Prince William honours Manchester attack victims; Reflects on personal grief after Princess Diana’s loss

Prince William and Kate Middleton attended the official opening of the Manchester Arena memorial where the Duke of Cambridge delivered an emotional speech to pay tribute to the victims of 22 people who were killed during an Ariana Grande concert. In his speech, Prince William spoke about dealing with the pain and grief of losing loved ones. 

During his speech, the Duke of Cambridge also reflected on his own personal grief and trauma of dealing with the death of a loved one as he remembered his late mother, Princess Diana. Prince William said, “As someone who lives with his own grief, I also know that what often matters most to the bereaved is that those we have lost are not forgotten. There is comfort in remembering. In acknowledging that, while taken horribly soon, they lived. They changed our lives”, via US Weekly. 

Prince William also noted that Kate Middleton and him were keen to visit and pay their respects to the families of those who were lost in the 2007 attack stating that, “We remember the entirety of the Manchester community who responded in the most heart-warming and life-affirming ways possible to support those affected.”

As honouring his own loved ones, in July 2021, Prince William and his brother Prince  Harry honoured their late mother with a statue that they commissioned 20 years after her death on the occasion of her 60th birthday. The royal siblings made a joint speech at the event as they reunited at Kensington Palace in London for the event. 

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