Kate and William visit Southport families

The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting Southport to show support for families and the local community after last summer’s fatal knife attack.

They have spoken to teachers at Farnborough Road Infant and Junior School to hear about the impact of the attack and the support given by staff to families.

The school had been attended by one of the young victims, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Prince William and Catherine spoke privately to her family.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged nine, and Bebe King, six, were also murdered at the dance class in July 2024, an attack which prompted an outpouring of grief and outrage.

The royals made an emotional visit to Southport last autumn, in what was the princess’s first public engagement after she had finished her chemotherapy.

They had met bereaved families and emergency workers who had responded to the attack in the north-west seaside town, in a visit that was intended to show the local community that they had “not been forgotten”.

The knife attack, carried out by Axel Rudakubana, was followed by a wave of riots and unrest.

A public inquiry into the Southport attack is gathering evidence in sessions at Liverpool Town Hall.