Kate Middletonmade a poignant visit to a new children’s hospice on Friday.
“It was amazing. I shook her hand!” he told reporters.
Niamh Bell, 11, added, “She was very kind. Even though she didn’t have a lot of time she still came to talk to us.”
Kate Middleton.Samir Hussein/WireImage
Naomi Wright, whose son Rupert, 4, has a rare, life-limiting multi-systematic disease commonly known as MPS2 or hunger syndrome, shared an emotional moment with the royal mom.
“I cried and I got a little hug and at the end when she walked out she gave me a little wave. Just simple things like that make you realize she’s a very special lady,” Wright says. “She is a mum herself and you get that sense that she does understand. She’s not doing it because she has to but because she has to. This is something that means a lot to her.”
Kate Middleton.TOBY MELVILLE/POOL/AFP via Getty
Nancy Best, from Dallas, Texas, was over for the opening as she has donations towards the building of the hospice.
“She is so enthusiastic, she is remarkable. She is sincere. It obviously touches her. She started this [patronage] before she was mother. But having three children — you feel she feels blessed and lucky,” Best says.
The new building is a vast improvement from the previous setting, and includes areas for clinical care and therapy rooms, enabling EACH to meet rising, and increasingly-complex, demand for its services. During her tour, Kate, 37, saw the hospice’s sensory room and its central care area where she chatted with families and children taking part in arts and crafts activities.
For Kate, the charity is a key cause and it’s based not far from the country home in Norfolk she shares with husbandPrince Williamand their three children —Prince George, 6,Princess Charlotte, 4, andPrince Louis, 1.
“I feel as though we have grown up with her,” outgoing chief executive Graham Butlandtold PEOPLE earlier this week.
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Samir Hussein/WireImage
“She hasn’t lost the common touch. She can still empathize with the children and families who we care for. Whenever she comes — and with private visits without the gaze of the press — the feedback we get from families is tremendous.”
Kate released amessage of support in honor of Children’s Hospice Weekin June, saying: “Children’s hospices provide vital sanctuaries for those experiencing the very toughest of times. They help families and carers build life long memories that are poignant, happy and often filled with laughter,” Kate’s touching message begins. “Whether through specialist play aimed at deepening relationships between children and their families, or through art and music therapy that helps young people express themselves and release their thoughts and feelings.”
source: people.com
