Prince William following in the footsteps of Princess Diana with key move 

Prince William meets pupils at a school in Sandwell

Freddie Hadley, 12, had the surprise of a lifetime when Prince William showed up at his school unannounced, but it’s not all that surprising to one royal journalist, because William grew up watching how his late mother, Princess Diana, engaged with people.

Daily Express US spoke to Brittani Barger, co-founder of Royal News, said of the turn of events: “William’s a father, he has three kids. I think he has a soft spot for kids.”

She adds: “I think he wants to connect with people, he knows he’s going to be king one day.”

“And he saw how his mom did things, he saw how his mom was hugging children, and walking through mine fields, and shaking hands with AIDs patients.”

“So, he’s not afraid to be there with the people or brighten a kid’s day.”

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Freddie, 12, and his friends started a campaign called #AmIManlyEnough (Image: Getty)

Freddie had turned to the social media platform X, to invite William to his school and to share with him what he and his friends had been working on, a campaign called #AmIManlyEnough, which foucses on male mental healh issues and wellbeing.

William replied to Freddie’s tweet, congratulating the middle schooler on the great work he was doing but had to respectfully decline the invitation, saying he and Princess Kate would not be able to come visit.

But, apparently it was just a ruse to throw Freddie off the scent and make the surprise even bigger.

Freddie was beaming, smiling ear to ear when William got out of the car, revealing who the surprise guest was. He says he wasn’t all that surprised, that he knew William wouldn’t ignore his invite, and that he would in fact show up. 

“Life is hard, even for kids, so even a chance to brighten someone’s day, give them a reason to smile, even royals want to do that."

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Freddie and Prince William seemed to hit it off straight away (Image: GETTY IMAGES )

We asked Ms Barger if the royals know what an impact they have on a person, with her saying, “I think they know, to me it’s obvious when you see a bright smile on a kid’s face, or tell you over and over again, ‘Thank you’ or give you a card, I think they know.”

She adds: “They’re more in touch with the people, so they know doing these small things mean a lot to them and having the public’s support is paramount of their job.”