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Held every year since 1919, on the Sunday closest to Armistice Day (11th November), the ceremony commemorates the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.
The ceremony took place at the Cenotaph and the Women’s Memorial on Whitehall in London with broadcast coverage beginning on BBC One from 10:25am.
Whitehall opened to the public at 9:00am although the surrounding area began to fill with crowds from as early as 7:30am.
Heightened security procedures were in place including police searches and body scanners at the entrance to Whitehall after the Metropolitan Police arrested four men in London on Thursday in connection with ‘Islamic related terrorism.’
They remain in custody, after their plan to assassinate The Queen at Saturday’s Festival of Remembrance was uncovered and diffused.
The Massed Bands of the Household Division and Royal Marines began to arrive, along with the Civilian Services, at 10:30am and music began shortly afterwards.
The Royal Marines Band marches past The Cenotaph in London
The Massed Bands of the Household Division arrive on Whitehall for the Remembrance Service
Beginning with Thomas Arne’s ‘Rule Britannia’, the Bands went on to play ‘Heart of Oak’, ‘The Minstrel Boy’ and ‘Men of Harlech.’
The Massed Bands of the Household Division perform Nimrod
Arriving at around 10:50am, the Royal Family took their places at the Cenotaph and on the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The Duchess of Cambridge, Duchess of Cornwall and The Countess of Wessex were all present on the balcony along with The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra.
The crowds fell silent at 11:00am, for two minutes, as the chimes of Big Ben rang out. The silence represents the end of World War One on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month in 1918.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One, 70 years since the D-Day landings and also the end of Britain’s more recent conflict in Afghanistan.
To begin and end the silence, a field gun was fired on Horse Guards Parade followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding The Last Post.
Traditionally, after the silence, Her Majesty The Queen and senior members of the royal family lay wreaths of remembrance poppies at the service.
This year, The Queen was joined by The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex and The Duke of Kent.
Notably absent were The Princess Royal and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, as The Princess is currently undertaking a tour of the United States and Canada.
The Ministry of Defence announced that Prince Harry flew to Kandahar in Afghanistan as a representative of The Queen and joined British service personnel for a Remembrance service there. Harry is not a Royal Colonel and therefore is not usually present at the national ceremony although he has laid a wreath previously on behalf of his father who was in India last year.
Alongside the Royal Family laying wreaths were The Prime Minister, David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg.
Traditionally present are former Prime Ministers, the Foreign Secretary, the Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, British Army, the Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets and the civilian services.
The Lord Bishop of London offered prayers, including The Lord’s Prayer, after which the RAF buglers sounded The Rouse and the National Anthem was played.
For the first time, and in response to the recent security news, applause rippled through the crowd as The Queen left the Cenotaph.
After the ceremony, the bands of the Armed Forces began to play various pieces of music starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It’s A Long Way To Tipperary as a huge parade of veterans, organised by the Royal British Legion, marched past the Cenotaph.
The thousands of spectators crowds kept up the applause throughout the Veteran’s march past.
Each contingent salutes as they pass and many wreaths were passed over to be laid down.
As the veterans marched back to Horse Guards Parade, The Duke of York, took their salute from in front of the Guards Memorial.
The ceremony is one of many across the United Kingdom with other services taking place in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast along with many villages, towns and cities across the country.
Services only previously took place on Armistice Day, the 11th of November. They were then moved to Remembrance Sunday and today it is common place for people to pay their respects on both days.
Featured Image: The Queen lays a wreath at the Remembrance Service in 2013 – UK Ministry of Defence
Image Credits: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press, Chris Jackson/Getty Images News, James Brookes/Royal Central]]>
Wheres princess anne?
She and Sir Tim Laurence are on an overseas visit to Canada.
where is prince Harry ?
The Ministry of Defence announced that Prince Harry flew to Kandahar in Afghanistan to attend a Remembrance Service with British service personnel there. The Prince is not a Royal Colonel and therefore he does not normally attend the service.
One leading member of the Royal family in the line of succession is always absent from major public events in case of disaster or terror attack. Apparently, this was Harry’s turn to be somewhere else.