The Countess of Wessex joined in a sing-along session with disabled youngsters when she visited a hospice.

The royal guest popped into Shooting Star house, in the Avenue, Hampton, where the children gave her a bouquet of flowers and some of the art they had been making to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

The countess, wife of Prince Edward, is a patron of the Shooting Star Chase charity, which cares for more than 600 families in west London, Surrey and west Sussex. David King, chief executive of Shooting Star Chase, said: “It is always a great honour for Shooting Star Chase to have Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex visiting us.

“She spent lots of time talking with the children, families and volunteers and I know how much they appreciated her visit.”

Sandi Hillery, head of Shooting Star house, added: “We are grateful for the time the countess has taken to visit our families and children.

“They very much enjoyed meeting her and we thank her for making it a very special day for them, and us all.”

Staff welcomed the countess on Wednesday, April 25, and showed her around the sparkle day care area, where she met four families who use the hospice.

She also went into the music therapy room, equipped with a range of instruments, and joined in a sing-a-long session with the children.

The charity provides free care for disabled youngsters and teenagers who are not expected to reach their 19th birthday and helps them make the most of every precious day. It gets no Government funding and must raise £23,000 a day to continue providing its services.

The countess’s informal visit to the hospice came two weeks after her own daughter Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, eight, broke her arm in a horse riding accident.