Before the Christmas concert

Kate gives goosebumps with touching gesture

Princess Kate

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Richard Pohle / PA)

Princess Kate has invited survivors of the Southport massacre to her traditional Christmas concert. As confirmed by Kensington Palace, children who survived the attack at the end of July will be attending the Christmas carol concert in London's Westminster Abbey on December 6.

This will be Kate's fourth Christmas concert to which she has extended an invitation. The wife of the heir to the British throne, Prince William, has had to go through difficult times since last year's concert.

First she underwent abdominal surgery, and then she was diagnosed with cancer. She was unable to fulfill her royal obligations for months. William recently described the year as "probably the most difficult" of his life.

Kate visited the families of the victims
Back in October, Kate visited the families of the Southport victims and survivors together with William. It was the first official appointment she made with her husband after announcing her cancer diagnosis.

Princess Kate visited the families of the Southport victims in October. It was the first official appointment after the 42-year-old had completed her chemotherapy.

(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/Danny Lawson)

Previously, she had only made a brief appearance at King Charles III's birthday parade on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. A similar appearance recently followed at the national commemoration of the fallen of the world wars and other conflicts on Remembrance Sunday.

Three girls stabbed to death
In the knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, near Liverpool, three little girls aged six, seven and nine were stabbed to death by an attacker. The perpetrator, a young man, is now on trial for murder and other charges.

The crime caused great horror in the UK, with Taylor Swift also expressing her shock on Instagram.

Right-wing extremist rioters had used false information about the attacker as an excuse for riots that kept the country on tenterhooks for days. The police and judiciary reacted with a heavy hand. Hundreds of rioters have since been sentenced to prison.