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A century ago, as news of the Armistice spread, pandemonium ensued on the streets of London. Yesterday, as Big Ben chimed to mark the 11th hour and a field gun blasted from Horse Guards Parade, there was nothing but immaculate silence in honour of the Glorious Dead.
These are the solemn traditions that over the course of a century have become woven into the fabric of how a nation remembers. That silence, the Prince of Wales said in a BBC interview before the ceremony, along with laying a wreath, is the greatest tribute we can pay to our fallen.
"We don't have enough moments of silence to reflect, and above all it is a way of showing a special honour and appreciation to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice," the Prince said. After the two-minute silence and sounding of Last Post by the buglers of the Royal Marines, the Prince of Wales stepped forward to lay the first wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph on behalf of the Queen, who in 2017 relinquished the duty to her eldest son.
Her Majesty watched proceedings from the central balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where the Duke of Edinburgh was a notable absentee. The 97-year-old has missed the commemorations before, including in 1956, 1964, 1968 and 1999, when conducting Royal business overseas. He came out of official retirement to attend last year's Cenotaph service, but this year felt unable to attend.
In another break with tradition, and in a symbol of reconciliation, the Prince of Wales was followed by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president of the republic of Germany, the first representative of his country ever to attend the Cenotaph. Dressed in a black coat with a poppy pinned to his lapel, he placed a...