Manchester Arena attack: William and Kate to attend memorial opening

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend the official opening of the Manchester Arena attack memorial, it has been announced.

The royal couple will join bereaved families, some of those injured in the attack and dignitaries at the Glade of Light monument on 10 May.

The prince will speak at the ceremony and the duchess will lay flowers.

The memorial, which features a white marble "halo" centrepiece, bears the names of those killed on 22 May 2017.

The monument also incorporates a garden for remembrance and reflection, with a hawthorn tree which will bloom around the time of the anniversary each year, and personalised memory capsules, filled with mementoes of each of the victims, which have been embedded within the stone.

The memorial, which opened to the public in January, is located alongside Manchester Cathedral and close to the scene of the bombing, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds more as they left a concert at the arena.

Manchester City Council's chief executive Joanne Roney said it was 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," she added.

Kensington Palace said alongside their involvement in the official opening, the duke and duchess would also attend a private reception inside the cathedral afterwards to speak to some of the bereaved families and those involved in the response effort.

In 2018, the prince attended a National Service of Commemoration at the cathedral on the first anniversary of the attack to remember those who died.

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