Royal couple all smiles as they open children’s cancer unit

The couple met patients and their families as well as staff at the new £18m Oak Centre at the Royal Marsden NHS Hospital Foundation Trust in south London, of which the Duke is president.

Huge cheers greeted their arrival and despite having had little or no sleep after a 24-hour shift in which he picked up a casualty with serious head injuries, and flew a mercy mission to take a sailor to see a seriously ill relative, the Duke was relaxed and cheerful as he chatted to young patients about their care.

Schoolboy Harry Poil, 12, said: “I’m a Chelsea supporter and we were chatting about last night’s (Champions League) match. We had a penalty against us and William thought it was a bit dubious. Kate said she was more into rugby than football.”

The couple’s tour of the new centre ran around 30 minutes over its two-hour schedule as they chatted to virtually all the young patients during their visit.

Fabian Bate, who was in the middle of four hours of chemotherapy after a relapse in his acute lymphatic leukaemia, could not believe it when the Duchess said she would look up his internet blog and send him a message.

He was sitting with his mother, Lydia, 50, and father, Darrell, 49, as well as his two older sisters, Ollie, 17, and Cassia, 11, who had come to be with him during treatment.