Princess Diana's friend Julia Samuel praises Prince William's 'amazing empathy'

One of Princess Diana’s most defining features was her care and understanding of others - and it seems that legacy lives on in her son Prince William.
 
Julia Samuel, a grief counsellor who befriended the late Princess of Wales at a dinner party in 1987, has praised the future king’s “amazing empathy” in an interview with The Times.

The Duke of Cambridge, 35, is the royal patron of Samuel’s charity Child Bereavement UK - a position once held by his mother - and often meets with grieving families.

“He's a really good listener. He has an amazing empathy from his own experiences.”

Prince William was just 15 when his mother died in a car crash in 1997, and the father-of-two has since spoken of how deeply the tragedy affected him for years afterwards. 

"Slowly, you try to rebuild your life, you try to understand what happened,” he recalled in the documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, released last year.  

“I kept myself busy, as well, to allow you to get yourself through that initial shock phase. We're talking maybe as much as five to seven years afterwards."

RELATED: The important lesson Princess Diana instilled in her sons
 
At an event marking the 21st anniversary of Child Bereavement UK in 2015, the second in line to the British throne alluded to the immense pain of losing a family member.

"What I understand now is that grief is the most painful experience that any child or parent can endure,” he said.

However, Samuel remains a close friend of the Royal Family 20 years after Diana’s death.

LISTEN: The key to living with purpose, as explored by the Life Bites podcast. (Post continues.)

WATCH: 9Honey discuss Prince William's kind nature.