Compassionate Charles: Prince holds the hand of a 16-year-old boy with muscular dystrophy as he meets chronically ill youngsters at a children's hospice in Wales

  • Prince Charles, 69, met with children at Ty Hafan hospice in Sully, near Cardiff
  • He shared jokes with some of the children and described hospice as 'remarkable'
  • Royal was given tour of facility, which has undergone multi-million development
  • Charles later officially opened the Wales Air Ambulance Charity's airbase

ByEmily Chan For Mailonline

PUBLISHED:16:44, 23 February 2018|UPDATED:13:51, 24 February 2018

Prince Charlesshowed his compassionate side as he met with chronically ill youngsters at a children's hospice in south Wales today.

The 69-year-old royal was seen holding the hand of 16-year-old Cameron Davies, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as he met him at the Ty Hafan hospice in Sully, near Cardiff.

During the visit, the Prince of Wales was given a tour of the facility, which has recently undergone a multi-million pound redevelopment.

He was heard describing the hospice as 'remarkable' as he enjoyed chatting with youngsters and their families who have been helped by the charity.

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Prince Charles held the hand of16-year-old Cameron Davies, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as he met with youngsters at a children's hospice in south Wales today

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The Prince of Wales chatted to fundraisers during a visit to theTy Hafan children’s hospice in Sully, near Cardiff

Among those that Charles met was teacher Rebecca Griffiths, whose 13-year-old son Will has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and suffers severe seizures.

She said Will and his younger brother Osian, nine, look forward to their visits to Ty Hafan, adding that meeting Charles was 'absolutely superb'.

Lucy Davies and her son Cameron, and daughter Daisey, nine, also met the Prince.

'It was just surreal, what a lovely man,' Lucy said. 'He was asking Cameron about what he enjoys doing and that's football.

Charles, 69, met one of the young boys at the hospice, who held a 'Hugs' teddy bear

He later signed his name on a mural, featuring the hand prints of children at the hospice

'Cameron was extremely nervous but he did really well.'

Carol, seven, handed the departing Prince of Wales a piece of art, which was contributed to by a number of the children.

On arriving at the hospice, Charles had been greeted by well-wishers, many of whom had been waiting for his arrival in chilly weather for some time.

Sharing a joke with the local residents, Charles said: 'Have you been standing here long? Bad luck.'

He also shared a laugh with workers dressed in high-vis overalls, who had been carrying out the redevelopment of the hospice gardens, saying: 'You are brightening up the day.'

Charles later signed his name on a colourful mural featuring the handprints of children at the hospice.

He became patron of the charity in 2001, when heofficially opened the hospice's memorial garden.

Over the years, children's hospice, which opened in 1999, has since provided care to more than 600 youngsters from across Wales who are not expected to live to adulthood.

Charles had previously created the hand print during a previous visit back in 2001

The Prince of Wales was heard describing the hospice as 'remarkable' during his visit today.

Speaking after the visit, Rob Jones, the charity's chief executive and also the father of Poppy, 12, who has a number of conditions linked to cerebral palsy and uses the service, said Charles's visit was brilliant.

He said: 'This means a huge amount to the hospice, having our patron visit us is a real morale boost for the families that come here.

'It is recognition of the work we do and we could not be more delighted.'

Mr Jones became involved with Ty Hafan six years ago and he said the charity had made a 'huge' difference to him, his wife and children.2

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