The Queen has opened the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey and paid tribute by planting a simple wooden cross bearing a poppy.
Her Majesty placed the cross and bowed her head in an act of remembrance before walking backwards from the tribute, refusing to turn away from it in another solemn moment of commemoration.
Queen Camilla took part in the short ceremony which officially opened this year’s Field of Remembrance.
Her cross bears her cypher and the words ”In Remembrance”.
It’s the 95th time that the Field have opened at the Abbey to pay tribute to those who have given their lives for their country.
The Field of Remembrance are a series of plots where people can place crosses and poppies to commemorate those who have died. This year, over 300 ‘fields’ have sprung up at the Abbey, many associated with particular regiments and organisations including the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Army Chaplain’s Department.
The commemoration was first held in November 1928. Initially, the Poppy Factory took a group of wounded veterans to Westminster where they sold poppies with just a handful of crosses planted in remembrance. Now, thousands are placed every year as a tribute.
The event traditionally starts on the Thursday before Remembrance Sunday and lasts until the following Thursday. The Field is planted on the lawn of St. Margaret’s Church, next to Westminster Abbey.
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