PEOPLE

Queen Elizabeth II issues steadying message after terror attack

Maria Puente
USA TODAY
Queen Elizabeth II at opening of refurbished National Army Museum in London on March 16, 2017. 

 
 / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Geoff PughGEOFF PUGH/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: AFP_MP9EA

Queen Elizabeth II, who embodies the British mantra of keeping calm and carrying on, helped steady her unnerved people Thursday with a message of condolence following a shocking terror attack Wednesday in the heart of British power in central London.

The queen, who had been due Thursday to open a New Scotland Yard headquarters building near Westminster where the attack occurred, sent a message to Craig Mackey, acting commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.

"Following the shocking events in Westminster, Prince Philip and I are sorry that we will not be able to open the New Scotland Yard building as planned today, for very understandable reasons.  I look forward to visiting at a later date," the message said, according to a statement released by Buckingham Palace that also was tweeted.

"My thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy are with all those who have been affected by yesterday's awful violence. I know I speak for everyone in expressing my enduring thanks and admiration for the members of the Metropolitan Police Service and all who work so selflessly to help and protect others."

The queen was at her London base of Buckingham Palace, located about a mile from Westminster, when three people were killed and 40 people injured after a car mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, then sped across the bridge toward Parliament.

Armed with a knife, he attacked a policeman guarding the seat of British democracy. The policeman later died and the assailant, whom Metropolitan Police identified as 52-year-old, British-born Khalid Masood, was shot to death by armed police.

A Utah man on a trip with his wife to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary was killed in the attack near Parliament, his family confirmed Thursday.

Duchess Kate of Cambridge attends the launch of maternal mental health films at Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on March 23, 2017 in London.

The queen, who will turn 91 next month, and her husband, Prince Philip, 95, had been scheduled to visit the new Yard headquarters on the Victoria Embankment not far from Westminster.

The visit would have been one of hundreds of engagements the royal couple undertake every year despite their advanced age.

Elizabeth is rarely deterred from her round of royal duties; earlier on Wednesday, before the attack, she held a routine private audience at the palace to accept the credentials of Thailand’s new ambassador to the United Kingdom.

For that matter, neither are other royals: Duchess Kate of Cambridge, who lives at nearby Kensington Palace, went ahead with a scheduled engagement Thursday at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, where she attended the launch of a series of educational films by one of her charities aimed at raising awareness of mental health challenges for new mothers.

"Before I begin, I know you would all want to join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to all those sadly affected by yesterday’s terrible attack in Westminster. We will be thinking of all the families, as we discuss the important issues we're here to talk about," she said in her speech.

Last weekend, Duchess Kate and husband Prince William were on a two-day, official visit to Paris when a man who threatened a soldier with a gun was shot and killed at Paris' Orly Airport. They carried on.