The parents of murdered Soham schoolgirl Holly Wells have acknowledged the comfort and kindness shown to them by the Prince of Wales, Camilla Parker Bowles and David Beckham.
In a newspaper interview, Kevin and Nicola Wells told how they and Les and Sharon Chapman, the parents of the other murdered girl, Jessica Chapman, had tea with Charles and Mrs Parker Bowles at Sandringham last Christmas.
Mr Wells said: ''They put us greatly at our ease and we found they both had touchingly detailed knowledge of our circumstances.
''We shared an old-fashioned high tea. It was all quite informal, and in fact we found the whole experience very uplifting.''
They also told how Beckham signed and handed over a pair of red football boots to Holly's brother Oliver, then 12, just 10 days after his sister's body was found.
Police had offered the family a trip to Manchester United's Old Trafford ground and Beckham was hoping his kindness might help console the sad boy.
Mr Wells told the newspaper: ''It was a very emotional day for us because you put people like Beckham and the other players on a pedestal and then find they genuinely care about their fans.''
Mr Wells is writing a book about Holly which will be serialised next year, the newspaper said.
The father said of his daughter's killer Ian Huntley, convicted of murdering the girls last week: ''He took our daughter from us and lied and lied and lied... He left us with her skeleton, a piece of buttock, a tiny piece of scalp, and the contents of her stomach. Nothing else remained, no face to stroke, no hand to hold.''
Meanwhile, another newspaper told how Huntley had spoken of being terrified of rotting in prison.
When on remand in Woodhill Prison, he told reporter David McGee, who had infiltrated the jail: ''I'm going to rot inside this place, I'll rot in here, I know it.''
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