William and Kate then visited Churchtown Primary School to see a new commemorative playground created to honour former pupils Bebe King and Alice da Silva Aguiar. In April, it was revealed that William and Kate had, in fact, donated privately to the fundraiser for the playground, with Jinnie Payne, headteacher at Churchtown Primary School, saying: ‘On behalf of Churchtown Primary School, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, for their incredibly generous donation to our Churchtown Playground fund. Their kindness and thoughtfulness mean so much to our whole community as we come together to honour the memories of Alice and Bebe, two much-loved members of our school family. As Alice’s dad, Sergio, and I prepare to run the London Marathon today in their memory, we are deeply touched and encouraged by William’s and Kate’s support.’
The couple spoke with students and staff at both Farnborough Road Infant and Junior School and Churchtown Primary School, in continued support of the Southport community
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In a separate statement, Sergio said: ‘This playground is exactly the sort of place which Alice would have loved. Her boundless energy, enthusiasm and creativity will be celebrated in the new playground by other pupils every day. And that’s a beautiful and befitting legacy to the community she loved so dearly.’ During their most recent visit to the school, the royal couple met Alice’s classmates to hear about an art project they have been working on that showed the progression of their grief, and visited the playground itself, which has been designed to be a joyful and healing space for students.