Terminally ill Liz Hatton, 17, who shared a sweet hug with Kate Middleton, hosts her very own photography exhibition in London

Liz Hatton, the teen photographer who shared a tender hug with the Princess of Wales in October after they bonded over their cancer journeys, was the star of the show as she attended an exhibition in her name last night.

The talented teenager, 17, joined her family as they stepped out at the special event hosted by British Land and Getty Images at 2 Kingdom Street, Paddington Central in London.

Impressed guests were snapped looking around at the some of the photographer’s incredible work at her very own exhibition, while Liz sweetly posed with her relatives.

Terminally ill Liz, from Harrogate, Yorkshire, is battling desmoplastic small round cell tumour, a rare and extremely aggressive form of the disease.

Earlier this month, the 17-year-old made headlines after she was invited to Windsor Castle to photograph an investiture, where she found herself meeting the Prince and Princess of Wales. 

The teenager, who has between six months and three years to live, discussed with Kate their mutual passion for photography and shared a warm embrace with one another, which was captured in photos later shared by Kensington Palace. 

It was the first time that the princess had been pictured since she announced she was planning a slow and measured return to work following her own cancer diagnosis in February. 

The teenage cancer patient was invited to Windsor Castle in October after William heard about her diagnosis and love for photography. 

Liz Hatton, the teen photographer who shared a tender hug with the Princess of Wales in October after they bonded over their cancer journeys, was the star of the show as she attended an exhibition in her name last night

Liz, pictured sharing a hug with Kate, previously revealed to the Mail that she hadn’t even considered including meeting royalty on her bucket list

However, Liz told MailOnline, she had no idea her invite included a private meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales, describing the day as ‘truly incredible’.

She said: ‘Of course I didn’t expect anything like this to happen – I didn’t even expect to be able to fulfil any of my original bucket list – never mind additions like this that were so far beyond our wildest imagination.

‘The day was truly incredible. I was practically shell shocked every other minute as they told us what we were going to be doing, especially so when the Prince and Princess walked into the room.

‘So I am beyond honoured to have had this experience and very thankful that my family could join me and experience it as well.

‘The Prince and Princess were very kind and honest, there was nothing to suggest that they were trying to be superior or grand they were just genuine, real, kind people.’

Speaking to Good Morning Britain alongside her mother Vicky Robayna, who also travelled to Windsor Castle, Liz told Rob Rinder on how they dealt with the diagnosis. 

Liz said: ‘We just have to try to remain positive because what’s the point in wasting what little time I have left.’ 

Her mother, Vicky, said: ‘Because Liz’s cancer has gone to her liver we knew her chances of survival was nil so it was really important that we live each day as if it was our last.

The talented teenager, 17, joined her family as they stepped out at the special event hosted by British Land and Getty Images at 2 Kingdom Street, Paddington Central in London

The 17-year-old (pictured last night) made headlines after she was invited to Windsor Castle to photograph an investiture, where she found herself meeting the Prince and Princess of Wales

The talented teenager looked to be in her element as she attended her own exhibition

Impressed guests were snapped looking around at the some of the photographer’s incredible work at her very own exhibition. Pictured, Liz, centre, with guests

‘When we ask how we do it we don’t think any far forward than the next exciting thing we have planned. If we look to the future, that’s too scary and we would sit in bed and not get up.’

 Liz – who said she is not scared of dying – said she was given the option to continue with chemotherapy or to stop having treatment.

She said: ‘Because of the chances of them working being so slim, I wanted to spend time with my family and enjoy the time I have left, instead of spending it stuck in hospital and feeling even more terrible and dealing with side effects.

‘I chose to stop my chemo and just live my life at home and just deal with whatever comes.’

The talented amateur photographer drew up a wish list of events to snap after being diagnosed in January – and told that she could have between six months and three years to live. 

She has been living out her bucket list, in which she hoped to photograph behind the scenes of a West End show and film set.

GMB said Six, the West End musical, found out about Liz’s list and invited her to photograph the pre-show warm up and the cast.

In another ‘bucket list’ moment for the teen, Liz was spotted last month working alongside photographers to capture celebrities attending the UK premiere of Tom Hardy’s Venom: The Last Dance. 

