King grants grieving mother’s wish to bury seven-year-old son in closed graveyard
The King has granted a grieving mother’s wish to have her seven-year-old son buried in a closed graveyard dear to the family’s heart after she delivered a letter to Sandringham this Christmas.
The monarch approved a Privy Council decision to allow William Brown, who was killed in a hit-and-run outside his home near Folkestone, Kent, to be laid to rest in the churchyard attached to his primary school.
He is said to have been “exceptionally moved” by the tragedy.
Nobody has been buried in the churchyard for 100 years since it was closed by Order of the Privy Council, with the modern-day council needing to give special permission for an exception to be made.
The council is not due to meet until February, with William’s mother Laura Brown, 41, making a personal plea to the King for the decision to be sped up.
On Christmas morning, she drove three and a half hours to the Sandringham Estate to hand her letter to the monarch’s security team.
The decision means William, who had been retrieving his football from the road outside his home when he was struck by a car on Dec 6, can be buried at St Mary and St Eanswythe’s Church in Folkestone.
Mrs Brown said: “We are so delighted – I can’t believe it. I was waiting for a miracle to happen and it did. I am so happy that we can lay Will to rest in a place that he absolutely loved. I feel overwhelmed with joy.
“The King is a good man – he’s an amazing man. He is a father himself and obviously has a big heart.
“I had the most horrendous Christmas of my life. I needed to be able to say goodbye to my son and to have somewhere to visit him.
“So I drove to Sandringham in the middle of the night to give my letter to the King – I was just so desperate for someone to read it. Now we can finally lay William to rest.”
A spokesman for the Privy Council said: “We are pleased that His Majesty the King, on the advice of his Privy Council, has granted permission in order to support the family in these tragic circumstances. The Brown family and the local community in Folkestone are in our thoughts at this difficult time.”
A spokesman for the King said: “His Majesty was exceptionally moved by the family’s circumstances, and pleased to be able to assist.”
It is understood that all parties were mindful of the distressing circumstances and keen to accelerate the official process.
William was a Year Three pupil at the primary school attached to St Mary and St Eanswythe’s Church, walking through the grounds every day and attending services weekly.
The local vicar had given the Brown family his blessing, but they also had to apply to the formal body of advisers to King Charles, made up of senior politicians, for permission.
Before the decision was accelerated, it could only have been discussed at the next Privy Council meeting in February, with the Brown family fearing they would be unable to bury their child until “March or April at the earliest”, even if a decision went their way.
That process can now begin.
Mrs Brown, 41, who also has a six-year-old daughter, Pearl, hopes the decision will allow William’s schoolfriends to visit his grave on their way to and from school.
She said: “He spent a lot of time playing in there, collecting conkers and picking wild garlic for our dinner. He loved that place. I go there every day because Pearl is still at the school, so we could visit him all the time. There’s nowhere else more fitting for him.”
An inquest opening into William’s death at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent, heard that the cause of his death was “severe head injuries”.
A local man was arrested in Dymchurch on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving, failing to stop at the scene of a collision and perverting the course of justice on Dec 7.
The 49-year-old was later bailed to return to the police station on March 6 , pending further enquiries.
