Princess in tribute
Valiant widow in wheelchair proves haters will never win
PRINCESS Kate and Princes William and Harry joined brave survivors of the London terror attack and their rescuers at a Service of Hope yesterday.
BRAVE survivors of the London terror attack stood in solidarity with the Royal Family and rescuers yesterday.
They attended a Service of Hope dedicated to the four victims murdered by Khalid Masood two weeks ago.
A blanket of flowers covered Westminster as emergency services personnel, dignitaries and thousands of well-wishers paid their respects.
Prince William, his wife Kate, and Prince Harry were among 1,800 mourners at Westminster Abbey, who included relatives of the victims and 400 rescue service workers who rushed to the scene of terror to help on March 22.
American Melissa Cochran, from Utah, who lost her husband Kurt, 54, in the attack while herself suffering injuries including a broken leg, arrived at the service in a wheelchair.
Kurt, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, and mum Aysha Frade, 44, died when Masood, 52, drove at pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. The Muslim convert was shot dead by armed police after fatally stabbing Pc Keith Palmer, 48, in the Palace of Westminster’s cobbled forecourt.
Sixteen members of Pc Palmer’s family, including his wife Michelle, attended the service, alongside Aysha’s husband John and their two young daughters.
Laying a wreath of spring flowers on the Innocent Victims memorial, Prince William left a handwritten note, which read: “In memory of the innocent lives; lost to us all on the 22nd March 2017. William.”
Speaking during the service, the abbey’s dean, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, said: “Our sense of loss and diminishment pale by comparison to that of the families of those who died.
“We are all left bewildered and diminished by what happened.”
Home Secretary Amber Rudd gave the first reading.
After the short church service, the royals chatted with the victims’ families privately in the abbey’s Jerusalem Chamber, including to the niece of Leslie Rhodes, who died in hospital from his injuries.
His niece Amanda said: “I cried from the start to the finish of the service. It was very moving – every minute of it. I was in tears.
“Afterwards we spoke to the royal family. They were lovely and really genuine.”