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Kate makes surprise public appearance in grieving town

Kate's outing to Southport

Source: Prince and Princess of Wales

Prince William and his wife Kate have met the grieving families of three young girls murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in Southport.

The surprising outing was the Princess of Wales’ first public engagement since she revealed a month ago that she had reached the end of her chemotherapy treatment.

Southport, a quiet seaside town in north-west England, found itself in the global spotlight in July 29 when three girls were stabbed to death and other children were seriously hurt in an attack at the summer holiday event.

Rioting also broke out days later.

On their visit on Thursday (British time), William and Kate spoke privately with families of the victims and a dance teacher who was there at the attack. They also met representatives from local emergency services who responded to the incident.

“I can’t underestimate how grateful they all are for the support you provided on the day,” Kate told the first-responders of the family reaction.

“On behalf of them, thank you.”

William said they were “all heroes”.

“Please make sure you look after yourselves, please take your time, don’t rush back to work,” he said.

Away from the cameras, Kate gave some of the fire, ambulance, police and air ambulance workers hugs, after they struggled to express feelings.

It was Kate’s first public engagement since she began her slow return to work and follows a meeting at Windsor Castle earlier in October with a teenager cancer sufferer and her family.

“Today, the Prince and Princess of Wales visited Southport to show support to the community and hear how local people have come together as the town recovers from the tragic knife attack that took place,” their couple’s office, Kensington Palace, said.

Kate’s unexpected appearance was because she and William wanted to visit to show their support to the families and community, and let them know they had not been forgotten.

King visits Southport

Source: Royal Family

The visit echoes one made by William’s father, the King. He has also been went to Southport, meeting some of the surviving children and their families in August.

Disinformation spread on social media in the aftermath of the July attack wrongly identified the assailant as an Islamist migrant, and led to violent clashes between protesters and police in Southport, and an attempt to attack the town’s mosque.

A teenager, who was 17 at the time of the incident, has been charged with the murders.

Days of similar rioting followed across Britain. Police and the government blamed it on far-right thuggery and it led to about 1500 arrests and almost 400 people being jailed.

-with AAP

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