The mother of Liz Hatton, the 17-year-old terminally-ill photograher who inspired the Princess of Wales, has revealed the family’s heartbreaking Christmas plans in light of her daughter’s health battle.
Vicky Robayna, who travelled to Windsor Castle with Liz, said that ‘we will celebrate Christmas early as a family’ because ‘we know our time is short now’ in an emotional post on X.
Vicky’s update on Liz’s condition comes after the aspiring photographer, who is battling a desmoplastic small round cell tumour, a rare and extremely aggressive form of cancer, hosted her very own photography exhibition in London last week.
The teenager from Harrogate, Yorkshire, made headlines last month after she was invited to photograph an investiture, where she found herself meeting the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Liz, who now reportedly has weeks to live, discussed with Kate their mutual passion for photography and shared a warm embrace with one another – a tender moment that was documented in photos later shared by Kensington Palace.
Liz’s meeting with Kate was the first time that the princess had been pictured since she announced she was planning a slow and measured return to work following her own cancer diagnosis in February.
Reflecting on Liz’s indomitable spirit and her many accomplishments since being diagnosed with cancer, her proud mother Vicky shared that Liz has become ‘increasingly tired’ since the exhibition last week.
Writing on X, she said: ‘Liz had her very own exhibition last week, the perfect culmination of her incredible achievements.
Liz Hatton, the teenager with cancer who met Kate at Windsor Castle earlier this year, will be celebrating Christmas with her family this weekend, her mother has revealed
‘As I walked around looking at her pictures, thinking about the circumstances many were taken under, I was more in awe of her than ever.’
Vicky said that the triumph of last week’s exhibition was ‘accompanied by the fact that Liz has become increasingly tired’, explaining the family’s decision to celebrate Christmas earlier than usual this year.
She wrote: ‘At the end of this week, we will celebrate Christmas early as a family. We know our time is short now.
‘To all of you who have supported her work and cheered for her on from afar, please know how much you mean to us,’ she continued, expressing gratitude for the outpouring of love and support for her daughter since her story came to light.
Vicky concluded: ‘She has lived a wonderful life and that is in no small part down to you. Thank you.’
It is understood that it’s the wish of Liz’s little brother, Matteo, to celebrate with his mother, father Aaron, and sister Liz while they still can.
Liz, pictured with her mother Vicky, stepfather Aaron and little brother Mateo in Disneyland
Liz is an aspiring photographer and has been living out her wish list over the last few months. Pictured at the Venom premiere
Her post was accompanied by a stunning, smiling photograph of Liz, wearing a burgundy jumper and holding up her camera – one that has captured the heart of the nation.
X users sent their ‘love and best wishes to the family’ in the comments section, with one person writing: ‘Liz is a remarkable young lady and a great credit to you.’
Another comment read: ‘What Liz has achieved is utterly amazing. Sending my love and best wished for a wonderful Christmas celebration.’
A third user added: ‘Liz and your whole family are such an inspiration to us all. She has achieved so much in such a short time and, despite what you are all going through, you remain positive and determined to make the most of it.
‘Have a wonderful celebration and make more memories to cherish.’
The teenage cancer patient was invited to Windsor Castle in October after William heard about her diagnosis and love for photography.
However, Liz told MailOnline, she had no idea her invite included a private meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales, describing the day as ‘truly incredible’.
She said: ‘Of course I didn’t expect anything like this to happen – I didn’t even expect to be able to fulfil any of my original bucket list – never mind additions like this that were so far beyond our wildest imagination.
‘The day was truly incredible. I was practically shell shocked every other minute as they told us what we were going to be doing, especially so when the Prince and Princess walked into the room.
‘So I am beyond honoured to have had this experience and very thankful that my family could join me and experience it as well.
Vicky, who was at the meeting along with her husband Aaron, Liz’s step-father, and her younger brother, Mateo, eight, previously revealed to the Mail that her daughter and Catherine spent ‘lots of time talking about photography’.
