Loving Henry

Thursday, 28th & Friday, 29th of April, 2011
Various stores in London
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
Clarence House

At eight o’clock on Thursday morning, I threw Henry out of my apartment. I’d raved at him about giving me only a day to go shopping for a royal wedding.

After a while, he silenced me by pressing me against the wall and kissing me, until I couldn’t remember what I was so mad at him about.

Damn the man for using my weakness against me. Again!

I gave him one of the evening gowns I had hanging in my closet, along with a matching pair of shoes, to wear to the dinner that Henry’s father was hosting after the wedding.

I barely had time to eat breakfast and put some clothes on before I set out towards my first store to find the perfect dress for the wedding itself.

Nine stores and five hours later, I was dead on my feet and about to give up when I found it.

And luckily for me, I had the perfect shoes at home to go with it.

I decided against wearing one of those ridiculous hats and bought a beautiful rhinestone headband instead.

With the remaining daylight hours left, I went through jewellery stores to find earrings that matched the bracelet that Henry gave me.

I hadn’t taken it off since he’d given it to me and even though I knew it actually belonged in a museum somewhere, I was really glad that it was on my wrist instead.

The previous day felt like a dream to me. Henry taking me to his mother’s grave and then saying all those beautiful things to me, was like something out of a fairy tale. Fitting, since I was dating a Prince.

When I got home, I texted Henry that my day was a success and that he owed me a serious foot massage.

The things we women do to look beautiful for the men we love. It’s about as ridiculous as those silly hats.

I went to bed early, since I had to get up before the crack of dawn tomorrow.

~**~

The next morning arrived way too soon for my tastes.

I took a quick shower to wash my hair and then spent two hours, drying, curling and pinning it up. I was very quickly running out of time, so I did my make-up at lightning speed and then slipped into my dress, shoes and jewellery, before making a bee-line for my car.

I drove to the hotel where most of the guests were staying since we were going with busses to the church. Something about it being more economically friendly than everyone going in their own cars.

In any case, it would be hell trying to find parking anywhere near that church.

One of the people who was in charge of organising the guests, told me that I would be riding on one of the last coaches with important dignitaries.

She looked at me strangely as she said this, since her clipboard didn’t say that I was a dignitary or a royal; so why would I be in the bus with them.

I wasn’t going to tell her that I was Prince Harry’s date.

She told me to wait in the lobby and that she would come get me with the rest of my bus companions when it was time.

It was a slow and chaotic process to get all the guests organised and on the busses. I watched this circus with great amusement. About half an hour before my bus was to leave, my phone rang from my clutch and Henry’s name flashed on the screen.

I answered with a sigh of relief.

“Good morning,” Henry greeted me in return.

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

“Uh, well, William is getting more nervous by the second and the more nervous he’s getting, the more nervous he’s making me. It’s not even my bloody wedding. I think at this point, everyone is just really eager to have the day over and done with so that we can all go on with our lives. Anyway, I thought I’d call and see how you’re doing?”

“I’m having a great time, getting up before sunrise and sitting here for more than two hours, watching the poor wedding planners trying to corral and organise almost two thousand people. It’s been a bloody circus in here. Luckily most of the guests are almost gone. I’ve got to say, I’ve been getting some strange looks. Absolutely no one knows who I am and I think they’re all wondering who I slept with to get invited to the wedding. Mostly, I’ve just been sitting quietly and watching in amusement at the antics of all the guests.”

Henry laughed, “It sounds like a madhouse. William and I will be leaving in a couple of minutes as well. Shall we have a race to see who gets there first?”

“Alright, but what do I get if I win?”

“I’ll dance with you at the reception.”

“And what do you get if you win?”

“I get to dance with you at the reception.”

I laughed, “Sounds good to me. I have to go, my coach is about to leave.”

“Oh okay, I’ll see you there.”

“I’ll be the beautiful brunette that you’re incredibly in love with…”

He laughed and I could practically hear his smirk through the phone.

We said our goodbyes just as the bus started it’s journey to the wedding. I shut my mobile off and put it in my clutch.

