THE KING LEADS SENIOR ROYALS IN POIGNANT TRIBUTE
AS HE PLACES THE FIRST WREATH AT THE CENOTAPH
As Big Ben chimed at 11am, all those gathered held a two-minute silence
In a traditional ceremony that never loses its impact, around 10,000 veterans and 800 members of the armed forces marched past the Cenotaph in Whitehall last Sunday, paying tribute to the servicemen and women who lost their lives in two world wars and later conflicts.
Leading the nation in remembrance and joined by senior members of the royal family, politicians and faith leaders was the King, wearing his air marshal’s uniform.
SILENT REMEMBRANCE
As Big Ben chimed at 11am, all those gathered in Whitehall and beyond held a two-minute silence, its end marked by a cannon blast from Horse Guards Parade followed by buglers playing the Last Post.
In his role as head of the armed forces, the King placed the first wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph before standing back and, looking visibly moved, saluting. The wreath was wrapped in a ribbon bearing His Majesty’s racing colours of scarlet, purple and gold and carried a handwritten card with the message: “In everlasting remembrance.” A wreath laid on behalf of the Queen by her equerry bore the same words.
The wreath the King used to lay, with the Prince of Wales’s feathers, was laid instead by his son Prince William. Its message – “In memory of all those who sacrificed so much” – was also translated into Welsh.
SOMBRE MOMENT
As the pair stood to attention, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh beside them, the Queen, the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester watched from balconies at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Off
