The Princess of Wales made a surprise appearance today (October 10) as she met the bereaved families of the Southport stabbing victims alongside Prince William.
The unannounced trip to Merseyside was William and Kate’s first joint official outing since her course of chemotherapy cancer treatment ended this summer.
The couple privately met the families of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, who were all fatally stabbed during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 in Southport. They also met the children’s dance teacher.
Kate and William spent around 90 minutes with the families before walking the short distance to Southport Community Centre where they joined emergency responders involved in the attack to hear about their experiences and meet health practitioners supporting the “blue light” community in Southport.
The Princess of Wales was seen wearing a long brown coat and heels with her hair down and curled.
The royals were greeted by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside Peter Oliver.
At the time of the stabbings the prince and princess issued a statement on social media saying: “As parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through.”
Kate Middleton joined William in surprise visit to Southport
It is understood the engagement was planned as a solo visit for William but Kate decided to join her husband in order to show her support, empathy and compassion for the local community.
Kate has been slowly returning to a light programme of public duties following her announcement in a video four weeks ago saying her course of chemotherapy had ended and her focus would be “doing what I can to stay cancer free”.
William and Kate’s visit follows a similar engagement held by the King in August when he also met the bereaved families and emergency workers.
Following the stabbings, rioting broke out in Southport with further violence across the country for a number of days.
The violence was denounced as “far-right thuggery” by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
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