Prince William makes surprise appearance for heartbreaking reason

(Image credit: PA Wire/PA Images)

Prince William has surprised royal fans at a vigil to mark Princess Diana’s birthday outside Kensington Palace.

The dad, who lives in the royal residence with wife Kate and their three children, came outside to thank well-wishers who had organised a vigil for Princess Diana’s birthday.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, one of the well wishers, John Loughrey, 59, said: ‘William told me he knew we'd been coming here for years and thanked us for what we were doing for his mother.

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‘I'm still shaking now. I feel very emotional.’

After seeing John’s collection of badges featuring Diana, William told him that he was ‘touched’ by what he’s doing.

‘I told him that I pray for his mother every Sunday at Westminster Abbey and he seemed really touched.

'He shook my hand three times, he has a really firm shake, and I felt a beautiful feeling go through my body’, he added.

Explaining why they were doing a vigil on the Princess’ birthday, he said: 'She was born with two hearts, one for her and one for us. People must never forget that.

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'I have never spoken to William before, only seen him, but he made a beeline for me and he knew who I was. I am so touched. He seemed really moved that we were here.'

Back in 2017, Prince William, Prince Harry and Kate Middleton paid tribute to the late Princess Diana by joining well-wishers at the Kensington Palace memorial garden created in her honour, in what was the 20th anniversary of her death.

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Speaking about he keeps the memory of his mother alive at the time, William said he regularly speaks about her and refers to her as Granny Diana.

‘It's hard because obviously, Catherine didn't know her, so she cannot really provide that level of detail’, he said in an ITV documentary.

‘So I do regularly, putting George or Charlotte to bed, talk about her and just try and remind them that there are two grandmothers, there were two grandmothers in in their lives, and so it's important that they know who she was and that she existed.’

Mariana Cerqueira
Lifestyle Editor

Mariana is a lifestyle writer who has written for Goodto.com and My Imperfect Life. She joined the Goodto.com team as an intern after completing her journalism MA at City University. After six months spent writing about food, celebrity news, and family trends, Mariana left to write for Healthy Food magazine - but returned in 2017, to join the Future team once again. In her spare time, you’ll find Mariana in the kitchen cooking for her friends.