A grandfather has told how a moment of kindness from the Princess of Wales brought joy back into his life after months fighting an aggressive cancer that saw him hours from death.
Kate, 40, broke royal protocol when she reached out to Rick Leake during a walkabout in Scarborough, and put her arm around his shoulder after discovering he had been seriously ill with throat cancer.
The royal mother-of-three – who visited the North Yorkshire resort town with her husband Prince William, 40, yesterday – held the pose and smiled as his daughter Joanne took a photograph that he will cherish for the rest of his life.
According to the Royal Family’s website there are ‘no obligatory codes of behaviour’ when meeting a member of the Royal Family, but there’s an unwritten rule that you shouldn’t go beyond a handshake. However, the younger generation of royals have often shown they’re more open to sharing a hug and a selfie with well-wishers.
An emotional Mr Leake, 73, told Mailonline: ‘She will never know how much it meant to have her reach out to me that way, I will never forget the kindness she and William showed me.’
In May Mr Leake – a former all-in wrestler who fought as the tag partner of Giant Haystacks in the 70s – was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and needed immediate life-saving surgery. He was told that without emergency intervention he could have died within 12 hours.
The royal mother-of-three – who visited the North Yorkshire resort town with her husband Prince William, 40, yesterday – held the pose and smiled as his daughter Joanne took a photograph that he will cherish for the rest of his life. Pictured, Mr Leake during his time in hospital, surrounded by his family
An emotional Mr Leake (pictured with his wife, Anne, and his daughters), 73, told Mailonline: ‘She will never know how much it meant to have her reach out to me that way, I will never forget the kindness she and William showed me.’
An emotional Mr Leake (pictured with his wife, Anne, and his daughters), 73, told Mailonline: ‘She will never know how much it meant to have her reach out to me that way, I will never forget the kindness she and William showed me.’
On hearing that the royals were in town, Mr Leake’s family felt it would help his recuperation to go to The Street community hub in Scarborough, to catch a glimpse of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
However the ex Royal Engineer and military policeman got far more than he bargained for.