community as soon your parent dies, you don't have the connections, you lose everything. so i think coming here and seeing everyone and everyone talking to you is so nice to be part of that community again. it leads your life, being part of the military. so good to talk to 16—year—old lexi. military. so good to talk to 16-year-old lexi.— military. so good to talk to 16-year-old lexi. thank you for shafinu 16-year-old lexi. thank you for sharing your — 16-year-old lexi. thank you for sharing your story. _ more so, mark was... having to tell the uirls. ~ _, . , more so, mark was... having to tell the uirls. ~ . , ., the girls. i think the concept of death and _ the girls. i think the concept of death and not _ the girls. i think the concept of death and not seeing _ the girls. i think the concept of| death and not seeing somebody the girls. i think the concept of- death and not seeing somebody ever a-ain death and not seeing somebody ever again at— death and not seeing somebody ever again at the age of eight is quite hard _ again at the age of eight is quite hard to— again at the age of eight is quite hard to understand. mum took me up to my— hard to understand. mum took me up hard to understand. mum took me up to my— hard to understand. mum took me up to my bedroom and she sat down with to my bedroom and she sat down with me on— to my bedroom and she sat down with me on my— to my bedroom and she sat down with me on my bed, she took me by the me on— to my bedroom and she sat down with me on my— to my bedroom and she sat down with me on my bed, she took me by the hand~ _ hand~ _ me on my bed, she took me by the hand~ she — me on my bed, she took me by the hand~ she — me on my bed, she took me by the hand. she was like, i'm sorry, but me on my bed, she took me by the hand. she was like, i'm sorry, but daddy's _ hand. she was like, i'm sorry, but daddy's gone to heaven and he didn't daddy's _ hand. she was like, i'm sorry, but daddy's gone to heaven and he didn't -et daddy's gone to heaven and he didn't get to— -et daddy's gone to heaven and he didn't get to— daddy's gone to heaven and he didn't get to come home to say goodbye. daddy's gone to heaven and he didn't get to come home to say goodbye. there is a bit of a crisis at there is a bit of a crisis at the moment in that the public the moment in that the public are not supporting food banks are not supporting food banks and food larders in the way and food larders in the way that they used to. and more so, that they used to. and more so, the supermarkets have done a the supermarkets have done a lot to reduce waste at lot to reduce waste at supermarket level. so there is supermarket level. so there is

not the amount of food not the amount of food circulating that there used to circulating that there used to be. be. iam i am still here. it has got a little bit quieter now for a few minutes. take us through what they are doing. we few minutes. take us through what they are doing.- what they are doing. we are almost done. _ what they are doing. we are almost done. right - what they are doing. we are almost done. right behind l what they are doing. we are l almost done. right behind us there are 10,000 veterans ready to go. we will start that music. we have got all of the high commissioners, parliamentarians. and the majesty his king willjoin for the silence. it majesty his king will 'oin for the silence.�* the silence. it is quite a moment _ the silence. it is quite a moment. i— the silence. it is quite a moment. i have - the silence. it is quite a moment. i have been . the silence. it is quite a . moment. i have been lucky enough to be here quite a few years at the moments when the artillery fire is the guns. there is just artillery fire is the guns. there isjust silence. during the middle of london, thousands of people, where it is completely silent. exactly. it is really special. _ completely silent. exactly. it is really special. you - completely silent. exactly. it is really special. you know . is really special. you know that the rest

o'clock is all about. i will do my own _ o'clock is all about. i will do my own reflections - o'clock is all about. i will do my own reflections as - o'clock is all about. i will do my own reflections as well. | my own reflections as well. everyone on parade today, combat soldiers, sailors, royal marines, year 36 of service. i have been on all the campaigns he would have thought, northern ireland, iraq? all of those campaigns, all four of them, i have lost friends. life changing injuries, families that support them, families affected. for me, it is an incredibly poignant moment. fine incredibly poignant moment. one ofthe incredibly poignant moment. one of the anniversary _ incredibly poignant moment. one of the anniversary is being remembered this year is the 80th anniversary of the d—day landings. i think six d—day veterans will actually be taking part in the march. hugely important to remember. it is. the sacrifice of that generation was incredible. millions of people supported that conflict and many didn't come home. and many did with life changing injuries. they

have shaped our nation for the last 80 years. we have a lot of of gratitude for them. in terms of gratitude for them. in terms ofthe of gratitude for them. in terms of the armed _ of gratitude for them. in terms of the armed forces, - of gratitude for them. in terms of the armed forces, the - of gratitude for them. in terms of the armed forces, the first| of the armed forces, the first world war, second world war, thankfully not happening at the moment. the british armed forces are deployed all over the world at the moment. in very different roles. helping countries to get back to stability. all over the place. yes. lots of people deployed all over the world at the moment supporting our country and the safety of it. it is also a special reminder that they will also be stopping and reflecting today. on the 11th as well, to pay their respects. how important is it for veterans to come back together and sort of be part of this moment? they will be in their communities, perhaps on their own, that this is really a time to come back and reflect together. to come back and reflect together-— to come back and reflect touether. . , ., ~

