Queen Charlotte {British Royals}

Chapter 1- Caught

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge waited for the last palace guard to pass out of sight, then tiptoed toward the outer door, which led to the backside of Buckingham Palace. She pulled up the Manchester United hoodie that she wore over her face, tucking her long brown hair back under her ball cap. With any luck, no one would see her slip out.

Outside, Charlotte could hear the faint murmur of the crowd gathered in front of the palace to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Good. Lots of people. Normally Charlotte hated crowds, but this was different. Few eyes would be on her. She would seem like just another teenager out and about that day, with no one even suspecting that she was royal.

The young princess was 17 years old now, but she had been dressing like this most of her life - a black hoodie with slim black leggings that had holes in the knees. She never wore such things in public, of course - at least not when she wasn't sneaking out of the palace in disguise. But her parents, William and Kate, had always fought for her right to have a normal childhood, so Charlotte didn't have to make public appearances very often.

Seven years ago, William and Kate had added another title to their rank of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. After Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully in her sleep at the ripe old age of 101 (the same age her mother had been when she died), Prince Charles ascended to the throne and became King Charles III. William then became Prince of Wales, the title that was always given to the oldest son of the king or queen. Kate became Princess of Wales, the same title that her husband's mother, Diana, had held years before.

Now Charlotte's 19-year-old brother, Prince George, was third in line to the throne after Charles and William. Charlotte was fourth, her brother Louis was fifth, and her uncle Harry (despite being far off in America) was fifth. But Charlotte knew she would never be Queen. Her brother would have his own children one day, and they would be the ones who continued the royal line.

Not being Queen didn't bother Charlotte in the least. When she was little, she used to have nightmares that she was sitting on the throne in front of thousands of people. She would open her mouth but no words came out. People started to laugh, then jeer. Charlotte would wake up drenched in sweat and screaming. When she finally told her parents what her dreams were about, William and Kate put her mind at ease, explaining how the line of succession worked. Charlotte would never have to be Queen.

Now, walking quickly toward the outer back gate of Buckingham Palace, Charlotte put her hand in her hoodie's pocket, checking that the folded slip of paper was still there. It was. She smiled to herself. Soon she would be standing in front of a room of people - not too many, maybe a dozen. Not very many people tended to frequent the Braxton Pub's weekly poetry slam.

But Charlotte tried to never miss a week. She loved to read out her poems, getting in the flow of the rhythm, getting swept away in the words. The poetry slam was the only time she felt comfortable speaking aloud. And best of all, no one there had a clue that she was a princess.

Just as Charlotte was about to open the gate, a hand grasped her shoulder from behind. "Where are you going, Princess?" said a familiar voice - Max, Charlotte's personal bodyguard.

Charlotte's stomach dropped. Caught! Tucking the folded paper deeper in her pocket, she turned around and tried to smile. But she felt like crying instead. 

~~**~~Thank you so much for reading! I'll be posting further chapters shortly. This is my first work on Wattpad and I'm really excited! ~~**~~