The Prince of Wales joined the online commemoration service for victims of the London bombings on Tuesday, sharing a video message alongside other dignitaries as the 15th anniversary of the terror attack was marked virtually due to the pandemic.
“It seems so desperately cruel that the pandemic should have denied you this occasion to see and hold each other, to be together as you mourn and remember. Nevertheless, as you gather virtually, I pray you may be able to take strength from knowing that, in your homes or wherever you may be, you are once again joined together by everything that you share,” Prince Charles said in his video, which was filmed at Clarence House.
“For all of us, today is an occasion to remember those who were so tragically lost and to stand with those who are left behind. It is also an opportunity to reaffirm our shared determination that tolerance and compassion will triumph over division and hatred, and that hope will always prevail.
“In all of this, ladies and gentlemen, I could hardly be more proud to join you and I send you my special thoughts and blessings.”
The online service was put together by family members of the victims and survivors, who “came together to produce a short film that could be shared in the event the normal ceremony could not take place,” the YouTube video description read.
The video is 40 minutes long and “features many of the elements that would take place at the 7/7 Memorial in Hyde Park and includes short speeches from those affected by 7/7, reading of the names of those killed, music from the London International Gospel Choir and the laying of flowers at the 7/7 memorial.”
Prince Charles officially opened the 7/7 Memorial in Hyde Park in 2009 and said in a speech: “I pray they will gain comfort and strength from coming together to honour the memory of those taken from us,” and that the monument “fulfils a deeply held need, for each one offers a path to peace and healing, each one honours the dead, and each reminds us to lead our lives in a way that would make them proud.”
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of terrorist attacks at various London Underground train stations and a Central London bus, resulting in 52 dead and over 700 injured people.
