LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate visited Southport on Tuesday, in a show of support for the northern English community where three young girls were murdered last year at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.
The knife attack during the summer vacation class last July shocked the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting, putting the quiet seaside town into the spotlight.
William, heir to the throne, and Kate spoke privately to the parents of the victims – Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9 – during the visit, their second to the town in a year.
On Tuesday, the royal couple, who themselves have three young children, were shown a new memorial playground built at one school to honour two former pupils who were killed, and also spoke to teachers and pupils to hear how they were dealing with the impact and grief.
“To Alex and Sergio, Lauren and Ben, Jenni and David – you are parents united in grief. You have faced such horror – but from that you move forward with grace and fortitude – creating the most remarkable legacies for your girls. We will always be here to support you,” William said.
“To everyone impacted on that day, you will never be forgotten.”
In the wake of the attack, in which 10 other children were seriously hurt, disinformation spread on social media, wrongly identifying the assailant as a Muslim asylum seeker.
Violent clashes between protesters and police in Southport followed, and an attempt to attack the town’s mosque, disorder which spread across the country.
A public inquiry is currently underway which is seeking answers as to why the teenage killer had repeated prior involvement with public bodies including referrals to a counter-radicalisation scheme, but no action had been taken.
(Reporting by Sarah YoungEditing by Ros Russell)
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