Watch as North-East youngster Lyla O'Donovan enjoys private tea party with Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace

Lyla O’Donovan, aged 11, missed out on the chance to attend a royal garden party in May because she was in hospital at the time.

But she was invited to take tea with Queen Camilla and another courageous youngster at Buckingham Palace to make up for it.

Lyla, whose parents Paul and Kirsty O’Donovan come from Hartlepool, has been living with a rare brain stem tumour since 2016 and has been through multiple life-threatening operations.

She and her family raise funds to support other families with a child who has a life-threatening illness and provide days out to make memories.

The Royal Family released a video of last week’s special tea party on social media.

In it, the Queen tells Lyla and nine-year-old double amputee Tony Hudgell, from Kent, who also missed out on May’s garden party: “It’s really nice to get you here today. We thought we’d give you a special garden party.”

They are shown enjoying a ride in a carriage, watching the Changing of the Guard, and tucking into tea and cake in a summer house in Buckingham Palace’s gardens.

Lyla said: “We couldn’t come to the garden party last month because I was in hospital. We sat around the table and we just chatted for a bit.

"We had some little cookies, some sandwiches and tea.”

Dad Paul, a corporal in The Rifles based at Catterick, and Lyla’s little brother, Henry, six, accompanied Lyla at the palace.

Paul thanked the Royal Family for the unforgettable day, saying: “It was really good, Lyla was over the moon.

"It was the second time in two years that she had been invited to a garden party but couldn’t go."

And not long after returning home, Lyla was invited back to the capital to appear on ITV’s This Morning on Monday to talk about the party and her illness with hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard.

Paul added: “She talked about meeting the Queen and giving her advice on how to use TikTok for her grandchildren.

"It has been a mad week.”