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Prince Harry attended a series of remembrance services to mark the
Allied victory. To commemorate the anniversary of when Polish
troops finally took hold of the Benedictine monastery on the
hilltop, near Rome, Harry started his series of engagements by
laying a wreath at the Polish military cemetery. He later toured
the restored sixth century abbey which had been bombed by Americans
during the campaign in an attempt to prevent the German troops
who occupied the monastery from having a strategic lookout
spot.
An exhibition that has been put together within the restored
monastery illustrates how it had previously been heavily bombed by
US planes and left as rubble. After seeing what was left of the
monastery, Prince Harry stated: “Unbelievable. They knocked the
whole thing down. They flattened it”.
The fourth in line to the throne then took park in a New Zealand
commemorative service, in order to acknowledge the 1,400 casualties
New Zealand troops suffered during this campaign. Harry also took
part in his first Maori greeting, where he rubbed noses with a
number of people, including the New Zealand Governor-General Sir
Jerry Mateparae. The Prince’s first attempt at the hongi greeting
was a success, with one onlooker, Warrant Officer Twomey, stating:
“He was very good”.
Harry joined the Governor-General and a number of veterans in a
Cross of Sacrifice procession, which was led by Maori warriors and
two airmen. The New Zealand flag was lowered to half-mast and the
Prince laid a wreath of poppies at the cenotaph.
During this engagement, Harry also got the chance to speak to a
number of injured Italian service personnel who are due to take
part in the London Invictus Games later this year, which the Prince
has been enthusiastically promoting recently.
After this engagement, Harry travelled to Rome where he visited
the MAXXI National Museum of Contemporary Arts. It was
here that the Prince unveiled the winning entry for a design for
the UK Expo pavilion in Milan by artist Wolfgang Buttress. The
winning design was supposedly inspired by beehives. In relation to
the Expo themes being of sustainability and development, Prince
Harry commented that this theme is very much “close to my heart”,
and continued by saying: “I, like many of you here today, feel
hugely responsible for the next generation”.
Photo credit: Paul Reed/@sommecourt]]>
