Taylor Swift is understood to have personally reached out to the families of the Southport stabbing victims ahead of her string of London concerts.
The singer returned to Wembley on Thursday to begin the final leg of her Eras Tour in what is said to have been “the hardest concert of her career”, following the horrific attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last month.
Bebe King, six, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were stabbed to death at the class, while 10 others were injured.
While she did not address the incident on stage, it is believed that she has reached out to the victims’ families personally.
A source told The Sun: “Taylor may not have spoken about Elsie Dot, Alice and Bebe on stage but she has reached out to their families. It is something that has weighed heavily on her mind.”
Following the tragedy on July 29, Taylor released a heartbreaking statement in which she said she was “at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families”.
“The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock…” she wrote on social media.
“The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders.
“These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
The continuation of her Eras Tour came after she was forced to cancel all of her scheduled shows in Vienna last week after a terror plot was uncovered.
Authorities in Austria detained two young men suspected of planning a major attack at one of her sold-out performances.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old boy, had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of Isis online and is alleged to have been plotting alongside a 17-year-old who had begun working at the stadium days before.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan previously told Sky News that he is “sure Vienna has got its own reasons” for the cancellation but the capital was “going to carry on, working closely with police (and) ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely.”
Security outside Wembley has been heightened, with hundreds of guards surrounding the venue and managing fans entering.
The stadium put out a warning to ticketless supporters ahead of the concert, saying they will be unable to congregate outside the stadium, thwarting an often common practice among the singer’s fans known as “tay-gating”.
Liquids over 500ml and bags bigger than A4 were also banned from the venue.