Britain's King Charles expressed his “sympathy and empathy” for the people of Southport when he visited the town to meet survivors of the fatal knife attack.
Charles suspended his traditional Balmoral break to hold a private meeting with some of the injured young children and their families and spent a moment looking at floral tributes left to the three victims.
Patrick Hurley, MP for Sefton, which includes Southport, met Charles with other local leaders at a fire station, and said afterwards: “The town’s emotions were raging and they still are very raw and he was very empathetic.
“He was very keen to express his sympathy and empathy. Very keen to make sure the people of Southport know that from the symbolism perspective, the country’s heart goes out to the people here.”
Charles spent about 45 minutes at Southport Town Hall meeting some of the young survivors of the attack in private with their families and the police liaison team working with them.
Floral tributes had been left outside the building in memory of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, who were fatally attacked at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29th.
Before sitting down with the families, Charles spent a few moments looking at the flowers and went on a brief walkabout, meeting well-wishers who had cheered when he arrived.
Charles will host the three bereaved families in London on Wednesday.
Following the attack last month, rioting broke out in Southport, with the local mosque targeted and a popular local convenience shop attacked, with further violence across the country for a number of days.
The disorder included looting, with hotels housing asylum seekers also attacked before counter-demonstrations appeared to quell the disturbances.
The violence, denounced as “far-right thuggery” by UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, was sparked by false claims about the identity of a teenage suspect later charged with three counts of murder.
