The congregation wore pastels to honor 7-year-old UK knife attack victim at her funeral

LONDON (AP) — The congregation wore pastels and floral prints for “Elsie’s Special Day.’’ Her fellow cheerleaders formed an honor guard. The family dog stood by the door.

The funeral for 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe was the last to be held for the three young girls who died in a stabbing attack that rocked Britain this summer. But family and friends who gathered for her funeral Friday chose to remember the life of a girl who loved a party, did everything with style and crammed as much sparkle into her days as possible, rather than dwell on the pain of her loss.

There was her first day at Farnborough Road School, when she arrived on her father’s shoulders and proclaimed that her name was Elsie Dot “because my mommy says I’m just like a little dot.” There was the time she brought a pair of glittery heels to show-and-tell, then put them on and “clip-clopped” around the room so everyone could see. And the way she was always the last one out the school door because she had to say goodbye to everyone before she left.

“Elsie always had the prettiest socks and the shiniest shoes in the whole class,” remembered Katie Sykes, one of her teachers. “Elsie, we have so many special memories of our happy times with you. We will cherish these forever.”

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Elsie, Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, and Bebe King, 6, were killed when a man with a knife attacked a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the seaside town of Southport, northwest of Liverpool, on July 29. As the community grieved, far-right activists spread misinformation about the identity of the attacker, triggering a week of anti-immigrant riots that targeted mosques, shops owned by ethnic minorities and hotels housing asylum-seekers.

As Britain recovers from the violence and the government promises swift justice for hundreds of rioters arrested around the country, Southport residents have filled the streets outside their town hall with flowers and teddy bears to honor the three young victims of the attack.

King Charles III travelled to Southport this week to meet with survivors of the stabbing rampage and later spoke with the bereaved families at Clarence House, his home in London.

On Friday, the focus was on Elsie.

People lined the streets as her funeral cortege passed by, followed by a convoy of bright red postal trucks driven by her father’s colleagues at the Royal Mail.

Sykes recalled Elsie’s pride in her father, David Stancombe, who delivered the mail to the school.

“It became Elsie’s daily mission to spot dad on his rounds, whether that be through the canteen window near the school office or on the year two (second-grade) playground. Mrs. Sinclair remembers waiting at the back of the class line with Elsie, pretending that it was really tricky to lock the gate so that Elsie could sneak an extra daddy cuddle. She’d always proudly tell everybody, ‘That’s my dad, you know.’ ”

To close out Elsie’s celebration, the family chose Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.’’

It was one of her favorites.