celebrity

Prince Harry's "favourite Aussie" Daphne Dunne has passed away aged 99.

 

Prince Harry’s “favourite Aussie” Daphne Dunne has passed away at the age of 99.

She had been in hospital with pneumonia for close to two months, and just last week received a letter from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle congratulating her on her 99th birthday.

During Harry and Meghan’s 2018 tour to Australia, Daphne met Prince Harry for the third time.

A war widow, Daphne met the Duke of Sussex for the first time in 2015 when he noticed the Victoria Cross she was wearing, and the pair began talking.

“He said, ‘I’m glad I came over,’” Daphne recalled. “We were just chatting for a little while and then they kept saying to him, ‘We’ve got to go. We’ve got to go.’ But he didn’t worry about that. He just continued on with what he was doing which was talking to me and then when he started to go he gave me a kiss on the cheek.”

Ever since, Prince Harry made a point of seeking Daphne out in the crowd every time he visited Sydney.

When they met again in 2017, for the second time, Daphne joked that she would like a kiss on the other cheek “because I was lopsided…”, and Prince Harry happily obliged.

And last year, at the Sydney Opera House, Daphne was introduced to the other woman in Prince Harry’s life, Meghan Markle.

“It’s fantastic. I’m so happy to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you — all good things,” the Duchess of Sussex said to Daphne.

Daphne very much approved of Prince Harry’s new wife, saying: “I think it’s wonderful, the two of you”.

The Duchess of Sussex made a date with Daphne, adding, “Hopefully next time we see you we’ll have a little one with us”, a date that will devastatingly never happen.

In the past, Daphne has told 9News that when it came to her friendship with Prince Harry, “we understand each other.”

Last Friday, 9Honey reported that Daphne received a letter from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex congratulating her on her birthday.

According to the publication, it read:

Dear Daphne,

My wife and I send our warmest wishes to you on the occasion of your 99th birthday on Friday.

We hope you have a wonderful celebration surrounded by family and friends and that you’ve managed to escape hospital. Congratulations on reaching this important and impressive milestone before your centenary year next year.

Happy birthday, Daphne.

Best wishes,

Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

When asked by The Today Show why she believed she had received the special birthday letter, Daphne replied, “I just threw him a kiss and he came.”

Our thoughts are with Daphne’s family.