Prince William shows mother’s touch at hospice
PRINCE William followed in his mother’s footsteps yesterday when he comforted dying patients at a hospice visited by Princess Diana 18 years ago.
Diana spent hours with terminally ill patients in hospices worldwide.
Her elder son showed he had inherited her compassion, sensitivity and ability to lighten the mood in the most harrowing of circumstances.
Accompanied by his aunt, Diana’s eldest sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale, William spent an hour boosting the morale of terminally ill patients, staff and volunteers at a day centre run by St Barnabas Hospice in Lincoln.
In 1992 his mother visited the hospice’s in-patient unit in Lincoln. The charity cares for 1,800 patients a year. William, who had spent the weekend partying with his girlfriend Kate Middleton, joked about having dark rings under his eyes.
He told patient Muriel Sharples, 85, who was wearing sun glasses because of macular eye degeneration: “You can’t see them – I had a late night last night. You don’t want to look at me too closely.”
Lung cancer sufferer Christine Bellamy, 66, said: “He’s very charming, very natural and gorgeous.”
Later the 27-year-old Prince visited Eresby School for children with learning difficulties in Spilsby, Lincs, where he got a big hug from one of the youngsters Darren Pearty.
Diana kept up her work with children and the elderly right up to her death in 1997.
