Thousands of people, many of them US citizens stranded in London by the suspension of flights across the Atlantic, gathered outside Buckingham Palace Thursday for a special Changing of the Guard ceremony ordered by Queen Elizabeth in honour of those killed or injured in Tuesday's terrorist attacks on America.
For the first time, on the instructions of the Queen, the ceremony was accompanied by the American national anthem. Americans crowded in front of the Palace gates wept openly when the military band struck up the rousing chords of The Star-Spangled Banner.
The Duke of York, who was in the air on his way to the States at the time of the attack and had his plane turned back to Britain, represented the Queen at the ceremony, standing beside US ambassador William Farish. The US anthem was followed by Britain’s, before the outgoing Number Seven Company Coldstream Guards played a selection of sombre music including Hymn For The Fallen and the final strains of the soundtrack of the film Saving Private Ryan.
BBC correspondent Sue Littlemore said the atmosphere at the ceremony was “very moving” and described people’s mood as “serious and solemn”. The Changing of the Guard was followed by a two-minute silence to remember the victims.
The ceremony took place as the number of British suspected killed in the attack continued to grow. At least 100 are feared dead, with the final figure expected to be in the middle hundreds. Londoners reading newspaper reports of the attacks while travelling to work on trains and buses have been reduced to tears.
A special memorial service is to take place at St Paul’s Cathedral at noon on Friday and many Britons are expected to participate in a European Union-wide three minutes' silence at 12pm Greenwich Mean Time.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
