'Catherine and I wanted to pay tribute to a man we knew'. Prince William hails late Leicester chairman as he and Kate remember helicopter crash victims including pilot he 'had the privilege to fly with'.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid tribute to the victims of the Leicester helicopter crash today as they praised the 'warmth and compassion' in the city since the devastating accident
Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, 60, was killed last month when the aircraft plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from the pitch at the King Power stadium.
Pilots Eric Swaffer and partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz also died alongside Mr Srivaddhanaprabha's employees Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare
Prince William and Kate, who were friends of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha, spent time meeting his family as well as the club's manager Claude Puel and players including England World Cup stars Harry Maguire and Jamie Vardy.
William also made a speech praising Mr Srivaddhanaprabha and pilot Eric Swaffer, who he previously 'had the privilege to fly with'.
William counted Mr Srivaddhanaprabha as a personal friend and knew him through his role as President of the Football Association as well as a fellow polo player.
The Royals were taken to an area near the stadium containing the huge amount of floral tributes left to the victims near the stadium, where they stood in solemn silence to pay their respects
Kate then laid down a bouquet herself as the couple's own contribution.. William and Kate then spent time talking to volunteers who helped set up the shrine to the victims, including one who revealed the Prince told him one of his last conversations with the late Leicester chairman was about arranging a game against his beloved Aston Villa.
Speaking to volunteers who had been invited to the club in recognition of their work to relocate flowers and other tributes to a dedicated site, she was asked how Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were doing.
Kate told one well-wisher: 'They are great, thank you'.. Season ticket holder Fiona Sturgess said: 'Kate said that William was playing football with the children last night and one of them said, I think it was George, 'Are you playing football tomorrow Pops?'
Mimicking the Duchess's eyebrow raise, she added: 'She said 'no!' . William also gently poked fun at his wife, telling the fans: 'I hope she's talking non-football'
Ms Sturgess added: 'He said one of his last conversations with Vichai he had wanted to arrange a Leicester vs Aston Villa game'.
Explaining why they had been invited to the event, club member Claire Plimmer, 47, said: 'We spent about five hours helping to move all the tributes here
We tied the scarves, lifted flowers, folded the shirts. I'm so proud to be part of the club and the Leicester City Family.
'We wanted to say give something back to someone who has given so much to us. It's a real honour to have met them'.
Kev Butler, 51, said: 'We came to pay our respects to the best person that could happen to our city and our club.
'I've been a supporter since 1961. It's my club and for the last five years the dream has come true'.
He and former colleague Paul Groves, 67, showed the Duchess their commemorative black and white scarves, which read Mr Chairman.
He said: 'She was just sharing the compassion with everyone. She seemed to feel it, she looked quite emotional, she felt what we were feeling'.
Millie Carter, 17, who was with her mother Anne Marie, said of the Duchess: 'She's very caring
She genuinely wanted to talk to us. The fact that they took the time out to visit us, they didn't have to talk to us at all
It was a fantastic surprise'.. Inside the couple had a private lunch and met first responders who were called to the scene of the crash, which happened shortly after Leicester's home tie with West Ham.
Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha then took them out through the directors' box to look out over the pitch, where the helicopter carrying his late father took off on its fateful last flight.
A sign on the big screen read 'A warm LCFC welcome to Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge'.
They also privately met relatives of the four other victims of the disaster, before hearing about some of the local charities supported by the club and its late owner.
They met representatives from the Leicester Hospital Charity, Loros Hospice, the Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People and newly renamed Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation, which was formerly the LCFC Foxes Foundation.
After buying Leicester City in 2010 when the club was still in the Championship, the billionaire owner not only oversaw their fairytale rise to the top of the Premier League in 2016, but also helped to raise millions for local charities and the community.
At a stall for Rainbows, the Duke was shown a newspaper clipping of his father the Prince of Wales, opening the hospice in 1994.
'That is not a good photo,' he joked. 'Is that the best photo you could find?'. Remembering the club's owner, he added: 'We knew Vichai quite well anyway, it was all quite shocking.
'We knew how important he was in the community, how he was doing his bit and said 'we have got to say hello, say how everyone is getting on
He was the gel, the glue, of the community.. 'There aren't many owners in the world who have done what Vichai has done here.
'If only more owners took his example of how to benefit the community, be involved
It's an amazing example of community, it really is'.. Referring to one of the fans he met outside, he said: 'We met someone outside who is a season ticket holder since 1958
I said, 'You must have had some dodgy seasons', and he said 'Yes, until the family came along it was a bit up and down'.
Speaking to representatives from the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation, Kate said: 'It's amazing that the club is such a part of the community'.
Thanking the Duke and Duchess for visiting the Club, chief executive Susan Whelan told them: 'This will bring great comfort to those who are grieving'.
Then the Duke addressed players, supporters, staff and management at the club. He paid tribute to the late owner and the four others killed, including pilot Eric Swaffer, adding that he was 'a man I had the privilege to fly with in the past'.
William also praised the Club's supporters and the community for rallying around in the aftermath of the disaster.
Before leaving, the royal couple were presented with boxed LCFC kits for each of their children and a statue of a silver fox, to represent the club's mascot.
The Duchess was presented with a posy of flowers by five-year-old Isla Jesson, who is a patient at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Isla, who has Type 1 Diabetes, wore a pink furry coat. Her proud mother Joanne, 39, said: 'Kate said that her daughter Charlotte would love her coat.
'She wears an insulin pump so I was hoping she wasn't going to beep during the speeches
But I'm so proud of her'.. In his speech at the stadium, William said: 'We knew Vichai as a man who cared deeply about his family and also his community
He of course was a man of wealth, but that wealth did not leave him disconnected from those around him
He believed in giving back.. 'Catherine and I also wanted to come to Leicester because of what the people of this city, and fans of this club, have shown us all over the last few weeks.
