The King has paid tribute to the victims of the horror knife attack in Southport as he visited the town today and met with survivors of the stabbings in which three young girls were killed.
The monarch was greeted with cheers and applause as he briefly viewed floral tributes before holding a private meeting with the children, their families and others who were at the Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop on July 29 when three were fatally stabbed and ten others seriously injured.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, lost their lives at the dance class at the Hart Space Community Centre.
On Wednesday, the King will meet the bereaved families in London.
On arrival at Southport town hall, Charles was greeted by Dr Ruth Hussey, the vice lord lieutenant of Merseyside, and counsellor June Burns, the mayor of Sefton.
He then viewed a large makeshift memorial dedicated to the victims, gesturing in appreciation at the scale of it. One member of the public gave him three cheers and another shouted ‘thank you for coming’ as he greeted the crowds.
The King affectionately patted one young girl on the shoulder as he shook hands with many of the hundreds gathered to see him.
He told one woman: ‘Look at all the flowers’ and said he hoped people had not been waiting too long.
The colourful display of flowers, plants and cuddly toys outside the town hall has been maintained ever since the attacks, with the soft bears and dolls regularly collected by local volunteers and redistributed in dry weather.
The King was then shown inside to meet the children and adults who witnessed last month’s attack as well as the family liasion officers who have been supporting those affected.
People began to gather outside the town hall from about 11.30am to catch a glimpse of the King.
On July 30, the day after the attack, the King released a written statement saying he was ‘profoundly shocked’ to hear of the ‘utterly horrific incident’.
He added: ‘We send our most heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives, and to all those affected by this truly appalling attack.’
Wearing a grey suit and tie, the King appeared moved as he walked through the floral display – with hundreds of bouquets left at outside the Atkinson Art Centre Southport.
Earlier, he arrived outside a sunny Southport town hall to a rapturous welcome.
Some members of the crowd clapped while others cheered and shouted: ‘God save the King,’ as His Majesty walked around the sea of floral tributes, teddy bears and balloons.
He stopped to shake the hands of some members of the public, including local Linsey Hislop, 43, who asked him about his health and how he was feeling following his cancer treatment.
‘I’m not too bad,’ the King replied.
Mrs Hislop, a foster carer, said she was a ‘big Royalist’ and wanted to come out to show her support.
‘I love the Royal Family, and my son is a police officer who was working during the riots so it’s really good of the King to come,’ she said.
Other members of the crowd appeared emotional and were in tears as King Charles stopped to speak to them.
Southport College worker, Louise Watson, 44, had come down to see the King with her two sons, and two nieces. Running through their names, she laughed, saying, ‘you’re going to love this, we’ve got Charles, Megan, and Harry… it wasn’t intentional!’
‘It’s lovely, it’s great for the kids to see it,’ she said, ‘I think it’s really nice, I think it’s showing respect for the families that have been affected.’
‘I think it’ll mean a lot to the town and particularly for any families that have been involved,’ she added.
King Charles ‘waved straight at’ her other niece, Eleanor, 10, who said: ‘It was really nice to see the King, how he cares, and he’s going to speak to the families.’
Watson’s son, and the King’s namesake, 17-year-old Charles, added: ‘It’s nice that he’s come to show his respect and condolences for what’s happened, it’s a bit of a motivator, a pick-up for Southport.’
‘It’s a wonderful thing, that he’s doing to come,’ Gina Wallwork, 77, said. ‘I do think it’ll mean a lot to everyone in the town, it was right for him to come.’
She added that everyone had been feeling ‘just really sad’ since last month’s attack.
‘It’s a wonderful thing the King is doing, to come personally,’ her husband Peter Wallwork, 79, added, ‘and it was a pleasant surprise.’
At one point, he appeared to read one of the messages of tribute left on one of the bunches as he slowly walked through the floral display.
Pink ribbons adorned lampposts and flower beds were filled with paper windmills in tribute to the victims of the tragedy.
Balloons in the shape of stars, hearts, a disco ball and the girls’ ages were among the tributes and messages outside the Town Hall, including one which read: ‘God has gained three beautiful new angels. May you dance forever in heaven and be at peace.’
Charles has already expressed his shock and sympathy at the events, and has been keen to make a personal visit for some time.
But he wanted to wait until those affected were ready for a royal visit and there was less strain on emergency services in the region.
