William and Kate to attend opening of memorial to Manchester Arena bomb victims

After the service on May 10, the duke and duchess will meet some of the families who lost loved ones in the 2017 terror attack.
The Glade of Light is a living memorial to the 22 people murdered in the Manchester Arena terror attack (Mark Waugh/Manchester City Council/PA)
PA Media
Laura Elston4 May 2022

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to attend the official opening of the memorial to the 22 people murdered in the Manchester Arena terror attack.

William and Kate will gather at a service at the Glade of Light – a white marble “halo” bearing the names of those killed in the May 2017 outrage – on May 10, just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the atrocity.

The duke will speak at the short ceremony and Kate will lay flowers.

The couple will also join a private reception inside Manchester Cathedral afterwards to speak to some of the bereaved families and those involved in the response effort, Kensington Palace said.

The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017. (Top row L to R) Off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43, Saffie Roussos, 8, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, (2nd row L to R) Nell Jones, 14, Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, Megan Hurley, 15, Georgina Callander, 18, (3rd row L to $), Chloe Rutherford, 17, Liam Curry, 19, Courtney Boyle, 19, and Philip Tron, 32, (4th rowL to R) John Atkinson, 26, Martyn Hett, 29, Kelly Brewster, 32, Angelika Klis, 39, (5th row L to R) Marcin Klis, 42, Michelle Kiss, 45, Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 43 (6th row L to R) Wendy Fawell, 50 and Jane Tweddle, 51 (Greater Manchester Police/PA)
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The tribute, which opened to the public in January, is located alongside the cathedral and was designed following an international competition.

Personalised memory capsules, filled with memories and mementoes of those killed provided by their loved ones, have been embedded within the stone.

It is conceived as a living memorial – a peaceful garden space for remembrance and reflection, featuring plants which grow naturally in the UK countryside selected to provide year-round colour and echo the changing seasons.

Around the anniversary every year, May 22, the white flowers of a hawthorn tree planted at its centre will bloom.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will meet some of the bereaved families (Daniel Leal/PA)
PA Wire

William previously attended a National Service of Commemoration at the cathedral in 2018 to remember those who lost their lives.

Hundreds of people were injured alongside the 22 who died, who included six children under 16 with the youngest aged just eight, in the attack by suicide bomber Salman Abedi at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said: “As we approach the fifth anniversary of the May 22 2017 attack, the Glade of Light is a potent symbol of how Manchester will continue to hold those who lost their lives, and everyone who was affected by those terrible events, in our hearts.

“We will never forget them.”

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