royals
Prince William comforts a grieving boy
Prince William and Duchess Kate with 11-year-old Deacon Glover at Clitheroe Community Hospital in Burnley. Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The eleven-year-old had actually expected a soccer player. Then Prince William came and it was still a good conversation.
Prince William has comforted an 11-year-old boy who has lost his mother with experiences from his own life. “I know how you feel,” said the second in line to the British throne, adding: “It’s getting easier.”
William’s mother Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris 25 years ago when the prince was 15. He and his brother Prince Harry (37) are now open about the psychological consequences of their loss.
The 39-year-old royal and Aston Villa fan also chatted with the boy about football during a visit to a church charity in Lancashire on Thursday, the British news agency PA reported.
The boy, who wore a shirt from local club Burnley FC, who also plays in the Premier League, was initially “bitterly disappointed” when Prince William and his wife Kate, 40, showed up for the visit, the PA reported. “He thought a footballer would come,” said a volunteer, according to the report. But he gradually thawed when he found out that William’s father, Prince Charles (73), is also a Burnley fan.