Royals: Part 7

Chapter 9

"Do you want something to eat? I can make you breakfast," Harry offered, walking through the halls of Kensington Palace towards their apartment.

She shook her head. "I just want to sleep."

Harry spoke up, sounding unsure. "I spoke with Elizabeth on the phone, and she says we need to come see her in her office as soon as possible, I'm sure she'll understand if you'd like to take a nap-"

Jackie brushed him off. "We can go now, just to get it over with."

It was about 8 am, and Jackie was already back at Kensington Palace. She'd arrived at the hospital at midnight, and since it was still early in the day, the paparazzi hadn't even noticed that the Windsors had left the Palace. She and Harry had decided to have Patrick cremated, so they'd left him at the Lindo Wing, who would make the arrangements. James, Harry's PPO, offered to stay with Patrick until the process was complete, protecting him from a curious employee or trespassing member of the press if the news was somehow leaked. Thankfully, Chris, Jackie's bodyguard, was able to have a car waiting in a loading dock behind the hospital, so Jackie and Harry didn't have to walk down the front steps of the Lindo Wing, as they had with Mary Kate, Caroline, and Cece, this time, with their arms and hearts empty.

It had been gut-wrenching to decide what was to be done with their little son, even worse having to leave the hospital empty-handed.

"Do you want to stop by the flat and change first?" Harry asked.

Jackie shook her head. She was wearing the top from her pajama set and a pair of hospital-issued pants, her own blood-stained pajama bottoms discarded at the Lindo Wing. She and Harry walked through the empty palace halls to the office section, until they found Elizabeth's door.

Elizabeth looked up from her desk, her eyes red-rimmed. She stood quickly, rushing to give Jackie a hug. "Oh, my dear, I'm so sorry."

Jackie returned Elizabeth's hug, her arms feeling heavy. "Thank you." Everyone was 'so sorry,' but it didn't make any difference.

Harry and Jackie sat in the seats opposite Elizabeth's desk. "If I had known you were back I would have come up to your apartment, so you didn't have to come all the way down here-" Jackie had never seen Elizabeth so flustered.

The lady in waiting took a moment to compose herself. "I know this is very difficult, but the Queen's staff have asked me what the two of you would like to do. The press... I'm afraid we'll have to release a statement soon."

Jackie looked at Harry, who nodded. "What should we say?"

There was a deep line between Elizabeth's eyebrows. "This has never happened before, so there isn't a protocol to follow."

Jackie could feel her chin trembling. She hadn't cried yet. She took a deep breath in, regaining her composure. "It doesn't have to be too complicated. Just say what happened."

Elizabeth nodded, typing quickly on her computer. After a moment, she turned the screen to face Jackie and Harry.

"Sadly, The Duke and Duchess of Windsor have lost their baby. The Duchess, who was in the early stages of her second trimester, is recovering at Kensington Palace. During this difficult time, they ask that everyone respects their privacy."

Jackie nodded. "That's fine."

"Do you want to say his name? Or that he was a boy?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.

Harry and Jackie shook their heads in unison. "We want to keep that for ourselves."

"I'll send it to the Queen's staff at once. They'll release it at some point this morning, I'm sure." Elizabeth leaned forward. "Please, let me know if there is anything I can do for either of you. Anything."