Royal fan in wheelchair reveals delight at Princess Charlotte hug as she tells of life-long brain damage battle
A ROYAL fan has spoken of her delight at getting a hug from Princess Charlotte after giving her a pink flamingo toy. Gemma Clark, 39, has cerebral palsy and her mum has spoken about how her daughter has battled the debilitating brain condition all her life. Four-year-old Charlotte and older brother George, six, joined the […]
A ROYAL fan has spoken of her delight at getting a hug from Princess Charlotte after giving her a pink flamingo toy.
Gemma Clark, 39, has cerebral palsy and her mum has spoken about how her daughter has battled the debilitating brain condition all her life.
Four-year-old Charlotte and older brother George, six, joined the Queen at the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas Day church service for the first time.
Gemma said that the young royal’s eyes were drawn towards the flamingo – called Felicity – before entering St Mary Magdalene church.
Afterwards she headed straight for Gemma, who has suffered from cerebral palsy from when she was 15 months old.
“Felicity was a 39th birthday present from my older sister, Fran, and she goes everywhere with me. She’s like my lucky mascot,” Gemma, from Long Sutton in Lincolnshire, told the Daily Mail.
“But Charlotte kept looking at Felicity and I thought: ‘I wonder if the Princess would like her?’
“So when she came over with Prince George and their parents after the service, I asked her: ‘Would you like Felicity?’
‘CLOUD NINE’
“Her face lit up and she said: ‘Yes please.’ I told Charlotte: ‘You don’t have to call her Felicity if you don’t want to; you can call her whatever you want’.
“Then both she and George gave me a hug and I was on cloud nine. They were so sweet and it is a moment I will remember for ever as being special. The atmosphere was just awesome.”
Gemma – the youngest of three daughters – became seriously ill with gastroenteritis when she was a toddler.
She spent four weeks in hospital, semi-comatose but never fully recovered after doctors discovered severe dehydration and lasting brain damage, affecting her speech, balance and ability to walk.
He mum Pam, 69, said: “Despite everything, Gemma is a happy young woman. She has just got on with life and taken everything in her stride.”
After the service at St Mary Magdalene Church, Princess Charlotte was spotted mingling with members of the public and spreading some festive joy.
Charlotte, who was accompanied by mum Kate, was also handed a gift box by a well-wisher while another well-wisher presented Charlotte with a home-made doll.
It comes after Prince William and Kate released a new photograph showing the duke kissing his youngest son, Louis, alongside George and Charlotte.
The picture was posted by Kensington Palace on Twitter with the message: “Merry Christmas to all our followers!”
The 93-year-old Queen, wearing a red coat and hat, attended the service with the Duchess of Cornwall.
The Duke of Edinburgh, 98, who was discharged from hospital on Christmas Eve, was at Sandringham but did not attend church.
He had spent four nights at the King Edward VII Hospital in London to receive treatment for a “pre-existing condition”.
Philip, who retired from public duties in 2017, did not attend last year’s church service either despite being in good health at the time.
Meanwhile scandal-hit Prince Andrew, who has had a tumultuous end to the year after his disastrous appearance on the BBC’s Newsnight programme, walked side by side with Charles to a service at 9am but did not attend the main 11am service.
It was Andrew’s first public appearance since his car crash Newsnight interview where he failed to express any sympathy for the victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew said he did not regret having been a friend of Epstein, who killed himself in jail aged 66 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also absent this year, instead opting to spend seven-month-old Archie’s first Christmas with the Duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, in Canada.
Others attending the main morning service included Princess Beatrice and her fiance, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
In her Christmas Day TV message the Queen referred to her family’s “bumpy” 2019 and the nation’s Brexit divisions.
The year has been labelled her second “annus horribilis” – the Latin phrase she used to describe 1992 after the marriages of three of her children collapsed.
Husband Prince Philip, who was admitted to hospital after the speech was recorded, was involved in a car accident at the start of the year.
The duke faced criticism for taking too long to contact the occupants of the other car and for being seen driving without his seat-belt in the days that followed.
And the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken about their struggles living in the public eye.
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Brexit has divided the country and Parliament, leading to huge uncertainty.
Her Majesty’s comment is thought to be her first public reference to the personal events her family has experienced this year.
Message is clear
CHRISTMAS is all about family — and the Queen knows it.
But she also knows the PR value behind the nation’s interest in a royal Christmas.
That is why she approved the appearance of George and Charlotte on their first festive outing at the Sandringham church service yesterday.
But despite Charles accompanying Andrew to the earlier service, it is clear there is still no room, publicly, for the tainted Duke. And what of Harry and Meghan in Canada?
Their Sandringham snub is widely seen as another misstep, even by fellow royals.
Yesterday, the Queen made very clear what her vision of the future family is. Whether that includes Harry and Meghan remains to be seen.
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