The Prince and Princess of Wales meeting young photographer Liz Hatton and family(Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

Liz Hatton: Terminally ill teen photographer who inspired Kate Middleton dies at 17

Teenage photographer Liz Hatton – who inspired the Princess of Wales after pursuing a photography bucket list while facing a rare form of cancer – has died, her mother has announced

by · The Mirror

A young cancer patient who met the Princess of Wales has sadly died.

Liz Hatton passed away aged just 17, less than a year after being diagnosed with incurable desmoplastic small round cell tumour.

Only 12 cases are diagnosed a year and and doctors said the insirational teeanger from Harrogate had six months to three years to live, depending on the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

But she died in the early hours of this morning her mum, Vicky, confirmed tonight. She said: "'Our lovely Liz died in the early hours of this morning. She remained determined to her last. Even yesterday she was telling me that I had better get nurses sorted so she could do more things. She went out in a blaze of glory with almost everyone she cared about seeing her for the last time at her exhibition last week."

Her death at home early on Wednesday morning had left “a gaping Liz-shaped hole in our lives that I am not sure how we will ever fill”, she added.

Liz, had written a bucket list of things she wanted to achieve, including getting her pictures published in magazines. She hit the headlines when she got a hug from the Princess of Wales after being given permission to shoot behind the scenes of an investiture at Windsor Castle.

She was later invited to have tea with the couple . She said of meeting the royals at the time: “I never thought I would get to do anything as massive as this. When I did my bucket list I just put some ideas down. I didn’t even think any of these things would happen.”

Last month she worked alongside press photographers at the premiere of Venom: The Last Dance. She was even snapping away on the red carpet of the Royal Variety Show last Friday.

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