A terminally-ill grandmother was overjoyed after receiving a letter from Queen Consort Camilla.

Allington resident Lois Smith has cancer and is currently receiving end-of-life care at the Heart of Kent Hospice.

The 87-year-old also lost her daughter to the illness last December and her other daughter, who lived with multiple sclerosis, died in June.

Lois's grand-daughter Emily had always spoken to her about receiving a telegram from the Queen when she turned 100.

However, after realising it was unlikely her nan would reach the landmark birthday, she wrote to Queen Consort Camilla, explaining the situation and detailed the difficult year Lois has had.

On Tuesday a handwritten note arrived from Clarence House in London.

It read: "Dear Mrs Smith. Your grand-daughter, Emily, told me that you were feeling a bit low and thought this card (painted by my husband) would cheer you up. I do hope that it does. With my best wishes, Camilla."

Family friend Wendy Ball said: "She had always longed for the telegram from the Queen but this was not to be.

"Receiving this from Camilla was the next best thing and she has felt like royalty in the hospice.

"It has really helped especially as it has been such an awful year for her losing both her daughters."

Lois was born in 1935 in Sydenham, south London, and lived there until moving to Allington in 2002.

She was married to husband Ron for more than 50 years until he died in 2014, and has four grand-children and three great-grand-children.

She was a florist and even arranged flowers for some royal events.

For her own wedding, she chose lily of the valley and white heather as she been asked to use these for an event that Princess Margaret was hosting months before.

Wendy said that Lois's first memory of anything royal are pictures taken at a street party for the coronation of George VI in 1937.

She said: "She grew up celebrating every royal event and used to collect all the memorabilia for each occasion.

"She remembered street parties for the royal weddings and watched the jubilee celebrations this year avidly on TV.

"She enjoyed a trip to the garden centre to buy red, white and blue flowers for her garden and celebrated at a family tea party."

Lois also remembered once seeing Princess Elizabeth at the time, when the royal car was driven down their road when she was a child.

Wendy continued: "The Queen was her favourite royal and she always sat down and watched the queens speech after her Christmas lunch with a glass of sherry."