Wednesday 11 November 2015

Royal Words of Remembrance

On Remembrance Day, people around the world are paying their own tributes to those who lost their lives in armed conflict while remembering, too, those who live with the scars of war. Their words remain private and often the most public memorials come from the Royals whose wreaths are laid on behalf of their countries and whose words, handwritten on simple cards attached to their tributes, speak volumes.


The wreath left at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
(photo @koninklijkhuis Twitter)


The message read 'In remembrance of the British men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. The Kingdom of the Netherlands will be forever grateful for the British role in its liberation'.  Moments afterwards, the Duke of Edinburgh laid his own wreath at the Cenotaph. It bore the message 'In Remembrance. Philip' - the prince served in World War Two.


 


 Two of his grandsons left wreaths at the Cenotaph too. Prince Harry wrote on his wreath 'In loving memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and the many whose lives were changed forever. Harry'


 
 


 His brother, the Duke of Cambridge, left a very personal message on his wreath, writing 'For Jo, Lex and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. William'. The duke has left the same message several times before - Jo is his friend, 2nd Lieutenant Joanne Dyer, with whom he trained and who was killed in Afghanisatn in 2007. Lex is another friend and colleague, Major Alexis Roberts, killed in Afghanistan in October 2007.




And the Princess Royal summed up the thoughts of many with her simple message left with the wreath that she laid at the National Arboretum today. It read 'we will remember them'.

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