'In 2016, this football club did something that should have been impossible. 'Against odds that are now the stuff of legend, you took on the Goliaths and superstars of the world's most famous football league
'In powering past them all to win the title, you wrote the best underdog story in the history of modern sport.
'And when the man that led this club to victory died so tragically, the people of this city revealed with their outpouring of admiration, that they too shared much of the character that was so central to who Vichai was'.
William and Kate began their day by visiting the tribute site near the stadium to pay their respects to those killed in the accident.
Mr Srivaddhanaprabha's son Aiyawatt, vice chairman of the club, greeted the royals with his mother Aimon and sister Aroonroong.
William clasped Top's hands warmly and spoke to him at length, as did Kate, elegant in a Catherine Walker coat.
They then met a receiving line of Leicester players including England striker Jamie Vardy and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who witnessed the crash and had to be 'held back' from running towards the flames to try to help
The couple then walked along a blue carpet, with Kate laying a bouquet of flowers, adding the carpet of floral tributes.
Afterwards they met with a group of players and members of the Club's management team.
These included Claude Puel, Wes Morgan, Kasper Schmeichel, Andy King, Harry Maguire, Ben Chilwell and Jamie Vardy.
The couple also spent several minutes meeting volunteers and club supporters who helped to relocate the thousands of tributes which were left outside the front of the stadium to the site.
The Duchess laid an arrangement of white flowers wrapped in blue, reflecting the club's colours.
A card on the wreath said: 'To Vichai and all those who died in this terrible tragedy, you will be sorely missed.
'Our sincere condolences to the city of Leicester'. It was signed 'William' and 'Catherine'
. William and Kate, wearing a coat by Catherine Walker, took a moment to view the sea of floral tributes, scarves and flags left by mourners
William looked solemn as he chatted to each player and shared a warm moment with Aiyawatt, putting a hand on his shoulder and telling the players: 'You're in very good hands'
. After leaving the stadium the couple went to Leicester University, where six-year-old twins Sai and Taran Gotani were among the guests lined up to meet them.
As the duchess met the twins, who spent months in hospital after they were born prematurely, she asked them: 'What do you boys like doing? Do you like playing football?'
The answer gave her a taste of what was to come. 'I like headbutting,' said Sai, who with his brother promptly proceeded to give the duchess a demonstration.
'They are very excited to see you!' said their mother Kal, 43.. Sai also told William: 'My pants are showing'.
His mother said: 'I cannot believe he told Prince William that'. A few minutes later the duchess joined the duke at a demonstration of a schools science project, hosted by Dr Suzie Imber, who last year won the BBC2 series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?
The experiment showed what happens to marshmallows in a vacuum, which immediately brought the boys over.
As they jostled in front of the vacuum chamber, which contained a rapidly expanding marshmallow, William said: 'They are the biggest marshmallows in the world!'
Meanwhile their mother was struggling to hide her embarrassment. 'They are shouting 'Kate! Kate!' she said
'But she [the duchess] said: 'It's absolutely fine. Don't do anything. Let them be
I'm used to it.' Oh my God! She is amazing with them.. 'Sai was shouting, 'Kate, how is Charlotte?' And Taran has got a thing with numbers
He was saying, 'How old are you, Kate? When is your birthday?' I'm sweating, literally!'
Then, as the duke and duchess prepared to leave the room in the university library, the boys were there again, hogging the limelight
'You are very active,' the duke told them. 'How many marshmallows have you eaten? You two have so much energy'.
At that point the boys decided to start rolling round on the floor in front of the couple, wrestling together
Turning to his wife, William said: 'Catherine, you and I might try that. It's a new way to do an engagement
It's a lot of fun!'. Even then the twins were not finished with them. Outside, it was time for the traditional posy on departure: presented, of course, by Sai and Taran.
'Have you had a marshmallow yet?' the duke asked them. 'I thought you were going to have marshmallows'.
Crouching down, the duchess said to them: 'Shall I shake your hands one more time?'
That was not good enough for Sai, who leaned forward to give the duchess a kiss.. No marshmallows for the boys, however
Their father Geeten, 42, said: 'We try not to give them too much sugar!'. He said at the time: 'He made such a big contribution to football, not least through Leicester City's magical 2016 season that captured the imagination of the world'.
During the visit to the University of Leicester the couple heard about some of the educational and health programmes Leicester City has helped to support.
This includes a £1million donation made by Mr Srivaddhanaprabha to the university in May 2018, which will be used to help fund medical research and training through the creation of a Professorship in Child Health.
Their Royal Highnesses will then have the opportunity to speak with students, before meeting some of the University's Centenary scholars
The Centenary scholar programme has been created as the University prepares to celebrate 100 years since a fund was established by Dr Astley Clarke for its foundation
It was created as a living memorial to those who fought and made sacrifices in the First World War.
Investigators are still trying to determine why the aircraft plunged 430ft to the ground just moments after taking off from the pitch on October 27
. Footage of the aircraft taking off from the King Power Stadium pitch appeared to show parts of the rear rotor flying off as it hovered above the stands.
But the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) says it still has not identified the cause of the crash, although it appears the helicopter turned sharply right when the pilot was using the left pedal and 'did not respond to his command'.
The AAIB's preliminary report also says that its 'investigation of the tail rotor system is being carried out as a priority'
. Instead of crashing into the stands and hospitality areas it came down on empty land 200 yards from the stadium before erupting in a fireball.
It avoided busy roads and the last of the 31,000 fans still in the area along with dozens of police officers.
Experts suspect the tail rotor failed, sending the £6million AugustaWestland AW169 into a 'dead man's curve' that even the best pilot would not have been able to handle.
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