2024 was an eventful year for the Monarchy but Kate Middleton took a step back from her duties to focus on her health after announcing her cancer diagnosis. Now she’s luckily cancer-free and back to work, albeit with a reduced schedule. She has several upcoming commitments, and she invited the families from the horrific attack at the Taylor Swift-themed dance class to a special service.
On July 29, Southport, England made international headlines after a knife attack on young children taking part in a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class. The suspect, a 17-year-old boy, attacked the children which resulted in 11 children and two adults injured, with three children fatally stabbed. Swift didn’t organize the event and didn’t have any ties with the dance class.
Taylor Swift reacted to the heartbreaking attack, mourning “the loss of life and innocence and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there.” She later met with two Southport survivors, whom she invited to one of her Wembley Stadium concerts in London. King Charles also made his way to Southport nearly three weeks after the deadly attacks to meet some of the survivors.
Kate Middleton invited the Southport survivors to her annual carol service
Each year, the Princess of Wales hosts her carol service at Westminster Abbey in London. This year, the Christmas carol service will take place on Friday, Dec. 6, and she has invited the families and survivors from the deadly Southport attack to her carol service, according to The Sun.
The families who will attend the service will stay in London for three days, and Southport Stronger Together will offer transport and accommodation, a charity set up from help from public donations.
A source said: “The Royal family have been a tremendous support to the families. The King met the survivors, then Kate took time out to meet them in private last month with Prince William.”
“Now she has personally ensured everyone is invited to her concert which, this year, will mean more to her than ever before,” the source continued. “It promises to be an incredible, life-affirming night and there’s been a lot of organization involved to get it all ready.”
The source continued: “The families have met the King, met Taylor Swift, and now this wonderful concert — but it is all unbearably tinged with the trauma they are still dealing with. It has been a horrendous time for them and none of the children or the adults who were in that room will ever be the same again.”
While this sounds like a gesture of kindness from the Princess of Wales, many people online didn’t think so and screamed on social media that it was a “PR move.”
“I’m sure that’ll help with their grief,” wrote one person on Instagram, with another echoing the same sentiment: “I’m sure that will take their agonising pain away going to a carol concert.” Another wrote, “It’s a PR stunt.”
Others complained about the fact that the monarchy will not be paying for the accommodation themselves, instead the family will have to rely from money from charity. “Her staff will be doing all the wrong,” someone wrote on Facebook. Another jumped in, “and she’s not footing the bill for transport and accommodation.” Other person noted, “and she asked to a charity to pay for their tickets,” with another jumping in to reply, “right? Shameful. As if the cost will dent her pockets in any way. SMH!!!”
The service reportedly means a lot to the princess, as it’s one of the few events she attended this year. One of her first thoughts was to bring the survivors for a service that shows the support of a real community. So far, it’s unclear how many families will make the trip to London, but, if they do, they might find this more of a kindness than a PR stunt.