LONDON: King Charles III was on Saturday said to be `deeply saddened` after police said a British relative of his sons` former nanny was among the victims of the deadly truck-ramming attack in New Orleans.

Edward Pettifer, 31, who died in the atrocity, was the stepson of Prince William and Prince Harry`s former nanny Tiggy Pettifer.

It was `understood the King was... deeply saddened, and had been in touch with the family to share personal condolences`, the UK`s Press Association news agency said in a report. Heir to the throne Prince William said he and his wife Catherine had also been `shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Ed Pettifer`.

`Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Pettifer family and all those innocent people who have been tragically impacted by this horrific attack,` he wrote on the couple`s Kensington Palace social media account.

Pettifer`s half-brother Tom is one of William`s godsons and was a page boy at his wedding to Catherine, the Princess of Wales, in 2011.

In 1993, Charles employed Tiggy Legge-Bourke, now Pettifer, whose family had longstanding links to the royals, as a nanny for William and his younger brother Harry after his separation from their mother, Princess Diana.

`The entire family are devastated at the tragic news of Ed`s death in New Orleans. He was a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew, and a friend to so many.-AFP