Kate Middleton made at least one little girl feel like a princess Friday.
During her first solo visit on her and Prince William's three-week royal tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Duchess of Cambridge dropped in on a Mad Hatter's Tea Party at the Rainbow Place in Hamilton, New Zealand. Rainbow Place, which is the children's arm of a local hospice, provides free support services for children whose parents or family members have a terminal illness.
Kate spent much of her visit talking individually with children about their experience grieving a parent who had died or received a terminal diagnosis, and how they're coping using art therapy.
A 12-year-old boy told her about his father's drowning using a sand tray, and Kate sat at a table comforting two girls whose mother had been diagnosed with terminal throat cancer, according to the Telegraph.
Bailey Rupe, a six-year-old whose mother has terminal breast cancer, told the U.K. Mirror newspaper she "was excited to meet a real princess and it made me feel like a princess for the day too."
The Duchess also accepted gifts of flowers and baby clothing from children at the centre.
Check out more photos of Will and Kate's royal tour in the slideshow below.
