Kate Middleton and Prince William's secret gesture in memory of Southport stabbing victims
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Southport last year, weeks after a horrific stabbing attack claimed the lives of three young girls - and now it's emerged they've made an incredible gesture in their memory
The Prince and Princess of Wales have made an "incredibly generous" gesture in memory of the young girls killed in the horrific Southport stabbing attack. William and Kate travelled to the town in the weeks after Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar, and Bebe King were killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July to meet with their families and emergency services who responded to the attack.
Yesterday, both Elsie and Alice's dads, David Stancombe and Sergio Aguiar, ran the London Marathon to raise money for projects in memory of their daughters. This includes creating a new playground at Churchtown Primary School, which was attended by both Alice and Bebe.
Running alongside them for the cause was the school's headteacher Jinnie Payne. And before the race, she revealed on social media that the royal couple had been in touch to send a message of support ahead of the marathon - and also made a donation to the playground fund.
She said: "On behalf of Churchtown Primary School, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, for their incredibly generous donation to our Churchtown Playground fund.
"Their kindness and thoughtfulness mean so much to our whole community as we come together to honour the memories of Alice and Bebe, two much-loved members of our school family. As Alice's dad Sergio, and I prepare to run the London Marathon today in their memory, we are deeply touched and encouraged by William's and Kate's support."
William and Kate spent 90 minutes chatting with the families during a visit to Southport last October, which was their first official joint engagement since Kate's cancer treatment had ended.
They also walked the short distance to the scene of the tragedy, where they met with emergency responders and health practitioners to hear their experiences. William told the responders: "You're all heroes. Please make sure you look after yourselves, please take your time, don't rush back to work."
In a post to the couple's Kensington Royal social media accounts, they said: "Meeting the community today has been a powerful reminder of the importance of supporting one another in the wake of unimaginable tragedy." It's understood the visit had initially been for William to undertake alone before Kate decided to join as a show of support for the town.
During the visit, Kate was asked how the bereaved families were coping, and replied: "They're okay. They're managing it differently. All the families are so different. Individually too they are managing it and processing this tragic event in very different ways, but they're getting support from families and officers and things like that."
After the visit, Phil Garrigan, chief fire officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said: "The Princess of Wales broke off and came back into the building to give a hug to the people who responded because she could see the emotion in them and could see it was difficult for them to relay their feelings and to say how impactful events have been. I think that just shows a really caring side and is very very touching for them."
Killer Axel Rudakubana was jailed for life for the three girls' deaths - alongside the attempted murder of eight other children - and was handed a minimum term of 52 years in January.
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