Intelligence

Terrorists will not change our way of life, says Queen

London bombs terror attack The Times and Sunday Times Times Online

By Alan Hamilton

TERRORISTS would not change the British way of life, the Queen said yesterday as she visited victims in the Royal London Hospital.

Her defiant message was echoed by the Prince of Wales, who paid tribute to the resilience of the British people as he visited those injured being treated at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.

The Duchess of Cornwall, who accompanied him, said that the stoical reaction of the capital had made her “very proud to be British”.

Addressing 250 staff at the East London hospital which received many of the injured from the Underground explosions, the Queen said: “Atrocities such as these simply reinforce our sense of community, our humanity, our trust in the rule of law. That is the clear message from us all.”

It is rare for the Queen to speak in public so soon after such an event, but a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said that it underlined the gravity of what had happened.

Expressing her sympathy for the victims and paying tribute to the work of the emergency services, the Queen said: “You have the respect of us all as you go about your business.”

She had praise, too, for the citizens of London. “I want to express my admiration for the people of our capital city who in the aftermath of yesterday’s bombings are calmly determined to resume their normal lives. This is the answer to this outrage.”

Evoking the spirit of the Blitz as she prepares to lead a national day of commemoration for the end of the Second World War tomorrow, the Queen said: “Sadly, we in Britain have been all too familiar with acts of terror and members of my generation, especially at this end of London, know that we have been here before. But those who perpetrate these brutal acts against innocent people should know that they will not change our way of life.”

Bruce Lait, 32, a professional dancer from Ipswich, who suffered a burst eardrum in the first Tube blast, told the Queen how he had come to London for the day to rehearse for a new show. “Oh, that’s cruel, isn’t it?,” the Queen said.

Describing the blast, Mr Lait told the Queen of the devastation, adding: “I cannot believe I got away with just this.” Recalling events, he said: “I was reading a paper and all of a sudden ‘boom’. I was knocked out for a bit.

“I thought, ‘Am I dead?’, then I thought, ‘My brain is still thinking so I cannot be dead’.”

The Prince of Wales paid tribute to the “resilience of the British people” on his visit to St Mary’s, Paddington.

He said of the bombings: “It’s been one of the things that many of us have dreaded for a long time and now they have finally got through.

“What I can never get over is the resilience of the British people who have set us all a fantastic example of how to recover.”

The Prince told one patient, who had been leaving Edgware Road Station at the time of the explosion: “It’s always one’s dread isn’t it, on the Tube?”

One member of St Mary’s staff told the Duchess of Cornwall: “The patients that were alive were so brave . . . not screaming. They waited their turn.” To which the Duchess replied: “It was very sort of British, wasn’t it?”

Later, the Duke of York met some of the staff who had helped to co-ordinate the London bus operations in the aftermath of the explosions.

Prince Andrew was spending time at CentreComm in Victoria, Central London — a 24-hour emergency communications centre which is London Buses’ command and control complex run in association with the Metropolitan Police.

The Princes, meeting staff who had helped to co-ordinate bus and traffic operations after the explosions, said that it had been a dreadful day.

He added: “The way that Londoners pulled together yesterday was quite extraordinary.”

Among those that he met at CentreComm was John Kelly, 35, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, who had finished his shift at 6am on Thursday but was back in the office before noon to cope with the aftermath of the explosions.

Mr Kelly showed Andrew the electronic mapping system used at the centre.

In the MetroComm area Sergeant Kevin Cobbold, 46, from Thorpe, Surrey, explained the work of the centre to Prince Andrew. The CentreComm manager, Mark Geldard, who accompanied the Duke, said: “Many people finished their shifts and stayed in London so they could be back again today as early as possible.”

July 8, 2005 at 10:05 PM in UK | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home