Hi Guys!

I'm back! How I have missed you all :( I just finished my GCSEs ... yay! Seems like yesterday I was writing to tell you all that I had to revise for my mocks. Now all I have to do is wait for Results Day aha :P Anyway, I promise to finish OCC but this idea came into my head in the middle of exam season and I've been so excited to write it since. I've never done an AU before and so I apologise if this is completely and utterly dire. At least I'm giving it a shot! I've always been interested in the British Royal Family and the Kennedy Family (who are pretty much US royalty) and so you might recognise some of the features of this story. I also only noticed this morning that CJ would be known as 'Prince Charles'... oops! Anyways, enough rambling. I hope you enjoy! :)

P.S. In terms of context, the events of Our Girl had happened at this point except Charles' marriage. As unlikely as it is for the Heir to the Throne to be allowed such a role in the Army at such a high level of risk, remember that this is only fanfiction! ;)

Love,

Sarah x

Chapter 1 - National Anthem


He will do very well, I can tell.

- 'National Anthem' - Lana Del Rey


Prince Charles James couldn't identify what had woken him from his sleep. Struggling to open his eyes, he snuck a glance at his bedside table which held his alarm clock.

4:15am.

The green digits taunted him as he moaned with disgust. Settling himself down again, he glanced over at the sleeping frame of Molly Dawes. Or should he say; Molly James. Pulling her closer to him, he wrapped his arms around her sleeping frame and smiled to himself. Planting a light kiss on her forehead, he snuggled into her and closed his eyes again. He still couldn't believe that they were now married. In fact, he was pretty sure that most of his family couldn't either. Don't get them wrong, they adored had Molly and were delighted when Charles had announced his engagement, but they came from completely different worlds. He had grown up in a Royal household - his father was King, and had been for just over thirty years, reigning alongside his mother up until her death. Molly, on the other hand, was deemed a 'commoner'.

After that crucially pivotal day in Afghanistan, and the subsequent consequences, his father had decided that it was best for Charles to take a step back from the frontline. After all, he was an only child and therefore the second in line to the throne. More importantly, King Edward couldn't handle any more sadness in his life after losing his wife to suicide the year previous to Charles being shot. Knowing that it was for the best, Charles eventually agreed.

But Molly couldn't. Three years after their first, and only, tour together, Molly had remained in the Army as a medic before transitioning into becoming a nurse. They had continued their relationship in private until Charles decided to ask Molly the question he had housed at the back of his mind since that life changing tour. He was nervous about asking her, terrified even, and deep down he would've understood if she had run off. Molly wasn't made for this 'spectacle'. Charles didn't really think he was either, always feeling a longing for normality since he was a boy, which partly led to him joining the army. In short, he was asking her to give up everything she had worked for and to join him as his wife, to be the future Queen of the United Kingdom. Ideally, she would be expected to give up her job and partake in royal activities, inviting the eyes of the world into the life that Charles had tried so hard to shelter her from. But for some reason ... she said yes.

They had been married two months ago in a ceremony watched by 300 million people worldwide and the thousands gathered on the streets. He could remember the pride he felt the day he and Molly held a press conference to announce their engagement. The cameras were getting their first official photos of the couple and, glancing down at Molly, he looked at her as if to say 'She's mine and I love her'. She was his. Despite the treacherousness of royal life, and the messed up family history he had, she loved him too. And that, in many ways, was so much more important and better than the prospect of one day being King.

Knock Knock.

That's what it was. Sitting himself up with a yawn of annoyance, he switched on his bedside lamp. Molly stirred beside him and mumbled, "What is it, Charlie?".

"Shh, go back to sleep. I'll go and see." He kissed her on the cheek and pulled the covers up over her even further before climbing out of bed himself.

"I'm coming!" He said quietly. Opening the doors, he was greeted by Qaseem, his personal aide since he came to the UK after British withdrawal from the country he had once loved so much until it had taken from him everything and everyone he loved.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at such an unGodly hour, Your Royal Highness, but I'm afraid I have no other choice." Charles could detect a sadness in his friend's eyes, a sadness that he could tell he was trying extremely hard to hide. But he knew him too well. "May we take this to the living room?"

Suddenly Charles could feel that something wasn't right. Trying to hide the panic he was sure was evident all over his face, he nodded and followed Qaseem.


Charles took a seat on the sofa of the living room of his quarters. He couldn't remember what exactly Qaseem had said, or how he had worded it, but he remembered nodding his head to dismiss him as he felt the lump rise in his throat. His vision was blurred from unshed tears and all he wanted to do was get out. Knowing that doing so would be more hassle than it was worth, he sat in the silence of his living quarters and stared out the window as time passed without his knowledge and interest.

His dad was gone.

'That's it,' he thought, 'that's what he said.'

"I'm so sorry, Charles. King Edward has died." He was bowed down before him and was crouching at eye level to Charles when he said it.

He had known, deep inside of him, that something was wrong. Qaseem would never get him out of bed at such an hour no matter what had happened. He had known. He sat silently cursing himself, wishing that he had shut the door on Qaseem and gone back to bed, pretending that none of this had ever happened. But no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't.


Before he knew it, Molly came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She planted a kiss to his cheek guiltily, filled with worry about the realisation that Charles hadn't came back to bed two hours ago. In the darkness of the room, she crouched down in front of Charles and looked at him. In the faint light coming from the sunrise through the blinds, she could make out his soft features. His gaze was dangerous and he was rocking himself back and forth. She could tell he was close to tears and he looked deathly pale.

"What is it, Charles?" Molly said quietly as he reached her hand up to touch his cold cheek, not missing the dark circles under his eyes which marked both his physical and mental tiredness. When he didn't answer, she asked him the question again. When he didn't respond, Molly followed his gaze to a picture frame that contained a picture of him and his dad on their wedding day. Both were smiling with a level of happiness Charles didn't think he would ever see from his dad again after losing his mum. "Charles?"

After a minute Charles slowly lowered his gaze to look at her after having stared at the same spot for two hours. She could see the tears threatening to spill over out from his eyes so she took his hand in hers and kissed his knuckles. She had never seen him like this, this vulnerable, before. "Please tell me." She whispered.

Finally meeting her eyes, he swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke in a barely audible voice. As soon as he said it, Molly wished she could delete the words and their meaning. She wanted to take away his pain with everything she had. Finally processing what he had said, she took him in her arms as he broke down in tears of grief-stricken sadness, every sob like a bullet going ruthlessly through Molly's heart.

"I'm now the King of the United Kingdom."


Well there you go! I'm not completely happy with this chapter but hopefully the rest will be better. I'm so excited to write this story and I'd love to know what you all think. Please leave a review to let me know if you're interested. And I promise to catch up with everyone's amazing stories soon! Thank you! Xo