Prince William gives ‘strong’ advice to Lady Deborah James’ children

Prince William has given Lady Deborah James’ children some ‘powerful’ advice for dealing with grief.

The Duke of Cambridge met the podcaster and her family a month before she died of bowel cancer in June, and her widow Sebastian Bowen praised the 40-year-old royal – whose own mother wears Princess Anna was only 15 years old. Died in a car accident – because he interacted with their children, Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12.

Sebastian said: “I opened my doors to Prince William once and he came to give Deborah a ladyship. He felt like a friend but he was the future king. It was weird.

“He was relaxed; he came to the garden to sit down and drink champagne with the family. Deborah had a glass of champagne, a glass of wine and a glass of sherry in front of her. She wasn’t allowed to drink in months, first words from William. The words were, “I’m glad to see you parked three cars. “That was a straight icebreaker.

“He’s obviously been through similar grief over the loss of his mother, so he’s giving the kids strong advice to be with them forever.”

Deborah, nicknamed “Bowel Babe”, was awarded the title of Baroness in recognition of her charitable work, but was only told of the honour the day before William visited their home because she was too ill to Travel, causing family to ‘frenzy tidying up’ royal visitors ahead of them.

Sebastian recalled to The Times: “I got a call from the 10 the day before. They explained the formal way to tell her and I was nervous and she thought something terrible must have happened.

“She looked at me and said, ‘I’m dying. What else could be wrong?’ And she was like, ‘Shut up, you’re making it up,’ and then, ‘Are we going to the palace? When I said Cambridge We had to pack like crazy when the Duke might come here.”

William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge have paid tribute to the “Unwavering Brave” host of “You, Me and the Big C” following Deborah’s death.

They wrote on Instagram: “We are so saddened to hear the heartbreaking news about Mrs Deborah. Our hearts go out to her children, her family and her loved ones. Deborah An inspiring, steadfast and courageous woman whose legacy will live on. W,C.”