"We had to sit our seven-year-old down and tell her daddy has cancer"

When John and Claire Haywood sat their daughter Ellie down to tell her 'daddy has cancer', they'd not made the decision lightly.

Still coming to terms with the diagnosis themselves, they'd considered whether to share it with their seven-year-old.

Neither of them were strangers to the disease, Claire had dedicated her career to helping those suffering from cancer, so they had a better understanding than most of what was to come.

But they didn't know how to speak to children about it, or if in fact they should share it with their little girl at all. But now, looking back, they say it was the best thing they could have done.

Read more: Kate Middleton and Prince William to take month-long break away from Windsor

As the Princess of Wales revealed her own shock diagnosis last week, and how she and Prince William have taken 'time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them', Claire, who is managing director at Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, has recalled how her family dealt with the blow.

Her husband John was just 45 and fit and healthy when a bruise on his ankle turned out to be a very rare sarcoma.

Further investigations revealed that the Greater Manchester Police chief inspector also had NLP Lymphoma - another cancer in no way linked to the patch on his ankle.

Claire, from Bury, turned to professionals she worked with to seek their guidance on what to share with Ellie.

"I went to them and said 'I know how to talk to patients about cancer, but I don't know how to talk to children'," said Claire. "Me and John didn't know whether to tell her and worry her, but we were advised 'you need to tell her'.

"So many children don't get told, but it's to their detriment," she added.