Meghan and Harry pay respects to Doreen Lawrence at Stephen Lawrence memorial service
PRINCE HARRY and his fiancee Meghan Markle have arrived at a service to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence at a touching service in Central London today.
The royals remembered the life and legacy of the 18-year-old budding architect, at St Martin-in-the-Fields church at 1.30pm today alongside his parents Doreen and Neville Lawrence.
Meghan and Harry were seen shaking Doreen Lawrence's hand as they arrived at the service. Neville Lawrence was also seen arriving at the tribute for his murdered son.
Stephen’s life was tragically cut short when he was stabbed to death by a gang of racist white youths in Eltham, south-east London, on April 22 1993.
His murder became a watershed moment in modern race relations in the UK, after the subsequent Macpherson Report into the case concluded the police made mistakes and were guilty of “institutional racism”.
However, only two of the group of up to six thugs who attacked the teenager and his friend Duwayne Brooks, simply because they were black, have been convicted of murder.
David Norris and Gary Dobson are both serving life sentences, while three other men who have consistently been accused of the killing but never convicted are Jamie Acourt, 41, from Bexley, his brother Neil Acourt, 42, who now uses his mother’s maiden name Stuart, and Luke Knight, 41, both from Eltham.
Jamie Acourt, 41, is on the run in Spain. Neil Acourt, 42, is serving a six year prison sentence for a £4 million drugs ring.
Luke Knight still lives in Eltham and works as a roofer.
Stephen’s parents battled for years to bring his killers to justice in a series of harrowing court cases.
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Stephen’s father Neville Lawrence, 76, announced last week that he had made the humbling decision to forgive his son’s killers.
He said: “The fact that I had to lose my first child has been devastating. I can’t begin to explain the pain and the anguish me and my family have suffered over the past 25 years.”
The case sparked anguish among the black community for the senseless, unprovoked, murder of the black teenager and the slow police response to solve the case.
It also highlighted the ills of racism for the entire British public.
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Scotland Yard has admitted it has no new lines of inquiry in the investigation into Stephen’s murder.
The force has said unless detectives receive new information the investigation is “unlikely to progress further”.
Earlier this month, before the update from Scotland Yard, Stephen’s mother Baroness Lawrence told the Daily Mail the investigation should end.
Harry and Ms Markle met Stephen’s mother Doreen Lawrence, now a peer sitting in the Lords, and brother Stuart before the service began.
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The royal will read a message of support on behalf of the Prince of Wales, who in 2000 gave the annual Stephen Lawrence Memorial Lecture which began with a tribute to the Lawrence family.
Sir Lenny Henry will also interview three young beneficiaries of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.
At around 1.30pm guests started to line up outside St Martin in the Fields Church in London for the anniversary service.
Doreen Lawrence and her other son Stuart stood in the doorway of the church to greet those attending the service.
Metropolitan police chief Cressida Dick was in attendance. Jeremy Corbyn was also due to be at the service.
One of the guests tweeted a picture of the programme for the service featuring Stephen's smiling face on the front of the pamphlet.
He added that the church is "filling up."