The Princess of Wales shared a warm embrace with a Holocaust survivor and his granddaughters as they reunited at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday. 

Kate, 43, photographed Steven Frank, 89, who lived through multiple concentration camps as a child, with his granddaughters, Maggie and Trixie Fleet, five years ago for a project marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The mother-of-three, who hosted Tuesday’s garden party alongside her husband Prince William, shared an emotional hug with Mr Frank before the pair caught up.

When they met, Kate warmly said: ‘I feel like we are old friends now. Lovely to see you again.’

The royal last met Mr Frank at a Holocaust Memorial Day event in January, to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Their meeting brought full circle their previous connection, as the Princess had photographed Mr Frank in 2020 for her Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors exhibition.

For the exhibition, Kate captured Mr Frank and Yvonne Bernstein, who both settled in Britain after the Second World War.

Mr Frank was among only a handful of children to make it out alive from the last of the many concentration camps he was sent to. By then his father had been gassed to death for speaking out against the Nazis.

The Princess of Wales shared a warm embrace with a Holocaust survivor and his granddaughters as they reunited at a Buckingham Palace garden party yesterday

Mrs Bernstein was hidden as a child in France throughout most of the Second World War and her uncle was seized and murdered for shielding her.

Both Mr Frank and Mrs Bernstein were photographed at Kensington Palace alongside their granddaughters.

The photos went on display at the Imperial War Museum in an exhibition bringing together more than 50 contemporary portraits of Holocaust survivors and their families.

The Prince and Princess of Wales Instagram account shared the news, writing: ‘Displayed for the very first time, these powerful photographs capture the special connections between Holocaust survivors and the younger generations of their families, and remind us of our collective responsibility to ensure their stories live on.

‘The photographs present a group of survivors who made the UK their home after beginnings marked by unimaginable loss and trauma.

‘While offering a space to remember and share their stories, these portraits are a celebration of the full lives they have lived and the special legacy which their children and grandchildren will carry into the future.

‘The exhibition is in partnership with the @RoyalPhotographicSociety and @HolocaustMemorialdayTrust, two organisations who invited The Duchess to be part of this special project, marking 75 years since the end of the Holocaust last year.’

In partnership with the Imperial War Museum, Jewish News, and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors showcased new works from 13 contemporary photographers, all members and Fellows of RPS, alongside photography by RPS patron, Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. 

In one of the pictures Mr Frank was seen holding a pan, this had been one of his mother’s items that he had kept from during his time at Westerbork transit camp. He was later sent to Theresienstadt with his brothers and mother.

The mother-of-three, who hosted the garden party alongside her husband Prince William, shared an emotional hug with Steven Frank before the pair caught up. Pictured, Kate hugging one of Mr Frank’s granddaughters

When they met Kate said: ‘I feel like we are old friends now. Lovely to see you again’

Mr Frank was among only a handful of children to make it out alive from the last of the many concentration camps he was sent to. He was photographed with his granddaughters Maggie and Trixie (pictured)

Whilst at the camp his mother would do laundry for prisoners in exchange for a small amount of bread. 

She would put crumbs into the pan, adding hot water to make a paste. She would give each child a spoonful to keep them alive, denying herself of the food.

It was this act of kindness from his mother and her use of the pan that ultimately saved his life. 

He survived multiple concentration camps and Mr Frank and his brothers were three of only 93 children who survived the camp, out of 15,000 children sent there.

Kate, who is patron of the Royal Photographic Society and had produced a thesis on photography during her art history degree, said at the time ‘despite unbelievable trauma at the start of their lives’ they were ‘two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet’.

She added: ‘They look back on their experiences with sadness but also with gratitude that they were some of the lucky few to make it through. Their stories will stay with me forever.’

She added that whilst she had been lucky enough to meet the survivors, she recognised that not everyone in the future would be able to hear such stories first hand.

In January, the ceremony at Guildhall, which was shown on BBC1, brought together faith and civic leaders as well as survivors of the Holocaust and more recent genocides.

Mr Frank, 89, embraces the Princess of Wales during an emotional Holocaust Memorial Service in London

Kate has said she was ‘honoured’ to have her photographs of Holocaust survivors and their families included in the Imperial War Museum exhibition

Kate, wearing all black with a five-string pearl necklace, and William, dressed in a navy suit and blue tie, described it as a ‘great honour’ to attend as they met with a group of survivors who told her of their heartrendering personal stories.

In an emotional reunion with Mr Frank, Kate told him: ‘I want to give you a big cuddle.’

He thanked her for sending him a Christmas card and the pair chatted about his family.

She also warmly embraced survivor Yvonne Bernstein, 87 – who also had her picture taken by the Princess in 2020 – before Kate clasped her hands and sat beside her and said: ‘(It is) such a treat for me (to see) an old friend.’

Kate has always had a passion for photography and she produced her undergraduate thesis on the era of photography – in particular, photographs of children.

She graduated in 2005 from the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland, with an undergraduate (2:1 Hons) in the history of art.