Kate and William 'regularly reach out' to Liz Hatton's family as royal couple's 'incredible' support hailed

The post highlighted the 17-year-old amateur photographer that Princess Kate met in October last year at Windsor Castle, a month before she died.

Liz Hatton’s mother, Vicky Robayna, and her eight-year-old brother, Mateo Robayna, said they were completely shocked by the recognition and revealed in an exclusive interview with GB News that the Prince and Princess of Wales have privately reached out to support the family following Liz’s death on November 27.

Mateo said: "They've reached out a lot to us. They reached out to us a lot since we met them, they've helped us do pretty much all of the things we've done since then, we wouldn't have had those last 12 weeks without them."

Vicky added: “They've been really, really kind, and their team are still in touch regularly with us. We went to the Carol Concert in December, just after Liz had died and they've been incredible, really, really incredible.

“We are well aware that without their support during those last 12 weeks of Liz's life, and the media taking up her story in the way that they did, she wouldn't have had anywhere near the incredible amount of opportunities that she had. And we're incredibly grateful for that, and we'll always be incredibly grateful for that.

Liz’s younger brother Mateo told the People’s Channel that it was a “complete shock” when he saw his older sister listed as an inspiration for the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The pair said that the post had been highlighted to them through a friend asking, “have you seen Liz is on the prince and princesses Instagram?”

Vicky added: “It was a complete, utter shock.

“It’s so lovely of them to keep remembering her. They've done so much for us as a family already, and to still be thinking of her and remembering her means the world to us all."

Vicky explained that the family had been in London attending the Excel’s Photography and Videography Show 2025, which hosted a display of Liz’s photos, when they received the news that the Prince and Princess posted Liz for International Women’s Day.

We are so sorry to hear that Liz Hatton has sadly passed away. It was an honour to have met such a brave and humble young woman.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Liz’s parents Vicky and Aaron and her brother Mateo at this unimaginably difficult time.

W & C

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 28, 2024

She said: “The Princess and Prince of Wales talking about her on the same day has just been incredible, really.

“I don't deserve to be on that list, without a doubt, but to see Liz's name and her photo there is just incredible. The fact that other people are still remembering her, still celebrating her, still talking about her photographs, would have absolutely stunned her.

Kate was pictured giving Hatton an emotional hug during the keen photographers meeting, with the pair focusing on their shared love of the profession.

Eight-year-old Mateo said: “I think it's just because people saw her as like, not like a person of cancer, but like just one of them, as like a photographer.

Vicky added: “Liz always wanted to be seen as a person first and a photographer first, like Matteo just said. And I think the fact that people remember her as a photographer, not just as someone who was poorly, would have meant the world to her.

“We're proud of that every second of every day, not only for the way she approached her illness, but the way she approached her life in general, and the incredible person she was underneath all of that. We're so proud of her.”

Speaking on the Princess of Wales’s cancer journey, Vicky said: “We couldn't be any more grateful to her. They're already dealing with enough as a family and to have taken us into their hearts in the way that we have they have. We're very, very grateful.

“I think she is just such an inspiring person, and I know Liz greatly admired her. She puts the people who she's talking about at the front of that story all the time, which is very, very kind.

The young woman's mum announced that the aspiring photographer had died aged 17 after an "unbelievably brave" cancer battle.

Princess Kate and Prince Williamdescribed the teenager as "brave and humble" in a moving tribute released following the news.

Speaking on the final weeks of her daughter's life, Vicky attributed traits of bravery, beauty and kindness to the 17-year-old girl who “always put other people before herself”.

She told GB News: “Liz was so lucky in the last few weeks of her life, and that is what Liz would have said. She said she had one bad piece of luck in getting her cancer, and 100 good pieces of luck, because so many people made opportunities for her happen.

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Vicky added: “She got to take photographs at Windsor Castle, but her last wish was that we made a difference to other families and raise money, so that other siblings get to stay together longer.

"She never, ever said, Why me? Or it’s not fair, she said, why not me? Why shouldn't it be me? And it has to be somebody. She was so passionate about her photography. She was an incredible big sister and daughter. She just gave her all to every single thing she did. There was less than a one in a million chance of Liz getting this cancer and less than a one in a million chance of her meeting the Princess of Wales, is the way we look at it.”

The mother and schoolteacher set up a fundraiser with the aim to raise £100,000 for Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour Research, which currently has a five-year survival rate of 15 per cent.

For more information on Liz Hatton’s story visit her photography Instagram page or to donate to Vicky’s fundraiser.