The Prince and the Girl

Gillian took the paper from Iris as everyone watched her, all of them holding their breath. She looked at the picture, her face emotionless.

It was Iris who ventured first. “Jill ... are you okay?”

Gillian looked up, her face still blank. “He loves me.”

“Yes, he does.” Iris replied carefully. “Are you okay with that?”

“He loves me.” Gillian repeated, a smile beginning to spread across her face.

“He loves you.” Iris said, smiling now too.

“Prince Harry of Wales is in love with me!” Gillian could not stop beaming as she was hugged by the friends that surrounded her.

“Gillian!” One of them called, running in from the foyer. “A black car just pulled up and I’ll bet a year’s pay on who’s in it.”

There was an immediate response from the group, many of them shouting that Gillian needed to get dressed, that she needed to shower, that Harry couldn’t see her like this. She and Iris shared a smile as Gillian made her way from the kitchen, to the foyer, and finally she opened the front door.

She stood in the door way, wearing her pyjamas, as Harry got out of the car. He looked up to see her and as their eyes met, Gillian felt something she had never felt so strongly before. She ran from her doorway to meet Harry, who did the same.

Suddenly, his arms were around her, her feet were leaving the ground as he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him, hugging him with all her strength. She held his face between her hands, kissing his forehead, his cheeks and finally his lips. He set her down gently, her bare feet cold on the gravel of her driveway.

“I guess you heard.” Harry grinned, tucking Gillian’s hair behind her ears.

“I did. But not before the entirety of my employment roster.” Gillian smiled.

Harry smiled and pulled her in close. “I wanted to tell you myself ...”

“It doesn’t matter.” Gillian leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “Because I love you too.”

Harry gripped Gillian’s face, smoothing her hair back as she placed her hands on her chest. Their foreheads touched and their noses rubbed together. They could feel each other’s breath on their faces.

“You have no idea how wonderful it is to hear that.” Harry breathed.

Gillian smiled, spreading her arms around to hug him and pressing her cheek into his chest. “You have no idea how wonderful it is to say it.”

“Do you want to go somewhere today?” Harry asked, placing his chin on top of Gillian’s head.

“Where?”

“I have the perfect place.” Harry responded.

•••

“He’s beautiful.”

Gillian stood in front of a large mahogany coloured horse with a long mane. She reached up to stroke his nose, long and elegant, and he moved his muzzle to meet her hand.

“He likes you.” Harry said as he set down some riding gear.

“And I like him very much too.” Gillian smiled, still rubbing the creature’s nose.

“So you’ve never ridden before?” Harry asked as he began saddling the horse.

“Not really, no.” Gillian replied.

“Well,” Harry smiled. “I guess we’ll both have to ride old Bambi here.” He patted the horse.

“Bambi?” Gillian asked.

“Because he’s gentle like a deer.” Harry smiled. “Now, up you get. I’ll help - “

But Gillian had already gripped the horn, placed her left foot in the stirrup and hoisted herself up.

“That wasn’t too difficult.” She looked down to Harry, who just laughed and grabbed the reins, leading the horse out of the barn. He closed the barn doors behind them and then mounted the horse behind Gillian, putting his arms around her to grab the reins.

“There’s a place I want to show you; William and I would go there when we were little. We were the only two to know about it.” Harry whispered into her ear, his cheek resting against the side of Gillian’s head.

Gillian smiled and turned to kiss him on the cheek. “This sounds like an adventure.”

Harry and Gillian rode in surprising comfort; neither their close proximity nor the seat upon which they sat seemed to cause them any discomfort. For the most part, they rode in silence; Gillian admired the beauty of the pathway down which the two of them travelled. She didn’t know it, but Harry was concentrating intently on keeping control of Bambi and was attempting to ignore the fact that Gillian was so close to him.

The path came to what looked like an end. Harry guided Bambi to a stop and hopped off.

“Where now?” Gillian asked.

Harry pulled aside some tall, sturdy grasses to reveal a small yet beaten pathway. “In here.” He smiled up at Gillian.

She returned the expression. “Sneaky.”

