King Charles III leads a nationwide memorial service honoring those that died serving the U.Okay.
LONDON — King Charles III on Sunday led a nationwide memorial service honoring those that died serving the United Kingdom – an occasion that handed with out incident regardless of fears that tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas battle would possibly disrupt the ceremony.
London’s Metropolitan Police Service deployed greater than double the standard variety of officers to safeguard the occasion and put a 24-hour guard across the nationwide battle memorial, often known as the Cenotaph, to make sure it wasn’t defaced.
The annual service, throughout which hundreds of veterans paraded previous the Cenotaph, got here after every week of debate over calls to cancel a large pro-Palestinian march on Saturday out of respect for the weekend’s memorial occasions. While the march was largely peaceable, police clashed with far-right counter-protesters who tried to disrupt it.
Police on Saturday arrested about 120 folks. They described them as principally soccer “hooligans” from across the U.Okay. who spent the day confronting officers making an attempt to maintain them away from the march. Nine officers have been injured, together with two who have been hospitalized.
“Recent events have served as a stark reminder that we cannot take the hard-earned peace we live in for granted, which is why I am honored to lay a wreath on behalf of the nation in the memory of all those that have lost their lives defending our country and the values we hold so close,’’ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a prepared statement. “I am determined to ensure we never forget the ultimate sacrifice they have made.”
Sunak is dealing with calls to fireside Home Secretary Suella Braverman, one of the vital senior members of his Cabinet, after she was accused of inflaming tensions along with her feedback concerning the pro-Palestinian march. Braverman final week advised police had been extra lenient with current pro-Palestinian protests, which she described as “hate marches,” than with demonstrations favoring right-wing causes.
PHOTOS: King Charles III leads a nationwide memorial service honoring those that died serving the UK
Sunday’s ceremony, a central occasion on the nationwide calendar, handed with out incident.
The king, carrying the uniform of the Marshal of the Royal Air Force, together with a gray greatcoat in opposition to the chilly, laid a wreath that includes 41 open-style material poppies. The flowers are Britain’s conventional image of remembrance, recalling the poppies made well-known by the poem “In Flanders Fields” throughout World War I.
The Prince of Wales, who wore the officer’s cloak of The Blues and Royals within the rank of lieutenant colonel, additionally laid a wreath, as did different relations.
Soon after, some 10,000 veterans and 800 serving members of the army marched previous the Cenotaph to honor their fallen comrades. The veterans, some greater than 100 years previous, paraded down the street resulting in the Houses of Parliament earlier than laying their very own wreaths on the foot of the memorial.
