Kate Middleton joins Prince William on an emotional first public engagement since finishing chemotherapy

The Princess of Wales has made an emotional pilgrimage with her husband to Southport to comfort the families of the three girls who lost their lives in July’s knife attack tragedy.

In her most significant public engagement to date this year, Catherine, 42, joined Prince William to meet with the families of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.

They also spent time with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, who was seriously injured as she shielded youngsters as they were attacked by a knifeman during a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday class.

Afterwards the couple spoke to emergency responders who attended and helped on the day, with the Princess hailing them ‘true heroes’, while William called them ‘true professionals’.

In an emotional post following their visit, the couple pledged that they ‘continue to stand with everyone in Southport.’

They said: ‘Meeting the community today has been a powerful reminder of the importance of supporting one another in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. You will remain in our thoughts and prayers.’

Prince William had promised the families and local community he would visit as soon as possible and his visit has long been scheduled in for today.

But the decision by his wife to join him was more recent. It is understood that she wanted to ‘show her support, empathy and compassion to the local community’.

At the time of the incident the couple shared a personal message of shock and sympathy for those affected and, like her husband, the princess has kept a keen eye on events since.

In a deeply personal statement released in the wake of the attack, the Princess wrote: ‘As parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through.’

It is the first public engagement for the princess since she announced last month that she had complete treatment for cancer and would undertake a carefully calibrated return to public duties.

Apart from a small media contingency, the visit was kept deliberately low key as both the prince and princess wanted it to remain as discreet as possible out of respect to those involved.

Their meeting with the victims’ families was held completely in private and not announced publicly until they had left.

The prince and princess spent half an hour in private with each of the girls’ families. 

No further details will be given out of respect for their ongoing grief.

The couple then walked from their last meeting, with dancer teacher Leanne Lucas, to the nearby community centre to speak to the first responders.

They were met by Peter Oliver, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside at Southport Community Centre.

William was dressed in jacket and tie while Catherine wore a brown coat and heels and looked visibly moved as they spoke, gesturing with her hands.

However, the couple then went onto meet with emergency responders who were involved in the aftermath of the attack at a local community centre to hear about their experiences and speak to mental health practitioners who have been working to deliver long term support to the blue light community in Southport.

While speaking to the emergency personnel, Kate was asked how the families of the three girls killed in the attack were doing.

She said: ‘They’re OK. They’re managing it differently. All the families are so different. Individually too they are managing it and processing this tragic event in very different ways but they’re getting support from families and officers and things like that.

‘I think being able to have opportunities to be able to speak to different people in the community about the experience and drawing that together and sharing their experience I think is massively helpful.’

Referencing the earlier meeting with the families of those who died in the attack, the Princess of Wales said: ‘I can’t underestimate how grateful they all are for the support you provided on the day.

‘On behalf of them, thank you.’

The Prince of Wales told the personnel: ‘You’re all heroes. Please make sure you look after yourselves, please take your time, don’t rush back to work.’

Kate added: ­‘Support in general has really improved for first responders across the board [but] there are still gaps there. It could be ­better?’ 

‘You can speak honestly,’ William said, which caused ­ripples of laughter. Told they could always do with more time to digest what had happened, the Princess nodded, adding: ‘Just sit and reflect.’ 

The couple shook hands with the emergency workers after the conversation.

Kate rested a hand on William’s back as she joined him to speak to a member of air ambulance crew.

William called the emergency workers ‘true professionals’ and said they had a ‘bumpy few months’ ahead but would get through it together.

He said: ‘The first thing we thought about was actually how on earth you guys are going to handle having seen what you’ve seen. So, please take your time, don’t rush back to work, do whatever you need to, talk about it, give your superiors a hard time if they not letting you have that time to decompress because it’s so important you have those moments.’

The couple posted on social media that the visit had been a ‘powerful’ reminder of the need to support one another ‘in the wake of unimaginable tragedy’. 

Chief fire officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Phil Garrigan said he had a ‘really lovely fleeting conversation’ with William and Kate after they had spoken to the group of emergency personnel.

He said: ‘The Princess of Wales broke off and came back into the building to give a hug to the people who responded because she could see the emotion in them and could see it was difficult for them to relay their feelings and to say how impactful events have been.

‘I think that just shows a really caring side and is very, very touching for them.’

It is understood that it was important to them to go now, three months later, to show the people of Southport that they have not been forgotten and they’ll continue to stand by the community today and in the future.

William and Catherine’s Royal Foundation made a donation to the the National Police and Wellbeing Service’s fundraiser to help fast track psychological and physical rehabilitation for police and ambulance personnel who were involved in the attack and the subsequent riots.

Last month the Princess of Wales announced that she had completed a course of preventative chemotherapy after it emerged earlier this year that evidence of cancer had been found following abdominal surgery.

Kensington Palace said she would embark on a slow and measured return to public duties, bearing in mind her continued recovery. 

Although she had held meetings in private and photographs of her hugging cancer patient Liz Hatton, 16, were released last week, today’s event is her first official public engagement since then.

She also made a private visit a few weeks ago to watch the English National Ballet’s matinee show of Giselle at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, and posted on social media about the ‘moving and inspiring’ performance. 

The Princess also hopes to join her family on Remembrance Sunday. 

In August, King Charles paid tributes to the victims of the Southport stabbing during an emotional visit to the town.

The monarch was greeted with cheers and applause as he viewed a floral display honouring the youngsters killed in the horror knife attack. 

He also met with survivors of the rampage. 

Reacting to the tragedy at the time, King Charles said: ‘My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport today.

‘We send out most heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives, and to all those affected by this truly appalling attack.’

During the his trip to Southport town hall, Charles was greeted by Dr Ruth Hussey, the vice lord lieutenant of Merseyside, and counsellor June Burns, the mayor of Sefton.

He then viewed a large makeshift memorial dedicated to the victims, gesturing in appreciation at the scale of it. One member of the public gave him three cheers and another shouted ‘thank you for coming’ as he greeted the crowds.

The King affectionately patted one young girl on the shoulder as he shook hands with many of the hundreds gathered to see him.

One little boy, Max, eight, gave him a small red silk heart he had made himself, prompting the King to gently pat his head in thanks. 

The monarch was also given some pink hearts crocheted by a woman and promised to ‘give them to Kate and Charlotte’. 

Following the stabbings, rioting broke out in Southport with the local mosque targeted and a popular 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.