WILLIAM I still miss my mother every day
PRINCE William comforted a boy grieving for his mother yesterday and said he still misses Princess Diana every day.
The Duke of Cambridge put his hand on the shoulder of Ben Hines, 14, at a hospice in Luton, Beds, and urged him to talk about his feelings with family.
William’s brother Prince Harry has admitted he did not discuss his grief for years but said that sharing feelings would help.
“Time makes it easier,” William said, as Ben spoke of his mother Alexandra who died last summer from cancer, aged 40. “I miss her so much,” the boy said.
“I know how you feel. I still miss my mother every day – and it’s 20 years after she died,” said William, about to mark the 19th anniversary of Diana’s death in a car crash on August 31, 1997.
“The important thing is to talk about it as a family. It’s OK to feel sad, it’s OK to miss her.”
William, 34, made Ben, who has mild autism, his brothers Thomas, 20, and Richard, 24, and father Gary, 48, promise to keep talking to each other.
“As four boys, you have to talk a lot better – we’re not good sharers. It’s a classic example of lots of talking needed,” he said.
“I promise,” said Thomas. During the visit to the Keech Hospice, the Duchess of Cambridge gave a hug to a sixyear-old boy who lost his eldest brother two years ago.
She and William were given “memory jars” – bottles of coloured sand used by the hospice to help patients and families.
The jars were presented by Jamie Coniam, 10, and brother Ethan, six, from Flitwick, Beds, whose brother Kieran died at the hospice aged 10 in October 2014. He was born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism, and had problems all his life.
The boys’ mother Fiona, 40, a palliative care nurse, said: “Ethan said, ‘Excuse me Kate, can I have hug?’ She said, ‘Yes of course – I love cuddles.’ Then she asked Jamie if he would like a hug as well.”
Jamie said: “My little brother asked for a hug and I got one out of the blue.” Earlier, William and Kate praised girls who have recovered from mental health difficulties at the Youthscape centre in Luton.
Ellis Jones, 18, began selfharming after her mother was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease but has recovered and is doing a business administration apprenticeship. Kate, 34, called her “courageous” and “strong”.
William told Ellis: “What happened should never have happened to you. The fact you have got through it and got where you are now, you should be proud.”