Kate: My tears over the children of Syria
Royal mum’s empathy for refugee
THE Duchess of Cambridge has told of her empathy from one mum to another over a baby born in war-torn Syria.
Kate was heartbroken over Bafta-winning documentary For Sama, about a child born in Aleppo in the bloody aftermath of the 2011 uprising. She told of her emotion watching the Oscar-nominated Channel 4 film in which Sama, now four, was at a similar age to her youngest child now, 21-month-old Prince Louis.
Kate, 38 – who also has son George, six, and daughter Charlotte, four – sought out director Waad al Kateab at the EE British Academy Film Awards to tell her: “I was heartbroken. My boy is a similar age to Sama. You are a great inspiration for every woman.”
The Duchess said she was proud of Waad’s “amazing” film, which she found “so engaging”. Waad, 29, fled
Syria with her husband Hamza and Sama, and now lives in London. On Kate’s praise for her film, she told the Mirror: “I was speechless.”
Four-year-old Sama joined her parents at the ceremony on Sunday night at the Royal Albert Hall, WINNER Waad with her where Waad collected husband and little Sama the Best Documentary award.
Dedicating the award to the people of Syria, Waad said: “We shouldn’t be here. In 2016, we were in a basement in a hospital when we heard the shelling of the bombs all around us. “I thought I should bury my footage in case we didn’t make it – it needed to be saved. There are still bombings of 3.5million civilians.
“They should hear Britain will not let that happen again.”