Queen Elizabeth described the terror attack that left 22 people dead in Manchester as “very wicked” during a visit to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, according to the UK Press Association.
The monarch was in Manchester Thursday to speak to some of the young people who were injured in Monday’s attack, as well as the hospital staff who have been treating them.
The Queen talked to a number of parents and their children during her visit, even discussing singer Ariana Grande, whose concert they had been attending.
While talking with 14-year-old Evie Mills from Harrogate, the Queen said that she thought Grande was a “very good singer,” adding: “She sounds very, very good.”
She also told Evie’s parents, Karen and Craig, that “everyone is united” in the aftermath of the attack.
Millie Robson, 15, who sustained injuries to her legs in the attack, told the Queen that she had won two VIP passes and met Grande backstage.
The Queen wished Millie well and described the attack as “very alarming.”
“It’s not something you expect at all,” the Queen told Millie’s father David, who was waiting at the exit of the arena when the explosion took place.
The Queen also spoke to members of staff including doctors and nurses who had been treating the injured and thanked them for their work.
“The awful thing was that everyone was so young. The age of them,” she told one member of staff.
According to a statement from NHS England on Thursday, Manchester hospitals are still treating 75 people in the aftermath of Monday’s bombing attack, including 23 in critical care.
