THE Duchess of Cambridge was moved to tears on Tuesday as she listened to a mother recall the heartbreak of losing her three-month-old daughter.
After Leigh Smith had finished her speech at the charity event, Kate reacted as any mother would – by throwing her arms around her to comfort her.
Mrs Smith, 33, whose daughter Beatrice died of a heart condition earlier this year, said: ‘Kate sought me out and gave me a hug just before she left.
‘I was getting quite teary-eyed, she had tears in her eyes and she just said to me, “You’re a very brave lady and again, I’m just so, so sorry”.’ The pair had already been in touch after Mrs Smith wrote to the duchess praising the work of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, of which Kate is royal patron, in the difficult days after her daughter’s death.
In return, she received a reply from the Kate herself. ‘I was so surprised to receive a letter with such personal comments and signed by her,’ Mrs Smith said. ‘It was a lovely gesture and helped me through a terrible time.
‘I was touched that she had taken so much time to carefully read my letter and then to reply herself – it shows how much she cares.
‘When I met her today she remembered the letter and said it was an honour to meet me. I was completely taken aback. For me it was an honour to meet her.’
The duchess, who is 18 weeks pregnant with her second child, was attending the launch of a fundraising campaign to help EACH build a new £10million facility in Norfolk.
Dressed in a scarlet Katherine Hooker dress, and with her hair tied in a pony tail, she appeared to be in good health and to have beaten the severe morning sickness that has plagued the early weeks of her pregnancy.
But she struggled to keep her emotions in check as she listened intently to Mrs Smith’s tragic story, which detailed the assistance that the charity gave her family.
Beatrice Octavia Iris Smith was born in November last year and was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a rare heart condition, in January. After six weeks in hospital it became clear that she would not survive until a new heart could be found for her.
Mrs Smith, a physiotherapist, and her husband Toby made the devastating decision to allow their daughter to slip away on February 24, just 87 days after Beatrice was born. ‘She passed away in my arms very peacefully holding mine and her daddy’s hands,’ Mrs Smith said.
EACH made arrangements for Beatrice to be taken to one of its hospices close to the family’s Norwich home, and helped with the funeral arrangements as the couple and their four-year-old son Elliot prepared to say goodbye.
Friday would have been Beatrice’s first birthday. Mrs Smith added: ‘I had mixed feelings about today because it’s a difficult time, but this is the most amazing way of celebrating Beatrice’s birthday and I hope she was looking down as I met Kate.’ The duchess has already been playing an active role in the fundraising drive for the charity’s new facility.
She has persuaded potter Emma Bridgewater to design a range of mugs, which were unveiled yesterday and will be sold in aid of the campaign next year. A royal aide said: ‘It was the duchess’s idea to approach Emma, whom she didn’t know previously, and she helped in the design process.’
Kate has been patron of EACH since 2012 andmade her first public speech as a member of the royal family on its behalf the same year.
She and Prince William, are expecting their second child in April. Prince George is now 16 months old. - Daily Mail