Mr Roberts met Kate when she and Prince William spent the day at the seaside town touring a series of projects focused on regeneration and visited Blackpool Tower.
When he told the future Queen about his cancer diagnosis, she responded with three inspiring words: “Just keep going.”
“I’d just come out of hospital and Kate was visiting Blackpool with Prince William, they were touring Blackpool, and it was then that I managed to chat to her,” he told PA. “She did a walkabout, William went on one side and she came the other side, she came to my side, and we were chatting for a good five minutes.
“We were chatting and I was saying, my life has changed, it was so difficult, you’ve got to go through every emotion.
“She basically said, ‘what cancer is it?’ and I said it was stage three and that I had my lung out, and she said ‘oh my God, that’s awful’ and she said ‘just keep going’ and she gave us a hug.
“She wished me all the luck in the world and she listened. She cared, and that’s one thing that struck me – she cares.”
“She basically said, ‘what cancer is it?’ and I said it was stage three and that I had my lung out, and she said ‘oh my God, that’s awful’ and she said ‘just keep going’ and she gave us a hug.
“She wished me all the luck in the world and she listened. She cared, and that’s one thing that struck me – she cares.”
