King Charles meets families of girls fatally stabbed in Southport attack

The King has met the bereaved families of the Southport stabbing victims during a private audience at his London home.

Charles sat down in Clarence House with the parents of the children killed in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, died following the incident.

It is understood the families were in London after attending the final Taylor Swift concert in London on Tuesday evening.

King Charles travelled to Southport on Tuesday and spent 45 minutes with some of the children who survived the attack and their families.

He spent some time before viewing a sea of floral tributes left outside Southport Town Hall in memory of the girls fatally injured during the attack.

Charles went on a brief walkabout outside the town hall meeting some of the well-wishers who had gathered on Tuesday.

Helen Marshall, 71, was among the crowds and said: “The last few weeks have been devastating but the community spirit is the thing keeping us going.”

The King also visited a local fire station to meet members of the local emergency services who dealt with the attack, and others from the community affected by the rioting.

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.