In 2014, the nation came together to mark the centenary of the First World War.
While Elizabeth II did not attend any of the major ceremonies, this was seen as a deliberate of delegation to the younger generation. There were however a number of commerations took place including a visit to the Tower of London from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Let’s relive the engagement and its significance….
The Tower of London featured an impressive installation to mark 100 year anniversary, called ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’, which consisted of ceramic poppies totalling 888,246 poppies.
This commemorative artwork, created by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, transformed the Tower’s moat into a sea of poppies, with each one representing a British or Commonwealth soldier who died in the conflict.
The royal trio were received by General The Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London and former Chief of the General Staff.
They walked through the central path of the installation, taking in the sheer scale of the tribute before meeting the artist and design team responsible for bringing the vision to life.
At the time of the visit, the installation consisted of approximately 120,000 ceramic poppies out of the final number, which officialy opened on the day fof the royal visit – the day the UK entered the war in 1914. It also came the day following the trio’s visit to Belgium for commemorative engagements.
During their visit, the Royals each took a moment to ‘plant’ a ceramic poppy into the growing display, adding to the work of over 8000 volunteers.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
The Duchess was heard to describe the scene as ‘amazing’ and ‘spectacular’. At one point she was seen wiping her eyes and is thought to have become emotional at the scene.
The setting of the installation not only played a significant role in the design of the piece, but there was a deeper historical context as the Tower’s moat served as a swearing-in ground for over 1,600 men who had enlisted to form the 10th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers during the conflict; the so-called ‘stockbrokers’ battalion’.
The field of poppies ‘grew’ over the summer, with the last of the more-than 800,000 ceramic flowers being placed on 11th November, Armistice Day.
Prince William, Catherine and Prince Harry also climbed the Middle Tower of the iconic fortress to view the artwork from above.
One of the volunteers, Mark Taylor, then 46 and an ambassador for Help for Heores, spoke to the Royals and shared: ‘Prince Harry was trying to work out how much money they would raise for our charities and said what a great idea it was that they could use something like that, centred around the First World War, to benefit the charities that help injured servicemen now.’
Flight Sergeant Cammeron Morante, then 18, spoke to the Duke: ‘I also chatted at length with Prince William about the RAF and he told me how much he was missing it. Kate also told me he was missing it too.’
After the installation was taken down, members of the public were able to purchase the poppies for £25 each, with money going towards military charities: six service charities: COBSEO, Combat Stress, Coming Home, Help for Heroes, Royal British Legion and SSAFA.
