The little girl who didn't stand on ceremony: Six-year-old cancer sufferer flings herself into Kate's arms for a hug
By Rebecca English
Last updated at 9:12 AM on 8th July 2011
The Duchess of Cambridge was moved to tears when a young cancer sufferer flung her arms around her during a bouquet presentation.
Diamond Marshall, six, who was diagnosed with an abdominal tumour in February, was overcome at meeting Catherine when the Duchess arrived at Calgary Airport yesterday.
The youngster, who has undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is currently awaiting surgery, rushed forwards across the tarmac and flung herself into Catherine's arms.
Emotional: The Duchess of Cambridge embraces six-year-old Diamond Marshall who rushed across the tarmac to meet her at Calgary Airport
Smile: Diamond grins as she and the Duchess talk after Kate was presented with a bouquet
Shy: Diamond is overawed when she first meets the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the tarmac in Calgary
Royal greeting: Kate comforts Diamond and encourages her to talk to her
The Duchess, who was wearing a pretty primrose silk dress by Jenny Packham, looked visibly moved and embraced the young girl.
Afterwards Daimond's stepmother Danielle, 32, said: 'She was so lovely and so gracious. For a little girl who has dreamed of meeting a princess it was a dream come true.'
Diamond, who was also accompanied by her father Lyall, 32, said: 'She was as fancy as she looks on the TV.'
Diamond won the chance to meet the couple through the Canadian charity Children's Wish.
Thank you: Diamond Marshall hands a gift to Kate, welcoming her and William to Calgary
Friends: Diamond walks away smiling as Kate is left moved by the cancer victim's bravery
She wrote to them from her bed in the Alberta Children's Hospital after watching the Royal Wedding and asked if she could meet a princess.
Her mother also wrote to the charity saying: 'We realise Diamond's wish is enormous. We also realise she may not have the chance to go to Disneyland where she wants to lunch with princesses.
'Should the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge just happen to swing by for a visit it would go a long way for helping her spirits as she is in awe of Princess Kate's fairytale like story.'
Since 1984 the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada has worked to grant the dreams of 17,000 children and their families.
Gone with the wind: Catherine battles with the breeze on arrival in Calgary with Prince William
Oops: Kate struggled with her flyaway dress, repeatedly feeling the need to pat it down again amid the wind
It was also a case of Calamity Kate and Wild Will Hickok as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge rolled into town yesterday.
The royal couple received a traditional cowboy welcome with 10 gallon hats as they touched down in Calgary.
Just like other royal couples before them, including the Duke and Duchess of York, they were handed their eye-catching headwear in what is known locally as a 'white hatting' ceremony.
Happy couple: Kate and William have just spent 24-hour in the Rockies relaxing and hiking
The cowboy hat is an enduring tradition of the Old West.
A necessity of survival rather than an item of fashion, a hat was an essential part of a cowboy’s gear. It repelled the heat and glare of the high prairie sun, fanned a campfire into life, held water for both horse and rider, and broke the hardness of the ground as a pillow at night.
The White Hat Ceremony is a long-standing tradition in Calgary and is considered a symbol of Western hospitality.
The tradition dates back to the 1950s, when the then Calgary mayor Don MacKay began distributing the hats to visiting dignitaries.
Today, Tourism Calgary and the Mayor’s Office welcome all dignitaries visiting the city with a special white hat ceremony.
The hats presented to the couple were made from rabbit fur by local firm Smithbilt, and took a week to make.
Smithbilt has been making the hats since 1919 and has provided them for Tony Blair, George W Bush, Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall.
The royal couple's hats have been custom-made with a matching rabbit fur trim instead of the usual red felt.
Normally clients come in to have them fitted but the firm were instead given the couple's measurements by St James's Palace.
A spokesman declined to give their measurements but said the couple were of average size.
She said: 'We're are so honoured that the Duke and Duchess will be wearing them.'
William and Catherine have arrived in the city just in time for the legendary Stampede, the world’s richest rodeo.
Famous company: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge join Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama as people who have received a white hat on arrival in Calgary
The couple were due to launch the Stampede with William throwing a stone, known as a stove, into the back of a ‘chuck wagon’ – the mode of transport used by the original pioneers – the traditional way to start one of the stampede's races.
They both looked relaxed in jeans and brown leather belts with William in a green checked shirt and Catherine wearing a patterned white shirt by British designer Alice Temperley.
Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Calgary is a gleaming modern metropolis of more than a million people that remains in touch with its roots as a Wild West frontier town.
Nicknamed Cowtown, its wealth is now built on oil and gas rather than cattle, but every year in July locals and visitors act out their cowboy and cowgirl fantasies at the world-famous 10-day Stampede festival.
Keep your hat on: William and Kate in their white rabbit fur hats at Calgary's famous Stampede
Known as ‘the greatest outdoor show on earth’, the event dates back to 1884 and attracts cowboys from the length and breadth of Canada competing for more than $2million in prize money.
The couple arrived in Calgary after enjoying the second romantic break of their tour of Canada and the States.
The Duke and Duchess flew by helicopter on Wednesday to a secluded rustic log cabin the heart of the Canadian Rockies, just above picturesque Lake Louise.
Local residents said special preparations were made at Skoki Lodge for their arrival.
The owners are said to have completely refitted their cabin with a new bathroom and hot tub flown up to the remote spot.
Skoki Lodge’s website touts it as ‘an ideal destination for hikers and skiers…one can access breath-taking mountain ridges and alpine lakes.
’In the summer visitors often explore the area on horseback.
Lake Louise is home to just 1,000 people and was named after the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, who married John Campbell, the 9th Duke of Argyll who was Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883.
Royal sources told the Mail: ‘It’s a private lodge with no phone signal and completely inaccessible by road – you have to walk the last few kilometres to get there.
'Their cabin was very rustic and basic but it is just what they wanted. They spent the day generally unwinding, hiking and enjoying the beautiful scenery around them.
‘They had a picnic supplied for them and were joined only by their private secretary, Jamie Lowther Pinkerton, and their equerry.
‘It was perfect.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012370/Duchess-Cambridge-Kate-Middleton-embraces-cancer-sufferer-Diamond-Marshall.html#ixzz1RV5P1pwt
