Thousands of officers to line funeral route for Pc Palmer
THOUSANDS of police officers from every force in the land will gather in London today to line the funeral route of their fallen colleague Pc Keith Palmer, who was murdered in last month’s terror attack.
Pc Palmer, 48, who had served with the Metropolitan Police for 15 years, will be laid to rest following a full police funeral at Southwark Cathedral.
Rail companies have offered free travel to officers wishing to attend the funeral and as many as 5,000 are expected to turn out to pay their respects.
They will be joined along the route by many more members of the public, appalled by Pc Palmer’s murder at the hands of terrorist Adrian Ajao.
Yesterday the officer’s coffin was taken to the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster where it lay overnight. The rare honour is usually reserved for leading parliamentarians and requires the consent of the Queen. Baroness Thatcher, the former prime minister, and Tony Benn, the Labour politician, were the two most recent recipients of the honour.
Pc Palmer’s body will be taken from Parliament to Southwark Cathedral today, where a service will begin at 2pm.
The officer, who was married with a five-year-old daughter, had been guarding Parliament when Ajao, a Muslim convert also known as Khalid Masood, launched his attack on March 22. After driving at high speed across Westminster Bridge ploughing into crowds and killing four people, Ajao jumped from his car and ran into the Palace of Westminster grounds where he stabbed Pc Palmer to death.
His other victims were Aysha Frade, 44, who worked at a London sixth-form college, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, from Utah, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, from south London and Romanian Andreea Cristea, 31, who fell into the River Thames.
There are plans for a permanent memorial to honour Pc Palmer’s memory at the National Memorial Arboretum.