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Service at Westminster Abbey marks start of National Commemoration Day

Published Sunday 10th July 2005

HM The Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury on the steps of Westminster Abbey after the Service of Thanksgiving for the 60th Anniversary of the end of WWII. [Picture: Chris Fletcher].
HM The Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury on the steps of Westminster Abbey after the Service of Thanksgiving for the 60th Anniversary of the end of WWII. [Picture: Chris Fletcher]. HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh pause having laid a wreath to the Memorial of The Innocents before entering Westminster Abbey. [Picture: Chris Fletcher]
HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh pause having laid a wreath to the Memorial of The Innocents before entering Westminster Abbey. [Picture: Chris Fletcher] HM The Queen is presented with a bouquet of flowers by Joss and Wanda Criswell which she subsequently laid on the Memorial of The Innocents. [Picture: Chris Fletcher]
HM The Queen is presented with a bouquet of flowers by Joss and Wanda Criswell which she subsequently laid on the Memorial of The Innocents. [Picture: Chris Fletcher]

A service has taken place at Westminster Abbey today, Sunday 10 July 2005, as part of the events marking the end of World War II.
 
The service, attended by Her Majesty The Queen, marked the start of National Commemoration Day.  Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, addressed the assembled guests.  He said:

"Today of all days, we need no reminder that the spirit of murder and humiliation is still abroad, as your majesty reminded us on Friday, there is a generation of people for whom the sight of a devastated, bombed London will bring back harsh memories; memories not only of physical damage but of the sense of obligation to go on resisting the venomous tyranny responsible for it."

As well as members of the Royal Family, a number of dignitaries attended including Prime Minister Tony Blair, Conservative Leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy, alongside hundreds of veterans.

National Commemoration Day is the centrepiece of the anniversary commemorations and the culmination of Veteran's Awareness Week, a national project that aims to raise awareness of veterans' issues and marks their contribution to society.

Click here to read the complete Order of Service.

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