“Now, I need you to guide Bambi through.” Harry said tentatively.”Will you be able to do that?”

Gillian smiled and patted Bambi’s side. “I think we trust each enough.” She took the reins in her hands before asking Harry to tell her what to do.

“Very gently, squeeze your legs together. Very gently.” He repeated as Gillian did so.

Bambi walked forward slowly, mimicking Gillian’s tender manner. Harry smiled.

“Well, this is pretty easy.” Gillian said, laughing as she felt the grasses brush her legs.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Now, pull very gently to have him stop.”

Gillian tugged moderately on the reins and Bambi slowed to a stop. Harry tucked his foot into the stirrup and mounted the horse behind Gillian again.

“And now, just a little bit longer.” He whispered in her ear again.

This path was smaller and thinner; Bambi frequently had to step over roots and plants. Harry would often reach up to brushes branches out of the way. It was darker, the trees older and thicker. There was still, however, some magical quality that hung in the air and was twined within the branches. Again, the path seemed to end up ahead, but as they approached Gillian realised it was a tree trunk that had grown in the middle of the path.

“Just past this tree.” Harry said as he dismounted.

Gillian did the same. Harry tied the reins to the tree and patted Bambi on the side. He took Gillian by the hand and helped her step over the tree roots, then followed behind her.

The scene before Gillian was stunning and beautiful; something that looked like it had come straight out of a film. Rays of light had begun to seep through the canopy, casting spots of light on the full lush bed of wildflowers. Pink, blue, purple and yellow flowers completely blanketed the space, which was about the size of a queen size bed. It was stunning.

Gillian looked up to Harry. “I didn’t figure you to be one to play in the flowers.” She smirked.

Harry looked at her and then rolled his eyes. “It didn’t always have flowers. It was just a quiet place where William and I would go when we needed time away from the world. ”

Gillian wrapped her arms around Harry and gave him a warm hug. “It’s beautiful. How did you find it?”

Harry was silent for a moment. “My mother showed it to us. She was the only one who ever knew about it.” He put his arms around Gillian’s waist.

“She sounds like a very cool mom.” Gillian smiled as she looked up at Harry.

“Indeed she was. Look at this tree over here, we all signed our initials every year.” Harry pulled Gillian over to a tree on the other side of the hide out. Gillian could make out a DS, a HW and a WW every year since 1992; the last DS appeared in 1997. Gillian continued to scan the list, noticing that a KM had appeared every year since 2006. She reached out and touched the list, almost feeling Diana there with her.

“I want you to add your name.” Harry said, motioning to the three initials that already say beside the 2012 date.

Gillian looked up, a little surprised. It had, in fact, taken William three years to bring Kate here. “Are you sure, Harry? I don’t want you to think you have to.”

“Please.”

He pulled a Swiss Army knife from his pocket, handing it to Gillian. Gillian took it with a shaking hand and carefully etched a GP next to the HW. She closed the knife very carefully and handed it back to him. He returned the knife to his pocket before taking Gillian’s hands in his.

“Thank you for doing this with me.” He smiled widely. “I love you.”

Gillian leaned in to him and kissed him deeply. “I love you too.”

•••

The clearing became a place of sanctuary for Harry and Gillian, who would spend many hours there together, sometimes taking lunch or simply blankets and pillows. Harry began teaching Gillian how to ride and declared her a natural after she guided Bambi into jumping the fence of the enclosure in which she was learning.

The weeks passed gradually and Gillian and Harry grew closer and happier. They spent as much time together as their respective schedules would allow. Harry often had events he had to attend and Gillian had to take care of many work related issues. There were periods when they saw hardly anything of each other. Harry travelled to Lesotho for charity work, often for weeks at a time. He could not take Gillian with him, who wouldn’t have been able to come in any case.

Gillian spent much of her time with Kate, who had promised Charles that she would help Gillian prepare for her first event. With each visit, Gillian could feel her nerves grow stronger, threatening to overcome her. Kate was wonderful, coaching her through dinner etiquette, appropriate manner when greeting others, among other things. Soon, Kate declared her ready for the final step: finding the right gown.