King expresses ‘sympathy and empathy’ for people of Southport on visit to town

The King 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 the King 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.”

The King 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 29.

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 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was sparked by false claims about the identity of a teenage suspect later charged with three counts of murder.

The King was keen to meet many of those who helped co-ordinate or responded to the knife attack and later at Southport Community Fire Station Charles chatted to many of the emergency services who had dealt with the fatal incident.

He spoke to 999 call handlers who handled a flurry of calls on the day, fire crews who responded and local police officers who dealt with the incident.

Also gathered were local community stalwarts from a couple who looked after the floral tributes and soft toys, taking the teddy bears inside each night or if it rained, and the local Imam whose mosque was targeted by the mob with such force it left the building shaking.

When speaking to the group of ambulance workers Charles, who is receiving treatment for cancer, expressed his concern about their workload during the attack and the rioting saying: “I hope you’re not too exhausted?.”

Salman Desai, deputy chief of North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said later: “He thanked all the staff for what they did on the day because he appreciated it must have been fairly exhausting for them, not just then but the aftermath.”

Ibrahim Hussein, chairman and Imam of Southport Mosque targeted during the riots, said after speaking to the King: “He said it was awful what had happened to the mosque and to the community.”

Mr Hussein and a handful of worshippers were inside the place of worship on the night of the riot but they continued with their prayers as the missiles rained onto the building.

“We were terrified obviously, because the whole building was shaking and then fireballs were thrown at the mosque – it was awful. Then the slogans and the shouting and the chanting was not nice at all,” added the Imam.

He said about the King: “He’s always supported the Muslim community and he knows what Islam is all about, it’s not about what is being mentioned, he knows we have culture behind us.”

Mike and Eva Ainscough found the front of their Southport home covered with floral tributes following the knife attack after they put a few flowers left outside their home in a bucket of water.

Mrs Ainscough, 80, said: “Then it just went mad, we had thousands of bunches of flowers being left by people and we had 15 sacks of soft toys. We took the toys in every time it rained and at night.”

The toys were donated to the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool and the flowers composted after they wilted.

Mrs Ainscough added: “The King was amazed by the number of toys and flowers that were left.

“I asked him how he was, and he said he had to do as he was told.”