Royal nanny Araceli “Lillie” Piccio on Sunday said Prince William thanked her twice for coming to his wedding and, along with his bride Kate, kissed her on seeing her at the reception at Clarence House on Friday. Piccio, who is from Bacolod City, was the lone Filipino invited to the royal wedding, having served as a nanny to both Prince William and Prince Harry, and later working for their mother Princess Diana.
“I cried at the wedding. It was both a happy and sad occasion for me,” she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview. Piccio was happy to see the boy she had cared for turn into a handsome young man and finally get married, but she wept at the thought that his mother, Princess Diana, could not be at his wedding. “The princess would have been so proud of him,” she said.
Piccio said she had breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner at Clarence House on the day of the wedding and went home past 8 p.m. on Friday. When Prince William and his bride arrived at Clarence House from the Buckingham Palace reception in a dark blue Aston Martin, Piccio, along with the rest of the staff, lined up in the courtyard. She said they were briefed to curtsy when the royals arrived.
“When Prince William drove in there was loud applause from everyone and all of a sudden I heard him call out ‘Hi Lillie’ and he came up to hug and kiss me, as if he really missed me,” Piccio said. “I was dumbfounded ... I was not able to say anything.”
“He said he was so happy I came to his wedding and asked how I was. He also said he liked my dress,” Lillie said. She wore a dress made by Bacolod designer Lourdes Lipa. She added that Kate, who also kissed her, asked how she knew Prince William. According to Piccio, Prince William told his bride that “She (Piccio) looked after Mummy before.”
“I told her I had been working for the family since William was a baby. She (Kate) was beautiful and sweet,” she said. “Everybody was looking at us because Prince William and Kate stopped to talk to me.”
Asked if Kate was like Princess Diana, Piccio said, “Nobody can wear the shoes of Princess Diana. She was one of a kind, she was beautiful, kind and generous. She taught her boys to be humble.”
