A speech by The Duke of Cambridge at the King Power Stadium, Leicester

Thank you for all being here today.

Catherine and I wanted to visit Leicester to pay tribute to a man that we knew, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and those who died alongside him in October. 

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. 

In a time when our football clubs have become huge global enterprises, you came out to thank Vichai for making the fans the true owners of this club. And you thanked him for investing the rewards of success in the future of Leicester City. 

You showed that community mattered to him and to you all. 

You showed us that the losses experienced by other families need to be felt keenly by our own. 

You were paying tribute to Vichai, Kaveporn, Nusara, Izabela, and a man I had the privilege to fly with in the past, Eric Swaffer. 

But you were also paying tribute to the fact that sport - when played with passion, but also with humility and respect - can bring us all together. 

Thank you for the example you have provided us. 

And thank you for welcoming us here today.