Liz posed with her family during the special event in London on November 21

Liz shared a hug with one of the guests at the Liz Hatton photography exhibition hosted by British Land and Getty Images

Liz was all smiles as she shared a hug with another guest at the Liz Hatton photography exhibition

Liz (pictured centre) previously told MailOnline that she had no idea her invite to Windsor Castle included a private meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales, describing the day as ‘truly incredible’

In another ‘bucket list’ moment for the teen, Liz (pictured yesterday) was spotted last month working alongside photographers to capture celebrities attending the UK premiere of Tom Hardy’s Venom: The Last Dance

Liz Hatton and family attend the Liz Hatton photography exhibition hosted by British Land and Getty Images at 2 Kingdom Street

Reporting from the BFI IMAX in Waterloo, Liz took to Instagram to give her followers a behind-the-scenes look at the star-studded premiere. 

Camera in hand, Liz was in a wheelchair as she appeared determined to photograph the celebrity guests who walked down the red carpet, including leading man Hardy, his son Louis Hardy, and Venom 3 director Kelly Marcel. 

Other cast members present at the screening included Ted Lasso star Juno Temple and Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. 

The premiere was also attended by Scottish race car driver and reality TV star Sebastian Melrose, British comedian and TV host Mo Gilligan, and Love Island alum including Ekin-su Cülcüloğlu, Demi Jones, Uma Jammeh, and Olivia Hawkins. 

Liz previously revealed to the Mail that she hadn’t even considered including meeting royalty on her bucket list.

She said: ‘It was great to talk to Princess Catherine about photography because I know she loves it to and it is always great to talk about what you love or enjoy, and of course photography is my passion. ‘

Elsewhere, she joked the experience of meeting the Princess of Wales was ‘mind-blowing’. 

The meeting came about – her mother Vicky explained – after someone working for the London Air Ambulance charity, of which Prince William is patron, spotted a social media post she had put up on behalf of her daughter earlier this year asking for help in completing her ‘bucket list’.

Liz and her family pictured with the Prince and Princess of Wales

Liz (left, pictured with mother Vicky) previously said that she remains ‘positive’ because she does not want to waste the ‘little time’ she has left

The talented amateur photographer drew up a wish list of events to snap after being diagnosed in January – and told that she could have between six months and three years to live 

Liz Hatton, 17, who warmed the future King and Queen’s hearts after being invited by Prince William to photograph an investiture he was holding at Windsor Castle, told Mail Online that she had ‘no idea’ she would also be meeting the couple afterwards

‘They then got in touch with the Palace who invited her in June but couldn’t make the date because she was having chemo those days,’ she told the Mail.

‘But they were really, really lovely and said not to worry, they would try again. That invitation was to take photos of the investiture, we knew nothing about meeting the Prince and Princess. She was very excited about it all anyway. 

‘They kept in touch and asked a couple of weeks ago if she could make October 2. We said absolutely she could! We set off just thinking she was going to take photos of the investiture and then ended up meeting the prince and princess and spent about half an hour chatting to them. Which was truly incredible.’ 

Mrs Robayna, who was at the meeting along with her husband Aaron, Liz’s step-father, and her younger brother, Mateo, eight, said her daughter and Catherine spent ‘lots of time talking about photography’.

‘She was really lovely and asked Liz lots of questions about things she might like to photograph, which was really kind of her,’ she added.

‘They didn’t speak about their health. Liz is very keen to say that she is not defined by her cancer. So they spent time talking about the things they enjoyed. 

‘The Princess asked lots of lovely questions, in fact they were both really good, particularly at including our little boy in the conversation. They were such lovely, kind, genuine people. ‘ 

Kensington Palace later posted pictures of the meeting on their social media accounts along with images that Liz had taken on the day and a personal message from the couple saying how moved they had been.

What are desmoplastic small round cell tumors?

Desmoplastic small round cell tumors are a rare type of soft tissue sarcoma – which is a type of cancer.

While it can target anywhere in the body, it almost always occurs in the abdomen. 

According to Sarcoma UK, sometimes, ‘chromosomes in cells can break and re-join together in the wrong way’. 

The site added: ‘Some scientists think that this can cause desmoplastic small round cell tumour. Researchers are still trying to find out why this happens and whether this does cause it.’

Symptoms include: 

A lump or swelling in the body, almost always in the abdomen (this lump can grow very quickly, and is often painful)Abdominal pain and swellingUnexplained weight gainNauseaDifficulty urinating or constipation

If you have any of these symptoms, Sarcoma UK suggests you should visit your GP.

Source: Sarcoma UK 

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