Kate Middleton Was at Ease with Children During Hospice Visit: ‘You Can Tell She Is a Mom’ (Exclusive)

Playful princess Kate Middleton enjoyed helping a 4-year-old girl leave a handprint at a children’s hospice — and ended up with one herself.

The Princess of Wales, 43 — visiting Tŷ Hafan on the morning that she became patron of the hospice in South Wales on Jan. 30 — met the family of Felix Forbes, 12, while there. Felix was at the hospice with his parents, Alex and Dan Forbes, and his sisters Lottie, who turns 10 on Jan. 31, and Maggie, 4.

There are handprints along the main corridor leading to the canteen in the central hub of the hospice, giving it a bright and welcoming feel.

Related: Kate Middleton Makes Emotional Visit to Hospice with Close Connection to Princess Diana

“She was talking about the handprints and how lovely they are, and we said we had all done ours — but we did it before our youngest daughter Maggie was born,” Felix’s mom Alex tells PEOPLE. “So she said to Maggie, ‘I’m getting mine done today, shall we do it together?’"

Lottie then helped by painting Kate’s hand while Kate painted Maggie’s. While her parents say Maggie was a bit bashful about the whole experience, “Lottie’s now aware she’s all over the internet,” dad Dan says.

“It was really warming and easy,” Alex says of the experience interacting with Princess Kate. “You can tell she is a mom. It was easy to see in the way she was so engaging with the girls. She was lovely. She got Lottie to come in and asked, ‘Do you want to paint my hand?’ ”

“It feels like you are speaking to a mom, first and foremost,” Dan says of Kate, who shares three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, with her husband Prince William. “She will bring awareness to what this place does. We would be ignorant to what it was if we didn’t use it. It has been a massive support for us.”

Related: Kate Middleton Was 'Relaxed and Welcoming’ During Children’s Hospice Visit: She ‘Stayed Much Longer Than We Expected’ (Exclusive)

Alex says Tŷ Hafan does so much for siblings of those with life-altering illnesses: “It’s really important for that part of the family,” she says. “It is one of so many things that they do, and to have the princess to help raise the profile of what they do here is just phenomenal.”

Felix’s condition is Miller-Dieker Syndrome, a neurological disorder. Initially the family was told when it was detected in Felix at 13 weeks that he would have a two- to four-year life expectancy; defying odds, Felix is now 12.

Dan adds that they had to be prepared for the end of Felix’s life one day last year.

“We were asked where we would like to be if he didn’t make it through the night, and we immediately chose here,” he says. “We came straight over, and they were able to support us. In doing so, he is so familiar with this environment, it actually gave him the opportunity to recover. Over the 12 years, they’ve supported us in every way, from giving us respite to helping with the siblings and being there.”

The family, from Llantwit Major, South Wales, see a symmetry with Kate following the other Princess of Wales, Princess Diana, as patron: “Diana is always thought of as the royal who had a people touch and had the ability to build rapport and bond with people today,” Dan says. “You could see that today with the princess. She put people at ease immediately — you just felt you were talking to another mother, first and foremost. And that is priceless for families like us, feeling like you are speaking to someone you can relate to.”

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Princess Kate took over the patronage of Tŷ Hafan from King Charles, who had served as its patron since 2001. Princess Diana was tapped to be the charity’s patron in 1995, but died in 1997 before the center’s construction was completed two years later.

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