NOTE TO MODS - can we open a thread for WWI commemorations as many Royals families are involved?
According to the Sunday Times, William Catherine and Harry have been asked to represent the Queen at the ceremony at St Symphorien Cemetery Belgium on the 4th August. This is a very high profile engagement - the most high profile for them all. Heads of State, including the King of Belgium and the President of Germany will attend.
Queen asks William and Kate to lead First World War ceremony | The Sunday Times
Summary for those unable to access the link
START
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to take on their most significant role to date as HMQ has entrusted the young couple with representing Britain at the battlefield ceremony to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.
The importance of the occasion is underlined by the fact that Germany and other countries will be represented by their heads of state.
The couple will be joined by Prince Harry, who is still in the military, for the ceremony on August 4 at St Symphorien military cemetery near Mons, Belgium.
She has asked the Prince of Wales to represent her at the third national event that will take place on the day: a service at Glasgow Cathedral. Britain went to war as an empire and representatives of India, Canada, Australia and others will be in Glasgow because the city is also hosting the Commonwealth Games, which will close on August 3.
The St Symphorien cemetery was chosen because similar numbers of German and British war dead lie buried there. It is the final resting place of John Parr and George Ellison, the first and last British soldiers to die on the western front.
Queens Role on the Day
HMQ will make her sole public appearance at the tiny Highland church of Crathie, near Balmoral.
It is understood the Queen’s decision to retreat to a Highland church rather than lead one of the official events is not intended as another sign that, at 88, she is stepping back from official duties. Rather it is said to be an indication of her profound response to the impact of a war that killed about 900,000 British subjects and about 17m people worldwide.
(Cepe Note - it is also the anniversary QEQM's birth)
That evening at Balmoral the Queen will extinguish a candle as others are snuffed out in places of worship all over the country. The gesture will mark the moment when Britain declared war on Germany and will recall the words of Sir Edward Grey, the foreign secretary, who said: “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
A royal source said the Queen “is taking the view that extinguishing the candle is a good way to . . . respond to a serious moment in our history, a tremendously destructive period. Her response is to set an example of quiet contemplation in Crathie church.”
END
None of the above has been officially confirmed
