The Earl of Wessex attended the Patriot Day Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, yesterday on the 17th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Prince Edward laid a wreath to honour the fallen from that fateful day.
The Prince attended alongside US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis; Vice President Mike Pence; and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Paul Selva.
His Royal Highness received a tour of the Pentagon after the service had concluded. His day also included a trip to the Prince’s Court, Washington DC International Tennis Club of Washington, a lunch as part of his role as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, and a reception at the US Ambassador’s residence.
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, salutes a wreath to honour the fallen on Sept. 11, 2001, during the Pentagon Memorial Observance Ceremony in Washington D.C., Sept. 11, 2018. Hundreds of military service members, family members who perished during the attacks, veterans and distinguished guests gathered to reflect on the lives lost during the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. (DoD Photo by Tech Sgt. Vernon Young Jr.)
The Pentagon, which houses the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, was the site of one of the attacks in 2001. A flight en route from a D.C. area airport to Los Angeles, California, was hijacked by al-Qaeda affiliates and crashed into the building. All 64 on the aeroplane and 125 inside the Pentagon were killed. In total, almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks in New York City, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania.
Prince Edward is in the United States for 12 days as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Real Tennis Tour. One of his stops will be in Aiken, South Carolina on 17 September. There he will visit the Aiken Tennis Club where he will have lunch
