Not a day goes by. Prince William got emotional during a visit to Keech Hospice Care in Luton Wednesday, August 25, telling a young teen that he still misses his own mother, the late Princess Diana, “every day.”
The 34-year-old royal was speaking to 14-year-old Ben Hines, a teen who lost his mother to cancer one year ago, when he offered some reassuring words.
“Time makes it easier,” he told Hines as he rested a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “I know how you feel. I still miss my mother every day — and it’s 20 years after she died.”
Princess Diana died in a tragic car crash nearly 19 years ago, on August 31, 1997. William was just 15 and his younger brother, Prince Harry, 12, when they lost their mother.
William made sure that Hines, his brothers — Thomas, 20, and Richard, 24 — and their father, Gary, promised to talk about their feelings, something that he acknowledged doesn’t come easily to men, who are not “great sharers.”
“The important thing is to talk about it as a family,” William said. “It’s OK to feel sad. It’s OK for you to miss her.”
Gary Hines later told reporters that he was so appreciative of William’s obvious, genuine care. “He gave Ben his absolute attention,” he told Us. “You could see that it struck a chord with him.”
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, made her own connection during another engagement at the hospice, telling one mother at the children’s unit that young Prince George is very much enamored with sensory toys and foods the same way the woman’s ill daughter was.
“She said, ‘George likes his spaghetti as well, he’d love to get messy,’” Suzanne Dow told reporters of the Duchess’ comments. “She had a very empathetic look on her face when I explained that Joanie had a cardiac arrest and open heart surgery at 10 months old.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to Keech was just one stop on their tour of charities and facilities that focus primarily on bullying and mental health, including Youthscape, a charity that helps teens struggling with self-esteem.