One of the 1,200 members of the public invited to the royal wedding will be carrying a tribute.
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot at St. George’s Chapel on May 19, 12-year-old Amelia Thompson, one of the 1,200 lucky members of the public invited to attend the ceremony, will be carrying a candle to honor the lives lost in the Manchester bombing.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“We’re going to take a pillar candle which has the names of the 22 people who died on it. It’s just something a little personal. It’ll mean all the 22 people will be there,” Thompson told PEOPLE. “We’re hoping to go the day before and ask if they could light it in St George’s Chapel on the 22nd of May, which is the anniversary.”
Thompson had been attending the concert, one of the U.K. stops of Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman Tour, at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017, with her mother, Lisa Newton. They had still been in the arena at the time of the bombing, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds more.
“I took an image on Amelia’s phone of her kissing a balloon. She was facing the direction of the bomb and then the bomb just went off. I spun around over the direction of my left shoulder and then I looked back at Amelia and she was just staring — she literally froze,” Newton explained. “All of these people came running in shouting, ‘They’ve got guns, they’ve got guns.’ It was utter, utter chaos. I looked at her again and Amelia had started a panic attack, which triggered an asthma attack and she couldn’t get her breath.”
Thompson, however, will not be attending the royal wedding with her mother, instead choosing to attend the nuptials with Sharon Goodman, whose 15-year-old granddaughter Olivia Campbell-Hardy was killed in the terror attack.
Thompson and Goodman are among the 1,200 members of the public invited to attend the ceremony, Prince Harry and Markle announcing in March that the nuptials would be made open to the public.
“Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle have said they want their Wedding Day to be shaped so as to allow members of the public to feel part of the celebrations too,” a statement read. “This wedding, like all weddings, will be a moment of fun and joy that will reflect the characters and values of the Bride and Groom.”
The lucky members of the public will be made up of 1,200 residents from “every corner of the United Kingdom” who will be nominated to attend by nine regional Lord Lieutenant offices. Harry and Markle have requested that those chosen represent a variety of ages and backgrounds and include young people who have displayed strong leadership and served their communities.
Also invited will be 200 people from various charities associated with the couple, 100 students from two local schools, 610 Windsor Castle community members and 530 Members of The Royal Households and Crown Estate.
