The Duke of Edinburgh is the latest member of the Royal Family to confirm his attendance at a dedication ceremony in Staffordshire next month.
He will be joining the Queen and Prince Charles at the formal dedication ceremony of a £7 million memorial on October 12.
The Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, is dedicated to 16,000 Armed Forces personnel.
A total of 3,000 tickets have already been allocated for families and friends of those killed on duty since 1948, and were made available by application only.
Following the formal dedication the memorial will be open to the general public on October 29.
Today the Ministry of Defence confirmed the Duke of Edinburgh will be joining his family members.
Invitations have also been sent to leaders of political parties - although it is too early to confirm their attendance.
The memorial will list the names of 15,500 personnel who have lost their lives in service since the end of World War Two.
In April an appeal to raise the final £1million needed to complete the memorial was launched by The Good Life actress, Penelope Keith.
The Sponsor a Tree campaign will see 57 trees encircle the ceremony.
2 Comments
What a tremendous tribute to those who served so valiantly to have such a fine memorial erected and that The Queen, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles will all there for its dedication. To have so much Royal attention paid to those who lost their lives in such fine service really underlines, for those of us who remain, the great honor of the sacrifices of these fallen men and women. And many thanks indeed go to the also enormously likeable Penelope Keith for helping to raise fund for this very fine effort. Surely, now, these fallen heroes will never be forgotten.
It’s interesting and heartening to note also that Prince Charles has been truly a driving force behind this initiative in his role as Patron of The Armed Forces Memorial. It’s also good to learn, as I just did in other coverage, that The Duchess of Cornwall is also scheduled to attend the dedication ceremony. Through her position, The Duchess has strong connections with various groups within the military, and her father, the late Maj. Bruce Shand, though not fallen in war, was wounded in battle and taken prisoner in World War II. Quite significantly to the issue of remembering those fallen in service, the Duchess two years ago was able to honor some of the Major’s close comrades who fell in Egypt: Very touchingly she honored them with not just a wreath but also with a handwritten note penned by the then-still-living Major.