Prince Charles has
led tributes to the girl dubbed the '100-year-old teenager' as hundreds of
mourners gathered for her funeral.
In a letter to
Hayley Okines's grieving parents Charles described the 17-year-old progeria
sufferer, who died earlier this month, as 'an inspiration to millions'.
In his letter the Prince said he had been 'deeply impressed by her incredible spirit and her infectious love of life' when they met at the Children of Courage event at Westminster Abbey in 2004.
Charles' letter
was read at Hayley's funeral by Father Michael Bailey at All Saints Church in
Sidley, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, where more than 250 colourfully-dressed
mourners gathered this afternoon.
On Clarence House-headed paper, Charles told Hayley's parents Kerry and Mark: 'I know that she was an inspiration to millions in the way she dealt with the unimaginable challenge of progeria.
'You must be so
very proud of the way that she used her brief life to make such a difference to
the lives of others through her charity work and I do hope you can take some
comfort, despite all the anguish you must be suffering, in her truly astounding
achievements.
There are 74 known
cases of progeria around the world and only 4 in the UK - it causes people to
age eight times faster than the usual rate.
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