King Charles has apologised to Dame Deborah James’ parents at Buckingham Palace reception.
On April 39, the British monarch and Queen Camilla hosted a special reception at Palace to honour community groups and organisations working to raise awareness about cancer.
The royal couple were joined by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince Richard and Birgitte.
During the event, Charles met Dame Deborah’s parents, Alistair and Heather James.
His majesty apologised, saying, I’m “so sorry I didn’t meet her.”
He hailed the late cancer campaigner, who died in 2022, as “a force of nature.”
As per Mirror, Heather admitted that it was an “honour” for the King to have echoed her daughter's words in his written message to guests.
She added, “It was lovely to be introduced to the king and I did thank him for being open with his diagnosis and said how much of a difference that would make to the public.”
Alister chimed in, “I think both him and the King realised that she was a force of nature so it would have been wonderful to meet her.”
The guests who attended the special reception included the Duchess of York, Wes Streeting the health secretary, Victoria Derbyshire, Richard E Grant, Amy Dowden, Adele Roberts, Ashley Cain and Lorraine Kelly.
About Dame Deborah James
Dame Deborah James was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in December 2016 at the age of 35.
She campaigner for people affected by cancer and raised awareness about bowel cancer.
