A "brave" 17-year-old teenager who inspired Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, has succumbed to her cancer.
Liz Hatton, a resident of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, died Wednesday morning. In January, Hatton began a bucket list of people she wanted to photograph after being diagnosed with an aggressive desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT).
It is a rare and aggressive soft tissue sarcoma primarily affecting adolescents and young adults. The prognosis for many DSRCT patients is poor, largely due to high rates of recurrence.
"Our incredible daughter Liz died in the early hours of this morning," Vicky Robyana, the teen's mother, wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"She remained determined to the last. Even yesterday she was still making plans. We are so very proud of the kindness, empathy and courage she has shown in the last year," the post continued.
At the time of the diagnosis, Hatton was given only between six months and three years to live, per BBC News.
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Meeting the Princess of Wales
It is unclear how the pair had known about each other, but Hatton was invited to take pictures of William, the Prince of Wales, cyclist Mark Cavendish, and former footballer Ally McCoist at an investiture at Windsor Castle in October. During the meeting, Kate was pictured hugging the 17-year-old.
It was reported that the Princess had met with Hatton's family at a private meeting after taking photos.
The meeting was notable as Kate had just finished her chemotherapy treatment weeks earlier after she was diagnosed with an unspecified cancer earlier this year.
"Brave" Teenager
On Thursday, William and Kate posted a heartfelt statement honoring the teen, whom they called a "brave and humble young woman."
As a tribute to her daughter, Robyana is asking the general public to share one of the photos the teen took. She is also calling on the public to support the family's mission to fund research into her late daughter's cancer. Currently, there are no charities specializing in the research of desmoplastic small round cell tumors in the United Kingdom.
In the weeks before her death, Liz worked with Rankin to shoot professional models, including Fifi Anicah and other stars such as Michael McIntyre and the Royal Ballet.
