Duchess 'lucky to be alive'

"Everyone was in complete shock"

The Duchess of York has compared the mood in New York after the terror attacks to that of Britain following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The duchess had been on her way to her charity's office in the World Trade Center when hijacked planes hit the twin towers.

She said she felt lucky to be alive.

I'm so lucky to be here - I'm even stronger now and even more determined to support children to give them a better chance and a better future

Duchess of York

The duchess spoke of her experiences shortly after attending a memorial service for hundreds of people from bond trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

The company lost about 700 of its 1,250 staff in the attacks.

The duchess's charity Children in Crisis had office space at the firm, on the 101st floor of the north tower.

"It was very similar to when Diana died, that way of people allowing themselves to grieve," the duchess said.

"With Diana's death it was that feeling that people wanted to cry, it was now a chance to cry and today it felt like that.

"There was so much of a need for people to let out their emotions."

Disbelief

The duchess described her shock of hearing of the attacks on her way to her charity's office on 11 September.

The duchess said the memorial service was powerful

"I heard that an airplane had just gone into our office at the World Trade Center and I said 'That's not possible, it's not possible', " she told ITN's Tonight With Trevor McDonald programme.

"And of course in all these thoughts you don't think terrorism, you don't think that a huge jet will go into a building, we were just completely in shock."

When she realised the disaster was more than an accident, she telephoned her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and her ex-husband Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.

"I didn't panic, I just immediately rang the girls and their father," she said.

Message to terrorists

The duchess said she wanted to go to the city's hospitals to help the injured, but felt she would be in the way.

"You just felt sort of helpless and yet you want to do so much and say 'We're here for you'."

The memorial service for Cantor Fitzgerald employees, which the duchess attended, was held in New York's Central Park on Monday.

"Everyone was there with their hearts open and they were all holding hands and it was really powerful," she said.

It was now important for people to try to get on with their lives to send a message to the terrorists that they had not won, she added.

"We must be united. We must be strong and go forward and say 'No, you are not going to beat us'."

She said the spirit of New Yorkers was an example to people worldwide.