatedly.

—Hi— greeted Victoria as she approached them with a smile. She was very happy to see that they were talking calmly after all the drama.

The four of them hugged the teenager and started asking her about school. Victoria decided not to tell her grandfather about Andrew for the moment, she didn't want to do it there as she wanted to stay focused so that everything would be perfect. Her parents noticed this and said nothing.

The monarch's secretaries began to explain where each of the guests would be seated, which was quite boring for Victoria but she tried to look interested. They told them all the steps of the ceremony and at what point William and his daughter would have to take the oath.

The prince was the first to recite his speech while Catherine and Victoria looked on proudly. The teenager was very nervous as she thought she had not been studied enough and although it was a rehearsal she was very demanding of herself as she had always been taught that to be queen she had to be perfect.

—You did so well— her mother gave her a big smile as she looked at her with pride.

Victoria felt that the only time her mother was proud of her was when she was good at sports, music or school. Somehow she thought she had to be perfect at everything for her parents to appreciate her.

The King invited them to a small lunch at Buckingham, although the chestnut preferred to spend her Friday afternoon with Andrew, she didn't complain. They didn't talk much as they mostly talked about the coronation or politics.

She didn't know all the problems her grandfather and father had had over the years and over the last few weeks they had grown even bigger, so them sharing that lunch was very meaningful to her and made her think that at least they had resolved some of their differences, making her a little hopeful that the same would happen for her with her parents.

—Do you want to go for ice cream?— Catherine asked her firstborn after they left the palace. It was just the two of them, as William had had to stay behind for the final preparations.

Victoria was quite surprised by the question as she thought her mother would just drive home quickly to spend time with her other children.

—Pippa recommended a place near here— she continued, seeing that she had no answer.

—All right— replied the chestnut with a smile.

When they arrived at the place, everyone in the room stared at them in amazement. Even though they both noticed that all eyes were on them, they tried not to pay too much attention to it.

—Can I have two vanilla ice creams with M&M's?— asked the woman with a smile. The shop assistant was taken aback for a moment, but immediately started to prepare the ice cream.

Mother and daughter sat down at a corner table away from people and windows to avoid having their pictures taken.

They began to eat their ice cream in silence. Victoria still didn't feel comfortable standing in front of her mother staring at her, but she tried not to let it show.