Prince William met cancer patients and leading researchers at the opening of a new state-of-the-art treatment centre today - and gave reassuring words to one mum with the disease.
In his role as the president of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the prince unveiled a plaque to mark the opening of the Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton, London.
Walking into the day patient ward, William was reunited with Matron Lorraine Hyde, who he had first met while on work experience with the Trust.
Shaking her hand, he said: "I remember, it was about 18 years ago when I was here doing my work experience in those good old uni days."
He then spoke with breast cancer patient Eileen McMenamin, 62, from south Croydon, who was in the ward for her first transfusion.
She said: "It’s lovely to see you, I've forgotten all about what I'm having done. I have followed you and your mum since you were a baby."
Laughing, William said: "I'm glad you said that, some people say: 'What are you doing here?'"
Mrs McMenamin added: "It's a shame Kate isn't with you."
The mother-of-three was there with her sister, Tara Malone, who was also a patient at the Royal Marsden in 2009.
Mrs Malone said: "We were panicking this morning, we thought we were going to be late and miss the prince."
Meanwhile, laughing with another patient, he reassured them that cancer had "picked the wrong person to mess with".
Emma Bishop, 38, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last year. Thanks to groundbreaking treatment at the hospital, the mother-of-two was able to run the London marathon for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and raised £100,000.
She said: "I was dying and we were terrified. The Royal Marsden and my super prof [her doctor, Sanjay Popat] have saved my life.
"Cancer treatment gives you time, time is quite simply the most precious resource we have."
She added that the new centre will give patients hope which is "the greatest gift".
Later, William spoke with researchers at the Kuok Research Centre, where he was shown a CT scan of a patient with a tumour.
He was told about groundbreaking developments in liquid biopsy technology - which can detect tiny amounts of cancer in blood samples.
Dr Susie Slater said: "He spotted it was a really big tumour, so he's obviously got a medical mind."
As the prince was preparing to leave, a group of children from the staff nursery onsite gathered to wave him off wearing paper crowns and holding a banner reading "Welcome Prince William".
The prince couldn’t resist going over to say hello, complimenting one young girl on her strawberry dress.
William has been president of the Royal Marsden since 2007, with the position previously held by his mother, Princess Diana.
The new centre, funded by the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, places researchers and patients under the same roof, to accelerate the development of new treatments and help diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage.
The prince has been involved in the project from the start and in October 2020 he laid the foundation stone for the new building.
