Kate Middleton’s Childhood Friend Has Sadly Died After Battling an Inoperable Brain Tumor

Rest in peace, Isobel Kennerley. Kate Middleton‘s childhood friend recently died at age 34 after a three-year battle with an inoperable brain tumor, Hello! magazine reported late last week.

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Isobel — who had cerebral palsy — sadly passed away in May at the Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading, England. Her funeral was reportedly held a short time after her death. According to her husband, Scott, and parents Christine and Simon, Isobel fought her brain tumor with “amazing courage and dignity” prior to her passing.

Kate at St Andrew’s School, Pangbourne. (Photo Credit: Splash)

Isobel and Kate, 35, first met back in the early 1990s when they were both members of the same British Girl Scout troop. Isobel, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Kate’s younger sister, Pippa Middleton, all later went on a troop camping trip together in 1991, which Isobel fondly remembered. “I really enjoyed it. Everyone was really kind to me because I have a disability,” she once said of the experience, according to the Daily Mail. Unfortunately, Isobel and Kate later went their separate ways — Prince William‘s future wife attended the private prep school St Andrew’s School, Pangbourne while Isobel enrolled at Engelfield Primary School in Reading, England.

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Isobel’s mother, Christine, told the Daily Mail that her daughter was previously diagnosed with her brain tumor in September 2014. “We were just devastated,” Christine said. “You never imagine that your child will die before you. But Isobel was so brave. She faced it head on.”

“Isobel was the bravest girl imaginable. She was born with cerebral palsy and was paralyzed down the left side of her body but she lived life to the [fullest], always pushing herself beyond her physical limits,” her mother continued. “She never ever complained about what life had thrown at her and, even as a child and after many operations to help her mobility, she just smiled her way through life.” Our thoughts and prayers are with Isobel’s family and friends during this difficult time.

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