The Duchess of Cambridge has been left saddened by the death of a teenage cancer patient she met on her recent tour of Malaysia.
Zakwan Anuar, 15, who had leukaemia, postponed a badly-needed blood transfusion for 24 hours and put himself through extra pain so he would not miss the royal visit.
Kate's trip with William to the Kuala Lumpur hospice where the schoolboy was receiving care transformed his demeanour and brought a rare smile to the face of the teenager, who is believed to have died last Thursday.
His mother, Norizan Sulong, a lecturer in business studies, told the Sun newspaper: "We were next to him when he had his last moment. He was surrounded by his brother, sister, father, grandfather, grandmothers and schoolmates. I miss him terribly."
Zakwan celebrated his birthday a few days before the royal visit last month and summoned the strength to chat to the Duchess for around 15 minutes, telling her she was "very pretty" as she signed a birthday card for him. In reply she said he was "very, very brave" and "very handsome".
His mother said after the meeting that her son was normally very sleepy and in pain, crying, but during the visit it was if "the leukaemia had gone".
Kate, who is patron of a children's hospice charity in the UK, had specifically asked to visit the institution as part of the royal couple's nine-day Diamond Jubilee tour of the Far East and South Pacific, and chose the visit to make her first official speech on foreign soil.
A St James's Palace spokesman said: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are saddened to hear of Zakwan's death. Their thoughts are with his family at this time."
