Kate, William and Prince Charles are joined by Theresa May to honour those who fell at Passchendaele in ceremony at Ypres war cemetery
By Laura Burnip
31st July 2017,4:06 pm
Updated: 1st August 2017,3:13 am
PRINCE Charles, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Theresa May joined Belgian royals to mark the centenary of the bloody First World War battle of Passchendaele today.
The Prince of Wales led commemorations, giving a poignant speech to crowds at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium, where more than 11,000 servicemen from both sides lie.
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The Duchess of Cambridge lays a wreath during the commemorations at Tyne Cot cemetery today
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Fly past by the Belgian Air Force, who flew in a formation known as “The Salute to the Missing Man” during the ceremony
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King Philippe of Belgium, Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and British Prime Minister Theresa May look at the fly past
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Kate tends a grave at Tyne Cot cemetery as William watches on
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Kate and Queen Mathilde walk towards a row of Irish Guards at Tyne Cot today
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Prince Charles looks emotional as he visits the British Garden Memorial in Zonnebeke as part of the centenary commemorations
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Prince Charles and King Philippe of Belgium visit Passchendaele Landscape, a section on Exhibition Field which recreates the conditions of 1917
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Theresa May bows to Prince Charles during the event in Ypres
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King Philippe and Prince Charles inspect a War Horse sculpture during the event
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Kate looks emotional during the poignant ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of one of the First World War’s bloodiest battles
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Charles, King Philippe, William, Queen Mathilde and Kate arrive at the cemetery today
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Charles greets Queen Mathilde of Belgium at the ceremony today
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Kate, King Philippe, Prince Charles, Queen Mathilde, Prince William and Theresa May line up before the graves at Tyne Cot cemetery today
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Theresa May carries a wreath to lay on the Stone of Remembrance at Tyne Cot cemetery
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The Duke and Duchess looked solemn as they paid their respects at nearby Bedford House cemetery earlier today
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Kate looks solemn as she walks through the cemetery donning a red poppy
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Prince William and Kate are joining other royals at the centenary event today
A sea of memorial poppies at Tyne Cot cemetery, Ypres, today where commemorations are being held
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Prince Charles addresses guests as he leads the ceremony at Tyne Cot today
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Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the event in Ypres, where the bloodiest fighting took place
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Prince Charles talks to King Philippe of Belgium as they walk through graves in Tyne Cot today
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Kate walks alongside Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, while William strides next to Queen Mathilde of Belgium at Tyne Cot cemetery
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A man looks over the sea of memorial poppies at Tyne Cot cemetery today
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Musicians in the Irish Guards parade through Tyne Cot cemetery
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Soldiers march past a field of memorial poppies at Tyne Cot
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A soldier kneels before a grave at Tyne Cot ahead of the ceremony today
The Prince of Wales spoke of the “courage and bravery” of British soldiers killed at Passchendaele as he addressed King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium and 4,000 descendants of those who fought.
He said: “We remember it not only for the rain that fell, the mud that weighed down the living and swallowed the dead, but also for the courage and bravery of the men who fought here.”
He added: “In 1920, the war reporter Philip Gibbs – who had himself witnessed Third Ypres – wrote that ‘nothing that has been written is more than the pale image of the abomination of those battlefields, and that no pen or brush has yet achieved the picture of that Armageddon in which so many of our men perished.’
“Drawn from many nations, we come together in their resting place, cared for with such dedication by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to commemorate their sacrifice and to promise that we will never forget.”
Earlier today Kate and William donned red poppies as they strolled through the grounds of Bedford House Cemetery on the other side of the Belgian town.
More than 100 days of fighting in the summer and autumn of 1917, starting on July 31, left half a million men dead or injured on both sides.
Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth burial ground in the world, with 11,971 servicemen buried or remembered there, although 8,373 of them have never been identified.
Dame Helen Mirren led the show, which included testimony from soldiers on both side projected on to the side of the iconic Cloth Hall.
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Kate and William wore poppies during their visit to the cemetery in Ypres
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The Duchess of Cambridge speaks with workers at the cemetery, where more than 5,000 servicemen from the First World War are buried
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Kate and William speak to Victoria Wallace, the director general of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, this morning
William spoke as the daily Last Post was played at the towering edifice, which is inscribed with the names of the missing from three years of hard fighting around Ypres a century ago.
Watched by hundreds of descendants of those who fought, he said: “During the First World War Britain and Belgium stood shoulder to shoulder.
“One hundred years on, we still stand together, gathering as so many do every night, in remembrance of that sacrifice.”
Sunday’s poignant Last Post was the 30,752nd time it has been played since 1928.
The towering Menin Gate is covered with the names of 54,391 British dead who have no known grave, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
In just over three months of fighting, 325,000 Allied soldiers and 260,000 to 400,000 Germans were killed or injured.
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Irish Guards stand to attention as visitors look over the graves today
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The 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards stand to attention at the cemetery, where more than 11,000 soldiers are buried
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Members of the Irish brigade carry wreaths to place at the Tyne Cot cemetery
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Kate’s red poppy stands out against her cream long-sleeved dress and hat
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William, wearing his medals, smiles as he walks through the graveyard with Kate this morning
A special commemorative pin has also been created from the fuses of Passchendaele shells, and soil from the battlefield, to for the Royal British Legion.
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