The Royal Family Remember The Fallen Heroes of War
Written by Joanne Leyland
Sunday, 11 November 2007
No fewer than fourteen members of the Royal Family
appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in London last night for the annual
Festival of Remembrance service honouring all those who lost
their lives in war.
Joining the Queen and Prince Philip in the royal box were the Prince of Wales
and Duchess of Cornwall (Charles and Camilla), the Princess Royal (Anne) and Vice Admiral Tim Laurence, the
Earl of Wessex (Edward), the Duke of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alexandra and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
The last member of the Royal Family to go into battle also took an
active role
in the service which also featured musical performances from the latest
'forces sweetheart', Katherine Jenkins, and chart toppers Blake.
The Duke of York, who served as a Sea King helicopter pilot in the
Falklands conflict of 1982, left the Royal Box to appear on stage.
Standing before an audience of thousands, including Prime Minister
Gordon Brown as well as other senior political figures and representatives of
the Church, Prince Andrew read from St. John: Chapter 15, verses 12-17.
Ahead of the ceremony, the last surviving veteran to fight in the trenches in
the ‘Great War’ of 1914-18 admitted he was excited to be meeting up once more
with his "old friend", the Queen, having been invited to make a special appearance at the event.
Now 109, World War One veteran Harry Patch said of his invitation to the event,
which took place on the eve of Armistice Day: "It is an honour to be invited to
meet the Queen again. I last met her at a Garden Party."
On Sunday morning, the Queen and other royals are expected to be joined by
Prince William who’ll join the senior members of the family in laying a wreath
on the steps of the Cenotaph in memory of all those who’ve lost their lives in
battle.
Although a member of the armed forces for almost two years, Prince
Harry is yet to attend either the Festival of Remembrance at the Albert
Hall, or the Cenotaph service. Prince William has now attended the
latter several times but he too is also yet to appear at last night's
remembrance service in Kensington.
Comment: I may be wrong, Monika but I think the lady in the picture is opera star, Kathryn Jenkins, though I could be wrong.
It's a beautiful gown but I'm not sure it's appropriate, so I dont think your acting older then your years! I think it would be better with straps on or sleeves so that the poppies could be pinned to somethng more substantial. It looks as though the dress is at danger of being pulled down.
Or even if she had a little shrug on would be better.
Name: Monika
Comment: I just noticed something...in the picture of Andrew, is it or is it not unusual for a lady to wear a strapless gown for this occasion? Is it me, or would it not have been nicer if there was more material to pin the poppies to?
Laura, I'm curious what you think...am I just acting older than my years?
Name: Laura
Comment: Jean, I too loved the arrangement of five poppies. It looked absolutley lovely.
Name: Jean Sue Libkind
Comment: Since there is a significance to everything she does, I wonder why HM is wearing five poppies....one for every branch of the services, perhaps.
Name: Laura
Comment: Valmae, the sight of all those proud servicemen marching brought a lump to my throat, it really did. I'm glad the rain held off for them. I only live about 30 minutes or so away from the Cenotaph and we got all the rain instead.
Not to be nasty but both my mum and I did chuckle when they said Edward was an Honourable Colonel! Remarks like that tend to lead to my mum to telling her favourite story of how Phillip, disapointed at Edward leaving the marines, told him that his sister would have made a better job of it! We are wicked like that I admit!
Name: Monika
Comment: Thank you for the article, Joanne. It's important for us to respect and appreciate the sacrifices others have made.
Name: valmae
Comment: Laura: I watched this morning too, as every other year. Again it was so moving that everyone from the Royals down honour the war dead at the same time annually.
The Royal line up is so much larger now. There has been some controversy that the Earl of Wessex now has a uniform (an Hon. Colonel) and is able to join the line up; he did leave his marine training saying it wasn't for him. On the other hand, Princess Anne has not actually served in the Navy, but no body has ever disputed her dedication to supporting the service. All the others,of course, HM, Philip, Charles, Andrew and D. of Kent have all served.
I learned from the broadcast that there is only one WW1 veteran left and at 109 years he was able to add his own tribute to his comrades.
10 years ago when there was still a group of veterans alive, I had the pleasure to deliver meals on wheels to 1 of them, Smiler Marshall. At 100 years he said that he was a youngman yet and he still had a glint in his eye. On the QMs birthday each year he used to dress up in his best clothes to go and have tea with her. He used to say that there weren't many men older than the QM left, and winked.
Name: Laura
Comment: I watched the service on the BBC last night and it was very touching. I watched it most years and the Queen looked thoughtful and poised as she always does, and she did again this morning at the Centotaph. It's nice to see a good number of royals show up, it reminds me of the old days!
In a way it's good to see Sophie wasn't there. Looks like she is resting with her feet up which is exactly what she should be doing!