‘She was really lovely and asked Liz lots of questions about things she might like to photograph, which was really kind of her,’ she added.
‘They didn’t speak about their health. Liz is very keen to say that she is not defined by her cancer. So they spent time talking about the things they enjoyed.
‘The Princess asked lots of lovely questions, in fact they were both really good, particularly at including our little boy in the conversation. They were such lovely, kind, genuine people. ‘
Liz was diagnosed with desmoplastic small round cell tumours (DSRCT), which is a rare type of cancer that develops in the soft tissues of the abdomen and pelvis, in January.
Speaking to Good Morning Britai host Rob Rinder, alongside her mother Vicky Robayna, Liz shared how the family dealt with her diagnosis.
The brave teenager said: ‘We just have to try to remain positive because what’s the point in wasting what little time I have left.’
Vicky added: ‘Because Liz’s cancer has gone to her liver we knew her chances of survival was nil so it was really important that we live each day as if it was our last.
‘When we ask how we do it we don’t think any far forward than the next exciting thing we have planned. If we look to the future, that’s too scary and we would sit in bed and not get up.’
Liz – who said she is not scared of dying – said she was given the option to continue with chemotherapy or to stop having treatment.
She said: ‘Because of the chances of them working being so slim, I wanted to spend time with my family and enjoy the time I have left, instead of spending it stuck in hospital and feeling even more terrible and dealing with side effects.
‘I chose to stop my chemo and just live my life at home and just deal with whatever comes.’
The talented amateur photographer drew up a wish list of events to snap after being diagnosed in January – and told that she could have between six months and three years to live.
She has been living out her bucket list, in which she hoped to photograph behind the scenes of a West End show and film set.
GMB said Six, the West End musical, found out about Liz’s list and invited her to photograph the pre-show warm up and the cast.
In another ‘bucket list’ moment for the teen, Liz was spotted last month working alongside photographers to capture celebrities attending the UK premiere of Tom Hardy’s Venom: The Last Dance.
Liz told the Mail that she hadn’t even considered including meeting royalty on her bucket list.
She said: ‘It was great to talk to Princess Catherine about photography because I know she loves it to and it is always great to talk about what you love or enjoy, and of course photography is my passion. ‘
Elsewhere, she joked the experience of meeting the Princess of Wales was ‘mind-blowing’.
The meeting came about – her mother Vicky explained – after someone working for the London Air Ambulance charity, of which Prince William is patron, spotted a social media post she had put up on behalf of her daughter earlier this year asking for help in completing her ‘bucket list’.
‘They then got in touch with the Palace who invited her in June but couldn’t make the date because she was having chemo those days,’ she told the Mail.
‘But they were really, really lovely and said not to worry, they would try again. That invitation was to take photos of the investiture, we knew nothing about meeting the Prince and Princess. She was very excited about it all anyway.
‘They kept in touch and asked a couple of weeks ago if she could make October 2. We said absolutely she could! We set off just thinking she was going to take photos of the investiture and then ended up meeting the prince and princess and spent about half an hour chatting to them. Which was truly incredible.’
After their meeting with Liz, William and Kate thanked the budding photographer for ‘sharing your photos and story with us’ in a message posted on Kensington Palace’s official social media handles.
‘A pleasure to meet with Liz at Windsor today. A talented young photographer whose creativity and strength has inspired us both. Thank you for sharing your photos and story with us. W&C.’
After their meeting, Vicky told The Times that Kensington Palace is ‘checking in daily’ to check on the family after doctors said Liz now has between ‘three to four weeks’.
‘It is uncertain how long I have, how long I’ll live,’ Liz told the outlet.
‘But it is certain that it won’t be for a long time. And so because of that, I feel like the only thing you can do is do as much as possible, as much as possible of what you want to do and what you enjoy.
‘And to spend it with the people you love.’