London: Princess of Wales Kate Middleton attended her first public event alongside her husband Prince William after completing her chemotherapy, marking her first public engagement since she was cancer-free. The royal couple met bereaved families of three young girls murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in Southport.
A 17-year-old went on a stabbing spree in July, claiming the lives of three girls - Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9 - outside a Taylor Swift-themed dance club in Southport in northwest England. The incident sparked widespread anti-immigrant riots and the police arrested over 1,000 people.
On their visit on Thursday, William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, spoke privately with families of the victims and a dance teacher who was present at the time of the attack, and later met representatives from local emergency services who had responded to the incident.
"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 office, Kensington Palace, said in a statement. Kate's unexpected appearance came because the couple wanted to visit to show their support to the families and community.
It was one of the first engagements Kate has carried out since she began to slowly return to work after ending her course of preventative chemotherapy for cancer, and it was her first in public since then. In March Kate Middleton sent a shockwaves after revealing that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy.
In September, Kate announced that she had finished her course of preventative chemotherapy for cancer, saying the treatment had given her a new perspective and made her grateful for "simply loving and being loved". The mother of three had major abdominal surgery in January which revealed the presence of cancer.
"As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment," she said in a video message. "The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown."
Both King Charles and Kate have been largely absent from the public stage since January due to health problems, leaving Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and other members of the royal family to pick up the slack on the whirl of events and awards ceremonies that dominate the work of Britain's monarchy.
(with agency input)
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