'Truly inspiring': Prince William and Theresa May join red carpet celebrities to honour unsung heroes at Pride of Britain awards

Prince William has honoured the UK’s bravest and most selfless citizens at the Pride of Britain Awards.

In a star-studded ceremony at the Grosvenor Hotel in Mayfair, he paid tribute to the emergency services following a year blighted by terror attacks and the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The prince was joined by Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and stars including Rod Stewart, Nicole Scherzinger and Alan Sugar on the red carpet. Also spotted were footballer Frank Lampard, presenter Carol Vorderman and Joan Collins.

During the presentation of a special recognition award to residents and community helpers at the Grenfell Tower fire, William praised the "truly inspiring" efforts of those who helped in the aftermath of the blaze.

He said: "Thank you for the hard work you've all done, the community spirit you've shown, the coming together as you did so quickly after Grenfell.

"I'm just so sorry that such an awful event ever occurred."

He added: "I can only imagine how horrendous and difficult it has been for you all."

William also gave awards to the medics and firefighters who responded to the tragedy, and joined Sheeran in a presentation to emergency responders at the Manchester bombing in May.

He said: "I genuinely don't know how you see some of the things you see and I don't understand how difficult it must have been for you."

He added: "You take those scars home with you mentally and yet you come back the next day and you still do fantastic work."

Among those the Prince chatted with in a pre-party reception was five-year-old Suzie McCash, who saved her mother's life by phoning 999 and describing her symptoms to emergency responders when she collapsed and her breathing stopped.

Suzie, who is the recipient of a Child Of Courage award and was just four when she made the life-saving call, described to William how she was able to calmly ask for paramedics to attend the family home in Tynemouth, Northumberland, earlier this year.

Suitably impressed with her heroic efforts, William said he had "no idea" what his own son, Prince George, would do in such circumstances.

He said: "I have a four-year-old called George and if I gave him a telephone, I do not know what he would do."

He added: "Do you know what, I'm going to have a conversation with my George about what to do because of what you've done - it's really important."

Teenage Child Of Courage award winner Moin Younis, who also spoke to William about his ambassador status for a hospice, said he thought the Duke was "one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet".

Moin, 17, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that causes his skin to blister and bleed from the slightest of knocks, was recognised for his fearlessly positive outlook and determination not to let his condition get in the way of his aspirations and charity work.

He said: "It was crazy, it was amazing.

"The fact that he knows so much about me and obviously the stuff I do - it means a lot."

Moin said he was also able to talk to the Prince about his shared love of Aston Villa football club and his thoughts about the current team.

The Duke also met two of the police heroes from the London Bridge terrorist attack, Wayne Marques and Charlie Guenigault, who tackled knife-wielding jihadis during their murderous rampage in June.

The officers said it had been "an honour" to meet the Prince and hear how much he knew of their efforts.

Mr Marques said: "It's great to be honoured by the Royal Family and to actually speak to him like that."

Later in the ceremony, Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn and leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable jointly took to the stage to mark the outstanding heroism of Pc Keith Palmer, who gave his life protecting parliament during the London Bridge terror attack in March.

Mrs May said it was "fitting" that Pc Palmer was the first person to receive a posthumous Pride of Britain Award for outstanding bravery, as he gave his life to protect others.

She said: "As he stood in defence of parliament, facing down and tackling that evil terrorist unarmed, he stood for Britain, he gave his life for Britain, he was quite simply the pride of Britain."

Additional reporting by Press Association.