In aftermath of London attack Swedish terrorist copied, poignant return to Westminster for hero PC
DRAPED in a police flag, the coffin of PC Keith Palmer is carried into the Houses of Parliament yesterday – past the spot where he was stabbed to death by Khalid Masood.
The murdered officer had tried to stop Masood after the extremist’s car rampage along Westminster Bridge, which was copied by the Stockholm attackers on Friday.
They killed four as they mowed down pedestrians in the Swedish capital, little more than two weeks after Masood’s attack in London left five dead.
PC Palmer, 48, was stabbed as he tried to stop Masood from enter- ing Parliament, and the attacker was shot dead seconds later.
The PC will be given a full police funeral at Southwark Cathedral today, with upwards of 5,000 officers from every force expected to line the route.
As many as 50,000 members of the public are also expected to pay their respects.
The Queen gave permission for his body to rest in The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in Westminster last night, and crowds gathered to pay their respects as pallbearers carried his coffin.
The honour is normally reserved for heads of state and was bestowed on Margaret Thatcher. A group of officers wearing white formed two lines to meet the hearse as the coffin was carried through Old Palace Yard, near where PC Palmer was stabbed.
Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin led a private service to receive the body into the chapel, attended by relatives of PC Palmer, who was married with a five-year-old daughter. Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said that the response from the public following the PC Palmer’s death had been ‘incredible’.
He said: ‘The public are as appalled by what happened as the police. At times they can be our biggest critics but when something like this happens they come together with us, because they don’t like someone hurting one of their own.
‘I can’t recall an occasion like this in regard to the number of officers who will be there, but we must not lose sight of the fact that it is a family funeral.
‘It is for Keith’s family and we have made sure we have done everything his wife wants because, first and foremost, it is for her to mourn her husband.’
There are also plans for a permanent memorial to PC Palmer.
The fourth victim of the Westminster attack, Andreea Cristea, 31, died in hospital last week. The other victims were Leslie Rhodes, 75, Kurt Cochran, 54, and Aysha Frade, 44.
Normally reserved for heads of state