King Charles hosted a significant summit on knife crime at St James's Palace, bringing together Prime Minister Keir Starmer and actor Idris Elba to address what the monarch described as a "devastating" issue that leaves families "terrified".
The gathering marked one year since the King first convened discussions on tackling knife crime, demonstrating his continued commitment to finding solutions to the crisis affecting young people across Britain.
The summit featured powerful testimony from knife crime survivor Kyle Shaw-Tullin, a 23-year-old Royal Marine Commando and Team GB boxer who was stabbed in Oldham, Greater Manchester, when he was 17 years old.
Attendees included Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, and members of the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime, which was established at Downing Street last year.
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|King Charles addressed the work to stop the 'devastating' impact of knife crime at a St James's Palace summit
After listening to the testimonies, King Charles delivered an impromptu speech praising Shaw-Tullin's transformation through boxing.
"I was riveted to hear what Kyle was saying about his experiences," the King said. "Because it does seem to me, what you were saying, about being too exhausted to get into trouble, is quite a good point you're a teenager."
The monarch emphasised the importance of channelling young people's energy constructively, noting: "And otherwise, you cost so much energy, which could go the wrong way if it's not helped to go in a positively constructive direction. So that was a good point."
Charles advocated for a collaborative approach, recalling wisdom from "a wonderful old Irishman I knew years ago who said that two sheep's heads are always better than one."
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|Charles reacted to the emotional testimony from knife crime survivor Kyle Shaw-Tullin
"And it's true if you bring more people together who are involved in the same sort of field, then there is a great deal more you can achieve," the King continued.
"So I'm enormously grateful to you all. I look forward very much to seeing the actual progress on the ground, which will make a huge difference to so many parents' lives, otherwise they're devastated by the terrifying result of violent knife crime."
Idris Elba, who launched the Don't Stop Your Future campaign last year, warned attendees they cannot afford to "take their foot off the pedal" when tackling knife crime.
"We've seen some things happen, and that's great," Elba said. "There's also been a small rise in knife crime at the same time, OK?"
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|Actor Idris Elba also spoke at the event as a key proponent of action on the knife crime epidemic
"And compared to the year before that rising knife crime might be less than the year before, but it was still a rise. So we can't take our foot off the pedal. We have to stay focused."
Prime Minister Starmer announced the government would establish eight Young Futures Hubs in areas with high levels of knife crime, backed by an initial £2 million from the Treasury.
The hubs will bring together services to support teenagers and young people at risk of being drawn into gang violence, knife crime or facing mental health difficulties.
The government plans to open 50 such hubs during their current term in office.
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|Prime Minister Keir Starmer was also in attendance at St James's Palace
These will operate alongside new Prevention Partnership Panels - multi-agency groups working to identify and refer vulnerable teenagers to services including the Young Futures Hubs.
More than 20 panels will be operational in coming months across areas that collectively account for over 80% of knife crime incidents.
Shaw-Tullin shared his harrowing experience of being stabbed as a teenager and spending two weeks in hospital fighting for his life.
He told attendees that returning to the boxing ring after the attack proved transformative in keeping him away from trouble.