Prince Philip marks Armistice Day in Belgium

Britain’s Prince Philip marked Armistice Day in Belgium yesterday (11.11.13).

The 92-year-old royal took part in a sombre Last Post ceremony commemorating the end of World War I at Menin Gate in Ypres, which was ravaged by the war.

The Last Post ceremony is conducted daily at the memorial to remember the British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in battles in and around Ypres.

Prince Philip, dressed smartly in his military uniform, was joined for the occasion by Prince Laurent of Belgium and the pair were greeted by the members of the Last Post Association – who oversee the daily tribute to the war dead – as well as the Minister President of Flanders, Kris Peeters, and Belgium’s defense minister Pieter De Crem.

The large gathering observed a minute’s silence in honor of the soldiers who lost their lives and the royal, who is a World War II veteran, laid a wreath at the memorial, which has the names of 55,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who died inscribed on it.

Also marking the occasion, 70 schoolchildren from Britain and Belgium carried sandbags containing soil from the 70 World War I battlefields in Flanders.

The soil will be transported back to London, where it will be used in a new commemorative garden at Wellington Barracks next year to mark the centenary of the war.