Camilla brings festive cheer to children’s hospice

The Queen got into the festive spirit when she brought Christmas cheer to youngsters at a children’s hospice.

Camilla handed out Royal Collection Trust tree decorations – tiny red Buckingham Palace crowns, soldiers in red tunics and golden coaches – and a keepsake replica coronation crown at Children’s Hospice South West’s Charlton Farm on the outskirts of Bristol.

Turning on the Christmas lights on the hospice’s eight feet high tree, she was helped by one-year-old Frankie Stevens.

The Queen asked the toddler, who was being held in the arms of her mother Lauren, “Look, here. Shall we do it together? You and I.”

Camilla gently guided the toddler’s finger to the green starter button to switch on the sparkling lights.

Frankie, whose brother Nolan was cared for at the hospice before he died at the age of three months in November last year, was also presented with the St Edward’s Crown ornament by the Queen.

Camilla wished those gathered at the hospice “a very Happy Christmas” and praised the staff for their work.

“I wanted to thank all the nurses who work here who do such a fantastic job in making life a lot happier for the children and their families,” she said.

She also met four-year-old Kitty Jones, who was dressed for the occasion in an Elsa dress from the film Frozen.

Camilla, bending down to meet her and to examine the fabric of her gown, said: “Don’t you look pretty. Let me see you dress. Isn’t that lovely and your necklace and a crown as well.”

Kitty and parents Georgina and Dave Jones were helped by the hospice after a bereavement.

The Queen quizzed the youngster on what she would like for Christmas, with Kitty replying “a poos dolly”, with a grinning Camilla remarking: “Oh my goodness”.

Her father Mr Jones chuckled and explained: “She wants a dolly that walks and dollies that go to the toilet.”

As Kitty showed off her dress by holding out her arms, Camilla said: “She’s very grown up for four and she’s very pleased with her costume.”

Mrs Jones told the Queen: “She’s a Frozen fan.”

Kitty showed the Queen her handprint on a colourful collage created by children at the centre, which the Queen was invited to sign, adorning it with “Camilla R”.

Camilla chatted to the family about the atmosphere at the hospice: “You always think it’s going to be a very sad place but they’re the most uplifting places.

“The first time I went to one I couldn’t believe how uplifting it was.”

The Queen, as the Duchess of Cornwall, became patron of Children’s Hospice South West in 2014.

Charlton Farm, nestled in the North Somerset countryside near Bristol, provides a home from home for families of children and young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions, to allow them to spend precious time together.

It cares for almost 200 children, supporting family members from diagnosis through to bereavement and beyond.