Charles, 75, who is still undergoing cancer treatment, is understood to have flown down from Scotland where he is spending the summer for today’s event.
Following his walkabout the King went inside the Town Hall to meet some of the children and adult survivors caught up in the atrocity at the Taylor Swift-themed event three weeks ago.
Charles spent about 45 minutes meeting survivors before signing a book of condolence in the town hall. He signed his name, adding: ‘In deepest sympathy.’
Outside the building before he left, the King met members of the community who had helped in the aftermath of the attack.
Paige Whitby, Harriet Neal, Naomi Taylor, all 13, and 10-year-old Emie Todd said they had raised £2,000 for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital by selling lemonade.
Naomi said: ‘It was shocking to meet the King. We were excited and nervous.
‘He asked us about school and whether we were enjoying our holidays.’
Joanne Martlew was there with son Harvey, seven, who presented Charles with a pair of Scottish cufflinks.
Ms Martlew, a retired emergency service worker, said she had been driving past the dance class on the day of the attack when she saw victims coming out and went to help, assisting six of those injured.
She said Harvey, who had witnessed some of the aftermath, took ice creams to police officers in the days after the incident and they took teddies which had been left in tribute near the scene to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
She said: ‘It was brilliant to see the King. I last saw him in 2008 when he was prince. He was just really pleasant.’
Members of the Lord Street in Bloom gardening group, who have been looking after the flowers outside the town hall, were also there to meet the King.
Helen Marshall, 71, said: ‘I think it’s very important he is here. We’re under a cloud and we need something to boost morale.
‘The last few weeks have been devastating but the community spirit is the thing keeping us going.’
Pauline Morris, 60, added: ‘There have been thousands of flowers left. It has been an honour and a privilege to work there.’
Siblings Antony and Jenna Johnson, who distributed free ice creams from their family business Triviso to children in Southport in the days after the attack, also met the King.
Mr Johnson said: ‘We feel super-privileged to be here.
‘It was lovely to meet the King, he was so nice to speak to. He said we’d done a fantastic job.’
Ms Johnson added: ‘We wanted to give out ice creams after the riot because the kids had all been terrified and we wanted to give them something to come out of the house for.’
Then he met members of the emergency services at the town’s fire station and will talk to faith leaders, including imams who came under attack at a local mosque in the immediate aftermath of the stabbing.
He was met on arrival by regional leaders including the Mayors of the Liverpool City Region and Sefton, Steve Rotheram and Councillor Jane Burns, Sefton MP Patrick Hurley and Sefton Council leader, Marion Atkinson.
Inside the station he will hear from staff representing Merseyside’s Police, Fire and Rescue and Ambulance services about the roles responding to recent events and protecting people in the area.
He will also meet local groups impacted by the violent disorder in Southport, including faith leaders.
More than 50 police officers were injured as up to 1,000 people gathered outside a mosque after misinformation was spread online over the identity of the suspect in the killings.
More than 1,000 arrests were made nationally as the disorder spread and more than half of those charged.
Earlier this month it was revealed that the King had asked for ‘daily updates’ on the riots sparked by the Southport atrocity and could visit affected communities in the future on government advice.
It was understood that he was keen to be kept updated on the rapidly evolving situation.
He was also said to be engaging ‘privately’ around the issues that the shocking national unrest and violence had generated.
Buckingham Palace declined to go into detail of what form that engagement is taking.
But sources stressed that that His Majesty has spent much of his life, both as King and as Prince of Wales, working to encourage community cohesion and interfaith dialogue.
It came amid calls by some for the Royal Family to take a lead amid the national crisis.
However others pointed out that the King must be seen to be impartial, particularly given the vitriolic and hugely divisive level of political discourse around the rioting.
Queen Elizabeth, notably, did not intervene by issuing any public message during the equally explosive summer 2011 riots, sparked by the killing of Mark Duggan by the Metropolitan Police.
She would also have refrained from speaking publicly around the issue on official advice.
Sources stressed that His Majesty was acutely conscious any immediate reaction to the trouble should by led by the Government.
He issued a public message in the aftermath of the tragic attacks.
But given the security requirements around a royal visit – and with policing stretched to the limit in affected areas – it would only happen at a time when it did not place any additional burden on frontline emergency services or risk inflaming the situation on the ground while the country was still such a tinderbox.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, from Banks, Lancashire, will stand trial next year after being charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article in a public place.
