AS WE ACCOMPANY HER ON A HEARTWARMING TRIP SARAH, DUCHESS OF YORK OFFERS INSPIRING WORDS OF HOPE AS SHE MEETS UKRAINIAN ORPHANS IN BUCHAREST

As she reads a bedtime story to A group of young children gathered around her, Sarah, Duchess of York's maternal nature shines through.

Smiling, she shares a warm hug with one little boy, who sits on her lap and shows her his toy sword, while he and the other youngsters listen, captivated, as she reads them The Princess and the Pea and her own book A Gift of Kindness.

During a two-day visit to Romania accompanied every step of the way by HELLO! - Sarah is meeting Ukrainian refugees as she tours a children's home run by the charity Tikva, which looks after Jewish orphans from Ukraine and the neighbouring regions of the former Soviet Union.

Eleven years on from her first visit to the charity at its base in Odesa, the community has experienced the trauma of leaving its home country - fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine on a perilous journey across the border - to set up a new home in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.

And as Sarah looks around its new children's home, school and housing for alumni orphans, she tells us why she feels such sympathy for the plight of refugees.

STARTING AGAIN

"None of us can know what it's like to have to leave the life you've had, with your belongings in a plastic bag, and start a new life as a refugee, depending on the support of others.

"I've worked with displaced people for more than 30 years, starting with the Bosnian war in 1992. I came to the Ukrainian border three times last year with my charity Sarah's Trust, bringing items of aid.

"I'm humbled by the bravery, love and determination I encounter among refugee communities.

"And although I would never compare myself with anyone in that situation, I feel I have a sliver of understanding of what it's like to lose your world, my mother having left the family when I was 11."

Sarah, who wears a bracelet bearing the names of her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, also tells how she instilled a sense of empathy and compassion in her girls from a young age.