Kate Middleton and Prince William rocked by tragedy which has 'personally affected' them

Kate Middleton and Prince William were rocked by the Southport tragedy this year, a Royal Family insider has claimed. Kate and Wills, who share sons Louis and George and daughter Charlotte, were "personally affected" by Southport, it has been claimed.

You could see strain etched on their faces, says the royal expert. Kate Middleton and Prince William have invited child survivors of the Southport stabbing horror to her Christmas carol concert. Kate was seen hugging tearful emergency service workers as they told her of their ordeal responding to the Southport stabbings.

Speaking on The Sun's Royal Exclusive show, Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills recalled the emotional visit. Rhiannon said: "It was made very clear to me that they felt very personally upset by what had happened.

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"Their children are a very similar age to those poor little girls who lost their lives. Parents up and down the country would have been affected by what had happened. But what we saw William and Kate do is bring attention back to a community that may have felt forgotten.

"There is still a community struggling to come to terms with what happened on that day." The royal expert went on, saying: "I was there in the back garden watching the prince and princess chatting to emergency service personnel.

"We know that Prince William feels an affinity because of his air ambulance work. You could see etched on their faces the kind of strain. That visit was very emotionally charged." The Princess of Wales, 42, met them in private previously and they will reunite on December 6 at her first Together at Christmas celebration since finishing her chemotherapy.

She visited the grieving town in October and offered words of comfort to the families of little Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.