WEDDING FLOWERS: Remembrance Sunday
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Showing posts with label Remembrance Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Remembrance Sunday. Show all posts

Royal Remembrance: the Cenotaph


It is a tradition approaching its 100th anniversary and although it took a different form this year, it was none the less moving or poignant for it. The Queen led the nation in remembering those who lost their lives in conflict on Remembrance Sunday. But for the first time she oversaw proceedings from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office while her heir, the Prince of Wales laid her wreath. It was a heartfelt tribute and a moment of history.

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The ceremony at the Cenotaph began, as always, just before 11am on Remembrance Sunday. But while the air was cold and the morning milky, as it is so often for this special event, the royal procession on to Whitehall looked very different. Prince Charles led out the Windsors while his mother, father and wife watched from above.




On a separate balcony was the Countess of Wessex, the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Alexandra of Kent.




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The Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry and the Duke of York took their places while politicians including the Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, also joined to watch and remember.



The two minutes' silence was followed by a moment of history. The Queen always lays her wreath on behalf of the nation but this year she stood by to watch the Prince of Wales carry out that duty for her.  It's only the seventh time in her record breaking reign that Elizabeth II hasn't laid a wreath at the Cenotaph. Instead, she was witness to her heir and his sons placing tributes to remember and commemorate.



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It was none the less moving for that. The event has clearly always meant a great deal to the Queen and she was seen to wipe her eyes during the ceremony. After the formal ceremonial was done, she led her family back inside while the Prince of Wales went on to attend the Welsh Guards Remembrance Parade where he laid another wreath.




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The formal tribute at the Cenotaph, which has been a focus for remembrance since 1919, is a tradition begun by the Queen's grandfather, George V. It has been carried out by all four monarchs of the House of Windsor and now, in an historic moment, by the man who will be the dynasty's next king. But despite the symbolism and the attention on change, the meaning of the event remained the same. George V led his people in rembering those lost and his descendants still do the same today.

Prince Harry's Solo Salute


It was a solitary salute this year and none the less poignant for it. Prince Harry attended opening of the Fields of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on November 9th 2017 to pay tribute to all those who have lost their lives while fighting for their country. But while Harry has been a regular at this event for several years now, this time round things were different. For this was the first time the prince walked the lines of poppies since the retirement of his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.




The prince also laid his own poppies in commemoration before saluting and taking part in a two minute silence. 




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Harry and Philip have, together, opened the annual tribute to the fallen for several years. The Fields of Remembrance are organised by the Poppy Factory which lays hundreds of thousands of tributes around the grounds of the ancient abbey, for so long a symbol for the nation, to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. This year 70,000 poppies have been planted in 380 plots in memoriam.






There were still plenty of familiar faces for Prince Harry to catch up with. On previous visits he has met members of the Armed Forces and their families coming to remember those lost and this year caught up with seven year old Harrison Degiorgio-Lewis who comes to commemorate his uncle, Lieutenant Aaron Lewis of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, who was killed on duty in Afghanistan. Harry met Harrison last year and the two had another chat this time round.







And there was time for a more personal chat as veteran, Matt Weston, asked Harry where ''his missus'' was and got a right royal smile as an answer. When asked if Meghan Markle would be at the Fields of Remembrance next year, Harry joked that he wouldn't be able to hide her anywhere while Matt Weston, who lost both his legs while serving with the Royal Engineers 33 Regiment in Afghanistan, gave the royal romance his seal of approval by describing the duchess in waiting as ''brilliant'' and ''cool''.



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If (should that be when) Meghan does make an appearance at the event, it would be another chapter in a royal story that stretches back decades. For many years, the Queen Mother attended the event. The first Field of Remembrance was organised in 1928 by an army officer, George Arthur Howson, and has grown in the years since. The poppies are planted the Thursday before Remembrance Sunday and remain, bearing witness, for eight days. After that, they are burned and the ashes scattered on the fields of northern France and Belgium where so many lost their lives in the First World War. Any money raised goes to the Poppy Factory and the Royal British Legion.



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Prince Harry is expected to take part in the annual Remembrance Sunday service on November 12th although he won't be present at the Festival of Remembrance the night before as both he and the Duke of Cambridge will be attending rugby matches that day. The service at the Cenotaph this Sunday will also see another change  - for the first time, the Queen will watch from a balcony overlooking Whitehall while the Prince of Wales lays her wreath on behalf of the nation. The Duke of Edinburgh will be at his wife's side, another echo of the changes that led this year to Harry's solo salute.

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