Buckingham Palace marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a special Changing of the Guard ceremony this morning. The commemorative service took place on the Palace’s red gravel forecourt, where the Band of the Coldstream Guards performed the national anthems of both the US and Britain in a show of solidarity between the two nations.
Royal and official attendance
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester represented the King at the ceremony, taking the Royal Salute under the sun in front of the Palace’s centre arch. They were joined by US Ambassador Warren Stephens and his wife Harriet, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Security Minister Dan Jarvis, and around 40 invited guests comprising British and American nationals.
The Guards, wearing their scarlet tunics and black bearskin hats, marched from St James’s Palace down the Mall to the Palace, performing The Thunderer and The Stars and Stripes Forever, two well-known US military marches, as they replaced the outgoing Irish Guards.
Musical tributes and crowd reaction
During the ceremony, the band played Hymn to the Fallen, from the American war film Saving Private Ryan, and Amazing Grace, with the sun shining on the brass instruments. As the second song was played, many of the thousands gathered outside the Palace gates began singing the hymn, breaking into applause and cheers when it finished as the royal party headed inside.
The other assembled guests remained outside for another 40 minutes to watch the completion of the Changing of the Guard.
Wreath laying and remembrance
Earlier on Friday, the US Ambassador and his wife laid a wreath at the 9/11 Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square. “Harriet and I want to pay our respects to the 67 UK citizens who were killed on 9/11 25 years ago,” he said, adding it is “hard to believe” 25 years have passed and “still hard to believe what happened”. He described the attacks as “a tragedy none of us will ever forget”.
Two days after the attacks, the late Queen Elizabeth II instructed the Guards to perform the US National Anthem during Changing of the Guard to show solidarity with America. It was the first time another nation’s anthem had been played during the ceremony, as the Guards typically only play them for visiting foreign leaders.
Earlier this year, during their state visit to the US, the King and Queen laid flowers at the September 11 Memorial in New York and met families of those who died. Last month, the Duke and Duchess attended the inaugural National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism at Lancaster House on behalf of the King.
