The Day the Princess of Wales Knew My Name– Featured on Healing Roots

The Day the Princess Knew My Name – Featured on Healing Roots

I’m honored and humbled to share that I’ve been featured on the Healing Roots blog with a deeply personal piece titled "The Day the Princess of Wales Knew My Name."

This isn’t just a blog post—it’s a piece of my heart.

In it, I open up about grief, legacy, and the moment I realized that something beautiful had bloomed from pain. It’s a reflection on my mother’s absence, my daughter’s presence, and the full-circle moment of receiving a letter from someone I never imagined would ever know my name—Catherine, the Princess of Wales.

For those of us living with grief, moments like these aren’t about fame or recognition. They’re about acknowledgment.

About feeling seen.

About remembering that even when life breaks us open, we are still allowed to be proud of what grows from that space.

You can read the full story on Healing Roots here:👉 The Day the Princess of Wales Knew My Name

To those of you grieving, rebuilding, or trying to find meaning through loss—you are not alone.

This piece is for you.

With love and hope,

Casie 💚

Founder, Change the Face of Depression

The Day the Princess of Wales Knew My Name

Today, I received a letter from Her Royal Highness Catherine, The Princess of Wales.



Yes. That Catherine. I didn’t want to open it at first. The envelope was perfect—crisp edges, royal crest, my name printed on the front like something out of a dream. For a moment, I just stared at it, frozen. I wasn’t ready to open it because deep down, I knew I had no one to open it with. Let me rewind.

A few months ago, I sent the Princess a copy of my mental health guidebook. I wrote her a letter, telling her how much I admired her work with early childhood development, how deeply I respected the compassion and conviction she brings to it. I told her she embodies everything I aspire to be—a mother, a woman, an advocate.

And then I told her about my mom.

How her murder shattered my world.How my grief gave birth to Change the Face of Depression.How, in her absence, I made a vow to make meaning out of pain.

I never expected a reply. But today, one arrived.

And when I read her letter—my hands trembling, heart wide open—I was flooded with something I didn’t expect: loneliness. Because I didn’t know who to call. There was no one I could think of to scream with, to cry with, to say “Can you believe this happened?”

I wished on a million stars in that moment that my mother were here. Because she should’ve been the one I called first. But the cruel irony is—if she were here, I may have never written that letter at all.

Grief is funny like that. It carves out holes and fills them with purpose.

And now, because of her, the Princess of Wales knows my name.

I’m going to frame that letter. Not because of the fame or the fairytale—but because of the truth it holds: even the most unimaginable pain can lead to the most unimaginable places.

To anyone who’s lost someone, who’s felt invisible, who’s grieving with nowhere to put it—I see you. You are not small. You are not forgotten. Your story matters more than you know. It can go farther than you imagine.

Mine made it to a palace.

Thank you, Mom. You didn’t get to stay—but you planted something in me that never stopped growing.

This one’s for you.

- Casie Ellison, Founder of Change the Face of Depression (CTFOD)