Prince William has paid a touching tribute to John F. Kennedy.
The 34-year-old royal attended The Kennedy Memorial Trust reception at Buckingham Place on Thursday night (13.10.16) where he gave a speech during which he said Queen Elizabeth still holds the late US president – who was assassinated on November 22, 1963 – in the "highest esteem".
He said: "My grandmother would very much like me to pass on some words to all of you.
"In 1965, my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen inaugurated the memorial to President Kennedy, which stands at Runnymede, on land bequeathed by her to the people of the United States.
"Her Majesty spoke that day of the extent to which we recognised what President Kennedy had already accomplished, and of the high hopes that rode with him, in a future that was not to be.
"So I am honoured, half a century on, to be here this evening and pay tribute to a man whom my family continues to hold in the highest esteem."
In May 1965, Kennedy’s Jacqueline and their children, Caroline and John Jr. travelled to London for the dedication service and Queen Elizabeth, now 90, gave a speech.
At the time, she said: "The unprecedented intensity of that wave of grief, mixed with something akin to despair, which swept over our people at the news of President Kennedy’s assassination, was a measure of the extent to which we recognised what he had already accomplished, and of the high hopes that rode with him in a future that was not to be."
The Kennedy Memorial Trust is a British memorial to President Kennedy, which was set up in July 1964, a year after his assassination.
Prince William’s touching John F. Kennedy tribute
