Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Lasting Tribute to Teen with Cancer

Every November, a special flower blooms in Vicky Robayna’s garden in northern England — a living tribute to her late daughter, Liz Hatton.

The Ice N Roses Early Rose was a heartfelt gift from two remarkable supporters during the family’s cancer journey: Kate Middleton and Prince William.

Photographer Liz’s mission to fulfill a bucket list of assignments before succumbing to her rare and aggressive abdominal cancer gained profound resonance after being embraced by the royal couple. Liz died in November 2024 at just 17, leaving a lasting inspiration worldwide, especially for Princess Kate, who was undergoing her own cancer treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer at the time.

The journey began when Liz’s mother, Vicky, made a heartfelt plea on social media to help her daughter pursue her dream of photography. Through a contact at an air ambulance charity supported by Prince William, the royal team learned of Liz’s story and invited her to photograph a royal event at Windsor Castle — capturing the moment William presented honors to deserving Britons.

During that visit, Kate, who was also undergoing chemotherapy at the time, surprised Liz and warmly embraced her brother Mateo and their parents.

“Liz always said they were two of the most genuine people she ever met, and I think they were just so kind and so down to earth,” Vicky tells PEOPLE.

“They were very good with both the children. Liz would have said that her favorite part of the whole experience was the way they were with Mateo. He was really shy and they had him chatting away at the end. She really loved them for that,” she adds.

The family felt enveloped in care and support by the royal couple and their attentive staff.

“It felt like walking into an extended family and having arms wrapped around you,” Vicky tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.

Liz had been diagnosed with desmoplastic small round cell tumor, a rare sarcoma with little research or awareness. In response, Vicky and her husband Aaron founded Capture, the world’s first charity dedicated to the disease, raising over $163,000 since November 2024 via its fundraising page.

“Without the princess’s support, we wouldn’t have raised nearly as much awareness or funding,” Vicky says. “Liz’s story reached the world because of them.”

The support from Kate has been ongoing. Vicky and her family were invited to Kate’s holiday carol service at Westminster Abbey in December 2024, and a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May, when they were able to tell the royal couple how much they appreciated their support.

Through it all, Vicky says her daughter’s passion for photography remained unwavering. Liz also wanted the world to know how kind Kate had been to her and to show that her illness never stood in the way of fulfilling her bucket list dreams.

“She just relished every single opportunity she had. She could sleep a lot of the time, but as soon as you put a camera in her hand, she was off and running and very much alive and enjoying every moment,” she tells PEOPLE.

For more on Princess Kate’s summer of strength as she continues her recovery from cancer, pick up a copy of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.

“She wanted people to know about her cancer because it’s so rare,” Vicky adds. “But she also did it because she wanted people to know how kind the princess had been to her.”

Vicky says her daughter was disheartened by the negative treatment Kate received online during the royal’s diagnosis.

“She was very upset at the time about how certain elements of the media and social media had treated the princess for not revealing more information,” she says. ”

That really upset Liz because she said it should be each individual’s choice what they say about their health,” she continues. “She wanted to tell the world how incredible the princess was and how kind and lovely she was.”

Vicky adds, “When Liz was first diagnosed, she was really scared about what death would look like and terrified that it would be painful and that she would spend a long time in a hospital bed.”

“But I hope we have shown other young people with a similar prognosis that palliative care can be about living,” she continues. “They can go out there and live their dreams until the very last moment. Liz was taking photos until five days before she died.”

When she died on Nov. 27, 2024, Kate and William issued a personal message on their social media: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Liz’s parents Vicky and Aaron and her brother Mateo at this unimaginably difficult time.”

They signed it “W & C” to show the message came personally from them. Quietly, they also sent the family a rose that will bloom each year around the anniversary of Liz’s death.

The impact of this difficult chapter in the family’s life continues to resonate — Kate and William’s support played a vital role in helping Liz fulfill many of her photography dreams. 

“Ultimately, Mateo’s memories of Liz are overwhelmingly positive and not about the time she spent in the hospital,” Vicky tells PEOPLE. “He talks about the time we took photographs with Rankin, the time we went to Windsor Castle, the exhibition.”

“His memories are incredible ones that will sustain him for a lifetime and undoubtedly have reduced the trauma that he feels because he’s so proud of her, and that shines through in everything he says,” Vicky adds.

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She reflects poignantly, “Would I choose to have her alive under any circumstances? Yes, in a heartbeat. But if she had to die, it could not have been a more positive experience of death, of care, of being loved by the world.”

“It really mattered to us to be able to tell [William and Kate at the garden party] the difference they’d made — not just to Liz in her lifetime, but the difference to us afterward,” she says.