~**~

After getting off the busses and making our way towards the west doors of the Abbey, we were all met by ushers at the door who showed us to our seats.

My usher led me past all the other guests and through the choir. I would be sitting on the left side of the altar, facing towards the royal family.

I was seated only a minute or two before I spotted Henry and his brother. As Henry walked past, I saw him looking for me and finally I caught his eye. The smile on his face as he saw me, was beautiful.

I mouthed to him that I’d won our race and he winked.

Henry and William stood talking to the Spencer family, but Henry kept turning around to look at me.

He was wearing a lot of ropes over his black uniform, but my man looked really good.

After a few minutes, they went behind the High Alter and Henry winked at me again, before he disappeared from view.

We sat for a couple of minutes, when finally, Henry’s parents and grandparents arrived.

His step-mother, Camilla, was wearing a beautiful coat over her dress, but what really shocked me, was the Queen’s awful canary yellow ensemble.

I wouldn’t say anything to Henry, of course, but I couldn’t help thinking that the woman had made a horrible choice in choosing that particular outfit. It’s a cheerful colour, I’ll admit, but there is such a thing as too cheerful.

It was a relief when the wedding march signalled the arrival of the bride.

I hadn’t been sitting here as long as the other guests, but I’d been waiting in the hotel for hours before this and I was bored.

The day wasn’t about me, of course, so I put a smile on my face which became real when I saw Henry and his brother returning.

The singing of the choir went on forever and the service felt like it would never end.

Kate looked quite beautiful; very conservative, but still pretty and I loved all the lace.

When you got past the awe of the event, it was actually very boring.

After their vows and some more singing, Henry and I sat looking at each other.

I was incredibly tempted to pull faces at him, but I knew that we were all being filmed by cameras and you never knew when one of them was on you.

Besides, can you imagine the Queen’s face if Henry burst out laughing in the middle of the ceremony in front of two thousand guests and the whole world watching?

After all the singing and pretending to listen to the people read from ye old books, the wedding party finally left for the signing of the register.

It was a relief when they came out and after bowing to the Queen, started the long walk out of the Abbey.

It meant that this part was over. All this pomp and ceremony was tiring and the day had barely begun.

The Royal family left first and I eventually left with all the other dignitaries and Royals of other countries.

I think it was quite a matter of controlled chaos to separate the two thousand guests into those who were going home and those who had to go to the palace for the Queen’s luncheon.

We boarded the bus and then entered the palace from the back, since the crowds were blocking the front entrance to view the kiss on the balcony. We were then slowly, but surely, herded to where the tea would be held.

Everybody stood milling about for more than an hour as we waited for the wedding party to arrive.

I assumed they were busy taking pictures.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I saw one of the organisers standing behind me.

“You’re Miss Temple?” he asked.

“Yes. Can I help you?”

“I was sent to come get you for the photos. If you would follow me please?”

He turned around to leave and I quickly grabbed my clutch before fallowing.

He led me up some stairs and through big double doors where a ton of people were taking pictures.

Some of the people noticed me and I could see that they were wondering why I was here, but most just ignored me. The Queen and the rest of the family started leaving for the luncheon and then Henry spotted me and came over.

He gave me his roughish smile and I almost melted.

“Hey.”

I gave him a soft smile and then greeted him.

“You look incredibly beautiful and you have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

I blushed, “you look very handsome yourself. Why am I here?”

“I wanted to take a photo with you.”

“I deduced that part for myself, thank you. What I meant, is whether it’s such a good idea to parade me in front of your family right this second? It’s your brother’s day and I don’t want to cause a stir.”

“Shh, you worry too much. It’s just one photo. I’ll properly introduce you when we get back to Clarence House.”

He dragged me over to the photographer and I gave my purse to one of the assistants. I saw William glance at us, before I turned my attention back to Henry.

Henry smiled when he saw I was wearing his mother’s bracelet and after we were done, I gave Henry’s hands a squeeze and returned to the tea.

It was a stiff and boring affair.