William and Kate pay tribute to 'brave and humble woman' after sad death

The Prince and Princess of Wales have expressed their sadness at the death of a young photographer, saying it was “an honour to have met such a brave and humble young woman”.

Liz Hatton, 17, who died on Wednesday, was pursuing a photography bucket list after being diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of cancer at the start of this year.

The teenage photographer, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, first hit the headlines when she was pictured being hugged by The Princess of Wales, who was treated for cancer this year too, at Windsor Castle in October after being invited to take pictures of William at an investiture.

READ MORE: Good Morning Britain honours teen who inspired Kate Middleton in emotional tribute

William and Kate shared a personal message on their Kensington Palace social media accounts: “We are so sorry to hear that Liz Hatton has sadly passed away.

“It was an honour to have met such a brave and humble young woman.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Liz’s parents Vicky and Aaron and her brother Mateo at this unimaginably difficult time.” And the message was signed “W & C”.

Liz’s mother Vicky Robayna praised her “incredible daughter”, saying “she flew high until the end” as she announced her death on X.

Vicky admitted that Liz's death at home in the early hours of Wednesday left “a gaping Liz-shaped hole in our lives that I am not sure how we will ever fill".

She asked people to share one of Liz’s photos in tribute, under the hashtag #LizHatton, and also to support the family’s mission to fund research into Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour, a rare and aggressive sarcoma.

Ms Robayna has set up a fundraising page with a goal of raising £100,000, with donations currently being taken at Liz’s previous fundraising page, with a link to this on the new campaign.

While working through her bucket list, Liz photographed comedian Michael McIntyre, circus performers, the Royal Ballet, models from the Storm Model Agency, London Air Ambulances from a helipad, hotel doormen, the red carpet at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and joined acclaimed British photographer Rankin to lead a fashion shoot.

She fulfilled what her mother described as her “biggest wish” by spending two days with Los Angeles-based portrait photographer David Suh, who flew from the US to work with her.

The project resulted in her own photography exhibition in London this month, showcasing her work.

Ms Robayna said on X at the time: “Liz had her very own exhibition last week, the perfect culmination of her incredible achievements.

“As I walked around looking at her pictures, thinking about the circumstances many were taken under, I was more in awe of her than ever.”

But Ms Robayna also revealed two days ago how Liz had become increasingly tired and how they were due to be celebrating Christmas early as a family at the end of this week, adding: “We know our time is short now.”

Former Harrogate Grammar School student Liz launched her own website devoted to her photography., which tells of how she began taking photographs as soon as she could walk, saved to buy her first “real” camera aged nine and, at 11, chose her secondary school because they offered photography as a course.

Taking photographs helped Liz cope with her constant pain.

The website said: “Every time she picks up her camera and focuses on new and exciting shoots it helps to distract her from the constant pain that she feels every second of every day.

“When taking photographs, the rest of the world doesn’t seem to matter as much.”