Prince William and the royal family paid tribute to a British man killed in the terrorist attack in New Orleans.
Edward Pettifer, 31, was identified as one of the victims involved in the attack on Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
Pettifer was from London and his stepmother is a former nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF THE NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK
Prince William and the royal family paid tribute to a British man killed in the terrorist attack in New Orleans. (London Metropolitan Police/Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital/Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images)
“Catherine and I are shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Ed Pettifer,” said a statement on the official Instagram of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Pettifer family and all those innocent people tragically affected by this horrific attack.”
The statement ended with the letter W, as Prince William signed off the tribute on social media.
In the 1990s, Pettifer’s stepmother, Alexandra “Tiggy” Legge-Bourke, was a nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry.
The Pettifer family shared a statement from London’s Metropolitan Police.
Royal Nanny “Tiggy” Legge-Bourke with Prince William and Prince Harry in 1994. (Julian Parker/British Press via Getty Images)
“The entire family is devastated by the tragic news of Ed’s death in New Orleans. He was a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend to many.
“We will all miss him terribly. Our thoughts are with the other families who have lost their relatives to this terrible attack. We ask that we can grieve the loss of Ed privately as a family. Thank you.”
King Charles was reportedly deeply saddened to hear of Pettifer’s death and had been in contact with the family to convey his personal condolences, according to Reuters.
“Catherine and I are shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Ed Pettifer,” said a statement on the official Instagram of the Prince and Princess of Wales. (Reuters)
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Pettifer’s father, Charles, a former British army officer, married ‘Tiggy’ in 1999, shortly after she stepped down as nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry.
The family remained close to the British royal family, and Pettifer’s stepbrother Tom was a page to William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.
Wednesday’s attack killed at least 14 people and injured dozens of others, the FBI said.
A memorial to the victims of the Bourbon Street terrorist attack on New Year’s Eve following the street’s reopening Friday in New Orleans. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
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Heartbroken family and friends set out to identify the growing number of victims after Shamsud-Din Jabbar, identified by police as the man who carried out the attack, drove a pickup truck into a large crowd on Bourbon Street.
Jabbar was “determined to cause the carnage and damage he caused,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies on Bourbon Street after at least fourteen people were killed in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/Getty Images)
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“It was very deliberate behavior,” says the chief inspector of police added. “This guy tried to run over as many people as he could.”
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Alex Nitzberg, Danielle Wallace and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
