7/7 The London Bombings. Update.


© Stuart Buchanan MacWatt

"Yesterday we fled this great city, but today we are walking back into an even stronger, greater city."
Messages attached to bouquet of flowers placed outside King's Cross and St.Pancras subway stations near the site of the deadly underground bombings.

As the death toll after London's worst attack since World War II mounted, Londoners shook off their fear and shock and grimly returned to their daily lives.

In an unscheduled speech at the Royal London Hospital in the city's East End where many of the injured are being treated, Her Majesty the Queen spoke for the nation when she broke with Royal protocol to deliver an off-the-cuff and unscripted message of defiance:

"Yesterday's bombings in London have deeply affected us all. I know I speak for everyone in expressing my sympathy to those who have been caught up in these events and, above all, to the relatives and friends of those who have lost their lives.

"My thoughts are also with the injured, some of whom I have been able to see and talk to today. I also want to thank you and all the members of the emergency services and Transport for London who are working with such care, professionalism and sensitivity, often in very difficult conditions. You have the respect of us all as you go about your business.

"Finally 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. That is the answer to this outrage. 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.

"Atrocities such as these simply reinforce our sense of community, our humanity and our trust in the rule of law. That is the clear message from us all."

The Prince of Wales, who was visiting victims at St.Mary's Hospital, Paddington accompanied by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, reiterated the Queen's message and paid tribute to the "resilience of the British people". The Prince said of the atrocity:
"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. ."

       

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1.   Jul 10, 2005 8:11 AM
Thank you for the updates you are providing to the world about the resilience of the people of London and Great Britian. The terrorists obviously do not know much about you; or your record of surviv ...

-- posted by HoosierHannah





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