Madeline's Transformation

'You're done what?' Philip asked.

'I think it is time I end my reign.' She said with tears in her eyes. 'I feel so old, these days, and with William getting married, I think it is the right time for me to move on.'

'Elizabeth, you're not going to kill yourself, are you?' Philip asked concerned.

'No, of course not.' She replied. 'I'm going to step down from the throne. I think Charles is finally ready to be King. Tomorrow, I will announce that I will be moving on.'

And she did, the world was shocked to see how tired their Queen looked. Charles, who was standing next to her, looked as though he might faint. She gave a very nice speech explaining why she was leaving and how wonderful Charles will be.

This was a shock to William and Madeline, who were both still in Australia. They had to write a speech in a few hours and deliver it to the equally confused Australia. They left several days later for a short visit in the US; they would be meeting President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama and staying in the White House. And, Madeline will be returning to SNL, to host.

'You know what this means?' Madeline asked Will.

'What?'

'You're the Prince of Wales.' She said smiling. 'And I'm going to be the Princess of Wales.'

'That is true, I suppose.' Will replied.

'You should be excited, once your father dies, you'll be King, won't that be exciting?'

'My father dying, or being King?'

'Being King, it will be very sad when he dies, he is a very nice man, but I'm afraid he won't stand the stress as well as your grandmother did. He's not as mentally strong. But you are and you, oh I can't wait to be Queen. That reminds me of that song from the "Lion King", have you ever seen that?'

'Yes, I think so.'

'Simba is singing about wanting to become King.' She thought for a minute. 'That would be funny on SNL, only change the words to Queen.' She writes it down then sings, 'I just can't wait to be Queen! We'll need to change a few other words too, because Simba talks about ruling over a bunch of animals, I don't think the English would like being called animals.'

'No, they wouldn't.

They landed in Washington DC and arrived at the White House on a bright and sunny morning in late April. They were greeted by the Obama family and escorted into the White House.

'It is so nice to meet you.' Barack said. They showed them around and then showed them to their room.

'This is William's room?' Madeline asked.

'Yes, would you prefer separate rooms?' Michelle asked.

'Yes, we're not married yet.' Madeline joked.

'We weren't sure, so we had two rooms ready just in case.' Barack said.

They spent two days at the White House and were interviewed there.

One of the questions was about the moment on the ship in the Middle East when a terrorist was heading toward William.

'I couldn't have done it without Madeline. I saw the look on her face and I followed her gaze to see a terrorist about 20 feet away, running toward us. Just the thought of him killing Madeline was terrifying and I shot him without even thinking about it.'

They then traveled on to NYC, where Madeline stayed and William went up to Canada to make a few speeches.

Madeline was welcomed back at SNL, they were eager to see what ideas she had. They loved her skit of her singing the Lion King song. They had put her in many scenes with Andy. It was a little awkward; they had been a couple.

'So, how have you been?' He asked.

'Good, things have been a little hectic.' She replied. 'Planning a wedding is crazy, and the Queen isn't the Queen anymore, so we'll have to start planning the King's coronation. It's been fun. And you?'

'I've been great, I've done several movies and had an Oscar nod for one of them.'

'That's cool, I saw all of your movies, I've been watching SNL ever since I left. Andy, can we be friends, or will it be awkward?'

'It will be awkward, it's always awkward to "be friends" with someone you've slept with.'

'Yeah, can we forget that that happened and don't mention anything to William? He's already had enough to deal with and I don't want him getting second thoughts.'

'Okay, we were just really good friends.'

'Yes. I've changed since you last knew me. After being in the war, I realized that life is not too short and if you're alive, you're alive for a reason. How have you really been?'

'You really want to know?' He asked. 'I've been terrible; I haven't had a real girlfriend since you. It's felt like I was missing something and trying to find it in meaningless girls. But it was always right here, with you.'

'Well I'm sorry you've had so much pain and loss, but I'm a different person. What you're looking for is gone; you'll have to find it elsewhere. Now, if you'd like, I think I need some help practicing this scene?'

'Sure.'

Madeline called Will that night and talked. She said she was excited to do her performance on Saturday. He said he was looking forward to seeing it. He would be back on Friday.

The week went by slowly, Madeline and Will talked every night and she read some of her lines to him, just to make him laugh. He was sad without her. Finally, Friday came and she waited for him at the airport. They went back to their hotel room and then Madeline went to SNL to rehearse.

