William and Kate open memorial to Manchester bombing

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have officially opened a new memorial to victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.

The royal couple travelled to the city to join bereaved families in a service at the Glade Of Light monument.

After the ceremony, Kate laid flowers and the royal pair were shown around the construction, which bears the names of those killed in the suicide attack.

William praised the "extraordinary" city for its response to the atrocity.

Twenty-two people died and hundreds more were injured in the attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May of that year.

The duke said the memorial, which features a white marble "halo" centrepiece, would be a place of solace for bereaved families and for all Mancunians.

He added the city had refused to "look back in anger" at the attack but had responded to hate with love.

"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," he said.

"There is comfort in remembering. In acknowledging that, while taken horribly soon, they lived.

"They changed our lives. They were loved, and they are loved."

The names of the 22 victims of the attack were read out by the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend Dr David Walker at the ceremony followed by a minute's silence.

The Manchester Survivors Choir and Parrs Wood High School Choir also performed at the service, singing the Beyonce's hit Halo.

Following the ceremony, the royal couple met some of the bereaved families and those involved in the response effort in a private event in Manchester Cathedral.

The memorial, which opened to the public in January, is located close to the city's cathedral and not far from the arena.

It also incorporates a garden of remembrance 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.

The family of 14-year-old Nell Jones who was killed in the bombing said the memorial was perfect.

"It is just a lovely, quiet, peaceful place," Nell's mother, Jayne Jones, told BBC North West Tonight.

"It is so pretty and soothing really."

Her brother Sam Jones added: "They've done a really good job. It is just right."

Ms Jones said the family had placed objects important to Nell in her memory capsule.

"We've put her pen portrait in that was used at the Manchester Arena inquiry," she said. "It encapsulated Nell - that covered everything that Nell did and how Nell was.

"And we've just got photographs in of the family. It's part of Manchester's history isn't it?"

Architect Andy Thomson, who was chosen by the families to design the memorial, said it was an "incredible honour and responsibility".

"We've tried to put as much love and care into every little detail and hopefully that shows," he said.‡

In 2018 the prince attended a service at the cathedral to remember those who died on the first anniversary of the attack.

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