The Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall team up for special reason

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Duchess Catherine and Duchess Camilla have joined forces to mark Children’s Hospice Week.

• Catherine Middleton and Camilla Parker Bowles joined a video call to mark Children’s Hospice Week (22 to 26 June)
• The Duchesses are both patrons of various children’s hospices up and down the country
• They celebrated the work done even during this difficult time
• It follows royal news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge share rare insight into their relationships with their parents

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The Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall teamed up last week to make a very special video call and celebrate the work of children’s hospices.

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The Duchess of Cambridge and The Duchess of Cornwall have marked the beginning of Children’s Hospice Week by hosting a joint video call with EACH fundraising superhero 13-year-old Stuie Delf and his family! As Patrons of children’s hospices, Their Royal Highnesses were joined by the Delf family, who shared their recent experience of EACH, as well as Eddie Farwell, Chief Executive of Children’s Hospice South West and Clare Periton, Chief Executive of Helen & Douglas House. The group discussed the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on hospices and the way they have had to adapt, as well as the impact on families like the Delfs, who shared their experience of lockdown as a recently bereaved family. The Duchess of Cambridge called the work of children’s hospices “extraordinary” adding “it’s a credit to the staff that they can provide the environment, the nurturing space for those families to help them go through long or short term care. It’s really awe-inspiring”. Stuie's mum, Carla said: “The call was very laid back. They were lovely and easy people to talk to. They told us their experiences of hospices, then asked us about our journey and a few questions. I felt very honoured that we had that opportunity to tell our story.” You can watch the full video using the link in our bio 💜

A post shared by EACH (@eachhospices) on Jun 23, 2020 at 12:30am PDT

Camilla, 72, and Catherine, 38, joined forces to mark Children’s Hospice Week – which is happening this week – as both women are patrons of various children’s hospices up and down the country.

READ MORE: Sophie Wessex is nicknamed ‘royal key worker’ for work carried out during the pandemic 

The women were joined by representatives from Catherine’s patronage, East Anglia Children’s Hospices (EACH), as well as Children’s Hospice South West and Helen & Douglas House – both of which Camilla is a patron of.

Duchess Catherine thanked the charities for continuing their important work during this difficult time and made a special promise to the Delf family – who tragically lost their nine-year-old son Fraser as a result of Coats plus syndrome.

The family spent seven weeks living in Milton’s EACH hospice before Fraser died and Catherine was intrigued to hear about the support they received during their stay.

Fraser’s mum, Carla, said, “They are just such amazing people, they really are. The care was amazing, not just towards Fraser, making sure he was comfortable, but our wellbeing was met.”

Paying tribute to the amazing work children’s hospices do, The Duchess added, “Children’s hospices go that extra mile actually and support families like yourselves, I think it’s extraordinary. And, like you say, they consider the whole family as well, which is really important.”

According to Fraser’s dad, Stuart, Catherine vowed to plant a sunflower in memory Fraser who was cared for by her patronage EACH.

He said, “[The Duchess] said she was going to plant a sunflower in memory of Fraser. I’m not sure which EACH it’s going to be, but at one of the hospices.”

The Duchess of Cornwall echoed the sentiment of Duchess Catherine and said, “We’d like to thank everybody that works for hospices across the UK for the incredible job you do and allowing families to treasure their moments together.”