Queen Charlotte {British Royals}

Chapter 2- Back to the Cage

Princess Charlotte sighed unhappily as Max escorted her back inside the palace. Now she was going to be stuck here all night. Charlotte wasn't known for breaking rules - most of the time she was able to slip out undetected, since she was considered a trustworthy girl and the guards had become relaxed when around her, scarcely paying attention to what she did. Now Max frowned down at her.

"So where were you going, Princess? Sneaking out isn't like you."

Yes, it is like me! Charlotte wanted to scream. She had to escape to the poetry slam to read her works out loud, in order to feel alive, to feel free. "I-i-i felt trap-trapped," she stuttered out eventually.

Charlotte hated her voice. She stuttered just like her great-grandfather, King George VI, had done. He had become a hero in spite of his speech impediment, steadily guiding the country through World War II. But Charlotte still felt ashamed. Princesses were supposed to be noble, dignified. Charlotte might keep that illusion while she stood silently in a pretty dress, but she became a fool (or at least felt like one) as soon as she opened her mouth.

Her parents, William and Kate, had done everything they could think of to help her. They had sent her to speech therapists and counsellors. They had kept her mostly hidden from public view so that she wouldn't feel embarrassed and hounded by the paparazzi for her problem. She had stopped going to school when she was about 8, when it became clear that the speech impediment wasn't getting any better and she was started to feel isolated from her classmates. Now she was taught at home by an old-fashioned governess, while her brothers George and Louis followed in their father's footsteps by going to boarding school at the prestigious Eton.

Charlotte worked hard to overcome her stuttering, but 17 years into her life, here she was. It was a fact that she couldn't change. She had watched The King's Speech, the movie about how her great-grandfather overcame his speech impediment, at least 20 times in search of inspiration. But nothing helped. 

There were only two situations in which Charlotte could speak without stuttering. One was whenever she talked to her older brother, Prince George. She stuttered even in front of her parents and Louis, but somehow she felt completely comfortable with George. They were only two years apart in age and had always been close.

The other was when she read her poetry out loud at the Braxton Pub poetry slams. For some reason, reading her works to strangers was a joy, not something to fear. Her voice was always free and clear there. Maybe it was because it was the only place where she didn't have to feel the burden of being a princess, since no one there knew who she was.

(Braxton Pub - Where Charlotte longs to be:)

Her bodyguard was speaking to her now. "I don't know why you'd feel trapped," Max said. "You have a great life and a wonderful family. But now there is something that you have to do."

"W-w-what?" asked Charlotte.

"That reporter from the Times is here, remember? He's going to interview you for a story."

Charlotte's heart sank. She had completely forgotten. "W-why do I have to d-d-do it? I-i hate in-interviews." Usually her parents protected her from such public attention. Maybe there was time to find them and get them to make the reporter go away.

"The king wants you to do it," said Max. "People know so little about you, and this interview will be great exposure for the royal family."

Charlotte sighed. Royal. That word had plagued her for her whole life. If only she didn't have to be it.

~~**~~Little did Charlotte know, something was about to happen that would take her out of the spotlight! Stay tuned for the next chapter.~~**~~