Saturday night was finally here. Will sat in the audience, not sure of what he was going to see. Madeline got ready backstage. When she finally entered the stage, the crowd erupted in applause. She gave her monologue and found Will in the audience. She and he had eye contact for a few seconds, and in that short amount of time, she got the confidence and courage she needed to complete the show. As soon as it went to a commercial, she ran up to him and gave him a hug and then ran backstage.

The rest of the show went smoothly, and after it was over she and Will went to there hotel room. They received a call from Harry, who had gotten up at 5 in the morning to watch it. He said it was awesome and that he'd recorded it for the rest of the family to see. Madeline and Will flew back to England Sunday morning. That afternoon, she watched her SNL with Will, Harry, Charles, Camilla, Elizabeth, and Philip. They all thought it was so funny, especially Andy's impression of Harry.

As the wedding came closer, Madeline was measured for her dress. Her dress was beautiful; it was white and frilly and pretty. They rehearsed the wedding on the 10th of May; it went well.

Friday night before the wedding, Will and Madeline were talking. They were on a balcony overlooking a garden.

'I'm so excited. Are you?' Madeline asked.

'I am, it's something everyone dreams about, getting married, but now that it's here it's like, wow, I'm getting married. Besides, you've done this before.'

'Yes, but this time I'm marrying for love, not money, and it's a lot easier than the first time. At this time before my last wedding, I was making out with one of my guy friends.'

'You were what? Madeline, I didn't realize you were like this.'

'I was bad, I couldn't help it. George didn't love me, and neither did these 'guy friends' of mine, but they at least cared about how I was feeling. I was lost and broken, but I'm found and fixed now, thanks to you.' Madeline added smiling. Will just stared at her. 'Will?'

'I should get to bed, it's late.' He said and left.

Madeline went to bed that night feeling alone and lost for the first time in a long time. She didn't sleep well, and wasn't happy when she was awoken early in the morning to get her hair done.

The morning of her wedding, she was mostly in a fog. People ran around her, doing everything for her. She barely even blinked. Will was talking with Harry, his best man in the wedding. He told him what Madeline had told him last night.

'She's changed, you have nothing to worry about,' Harry reassured Will.

'I know, but to think that she would do something like that.'

'George's mistress was one of her bridesmaids. She was surrounded by this kind of stuff for a while.'

Will didn't say anything. He stared into the mirror and adjusted his tie.

'Will, she was only 18, you have to forgive her for being a little wild.'

'I don't know why I'm so mad about this; I'm not even mad, really. I suppose I'm just jealous of her.'

'Of course you are jealous that she got to live out of the public eye and be a teenager, but you're not really jealous of her. I mean, she left home at age 17, practically lived by herself for 2 years, her husband died, she had to sell her house and everything else and she was practically broke. Will, she's experienced a lot of pain, loss and suffering, but so have you. I'm not trying to say you've had it better than her, but I just want you to keep in mind what she's been through. Are you ready?'

'I think I am.'

Charles entered the room. 'William, it's time.' They walked into the crowded church. They took their places and waited for the ceremony to start. William looked over the faces of all the people who came to see him get married. Most of them were his family, foreign leaders, and other important people. Madeline had specially requested that the Obama family be invited. None of Madeline's friends or family were there, Will had never met her family.

Madeline was escorted to the doors to the sanctuary. The bridesmaids filed down the aisle, and then it was time for Madeline to walk to the front of the church, and in front of hundreds of people, get married. The doors opened and she looked beautiful as every person stood up for her. She started to walk down the aisle, slowly, and her train was dragging on the floor behind her. She carried white roses. She was unescorted. Once she finally reached the front of the church and was standing in front of Will, she looked back at all of the people sitting in the church. Madeline wasn't afraid of crowds or public speaking, but it shocked her to see so many people, at her wedding.

She turned her head to face Will. Looking into his eyes, she knew she was making the right decision. She knew that the rest of her life was going to be spent with him and it was going to be awesome. Will was thinking the same thing. He knew he was just being ridiculous earlier that morning, worrying about Madeline's past record with other men, but none of that mattered now. They stared into each others eye's for the remainder of the ceremony, until the end, when the minister said, 'you may now kiss the bride'. It was then that they broke eye contact to kiss. Then they were escorted out of the building and into a carriage.