Prince William and Kate honour Taylor Swift fan Elsie Dot in Southport

Prince William and Kate Middleton returned to Southport on Tuesday to meet families and community members still healing after last summer’s knife attack that claimed the lives of three young girls, including seven-year-old Elise “Elsie Dot” Stancombe, a devoted Taylor Swift fan.

Elsie was killed on July 29, 2024, during a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Merseyside, alongside six-year-old Bebe King and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. 

Her family later described her as a “devoted Swiftie,” highlighting the role music played in her short life.

The Prince and Princess of Wales met with Elsie’s parents and teachers at Farnborough, where she was a pupil, before visiting a new playground created in memory of Alice and Bebe. 

The space, which features a stage, libraries, play areas and quiet zones, was described as a place of “comfort, hope and healing.”

The tragedy resonated deeply among Swift’s global fan community and the US singer herself acknowledged the victims in a tribute last year.