together. really important. an opportunity — together. really important. an opportunity to _ together. really important. an opportunity to get _ together. really important. an opportunity to get back - opportunity to get back together, rekindle old spirits, talk about similar experience. lots of people don't do that unless they are in that community. really, just enjoy, embrace that camaraderie that they have had for many years while they have been serving. i think it is a real highlight for them. this service is very special, of course, and then they meet afterwards for a coffee or a beer. they're really enjoying themselves, backin really enjoying themselves, back in the moment when they were in service. figs back in the moment when they were in service.— were in service. as we countdown _ were in service. as we countdown to - were in service. as we countdown to 11 - were in service. as we i countdown to 11 o'clock, obviously, the king will be the first to lay his read. take us through the armed forces, the king, the royal family in general. very close, an important connection on both sides. de important connection on both sides. , , sides. de king is the l commander-in-chief. sides. de king is the - commander-in-chief. as a commander—in—chief. as a result, you know, he really does pay attention to what his armed forces are doing. he has a really special connection with many of the regiments and units across the fence.

likewise, the royal family is exactly the same. they all have their special relationships. not only that, a lot of them have served. a lot of them have entered service. that makes that connection really special. thank you so much, it has been really good to talk to you. i am going to hand over to the bbc one special. as the service gets under way. over 100 representatives of the royal navy are on parade representing all arms of the service — the surface flotilla, the submarine fleet, the fleet air arm, the royal marines, and queen alexandra naval nursing service. we are coming to the moment the music begins with the household division bands.

music: rule brittannia. now the official march of the royal navy — heart of oak.

the minstrel boy to the war is gone. in the ranks of death you'll find him.

now the classic welsh song men of harlech.

senior drum major: stand at ease. the senior drum major gives the command to stand easy and the music is taken up by the royal air force peoples and drums and the skye boat song. music: skye boat song.

massed bands... ..massed bands... attention!

i mentioned earlier that this year is the 80th anniversary of the battles of kohima and imphal. injune 19a4japanese forces had invaded north east india. british and indian troops, outnumbered at these two major strongholds, withstood weeks of brutal fighting. they defeated the japanese

onslaught and succeeded in holding the road to india, a turning point in the war in the east and the liberation of burma. more than 3,000 of those who fought lie here where they died. british, canadian, australian, and indian troops side by side. their graves, looked after by the commonwealth war graves commission, stand on the very ground where they fought. inscribed on the kohima memorial: "when you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today."

massed bands... ..stand at ease... the pipes and drums play flowers of the forest — it is the fist time they have played here at —— it is the first time they have played here at the cenotaph.

the massed bands will now play nimrod — one of elgar�*s famed enigma variations. a musical depiction of friendship, of comradeship. which is what we see here on whitehall among the many thousands waiting to come past the cenotaph to pay their respects to the dead.

standing, listening to the music, occasionally chatting among themselves. silence will fall at 11 o'clock. and after that for the service of remembrance. but now, nimrod. the pause because the music is timed to end at exactly when the moment the king comes out and 11 o'clock silence on whitehall. so, there is a slight pause before the band starts playing nimrod. music: "nimrod" from

enigma variations — edward elgar.

dido's lament by henry purcell. when i am laid inert, remember me. we are waiting now for the procession of clergy and choir who come out first from the old foreign office door with a red carpet at the king's scouts lining each side. they will

lead to the service of remembrance. the crossbearer, the sub—dean of the chapels royal and the right reverend right honourable dame sarah mullally the dean of the chapel royal, the bishop of london. major generaljames bowder, the officer commanding the household division, and his party lead the departures to take their place around the cenotaph. general bowder has seen active service in northern ireland and afghanistan.

they marched down past the cenotaph to take their place. they will be followed by the procession of politicians led by the prime minister and leader of the conservative party, and other political parties, and many ministers and the government and former prime ministers.

prime minister sir keir starmer and leader of the conservative party on his right, kemi badenoch, just appointed and ed davey, leader of liberal democrats and the leader of the snp, leader of the democratic unionist party, the lord speaker, david lammy the secretary of state for foreign, david lammy the secretary of state forforeign, commonwealth and for foreign, commonwealth and development, forforeign, commonwealth and development, yvette cooper will lay a wreath and the secretary of state for culture, lisa nandy. behind and taking their place, john major, tony blair, gordon brown, david cameron, theresa may, borisjohnson, liz truss and rishi sunak, all former prime ministers.

and then the representatives of the crown dependencies and the uk overseas territories from guernsey, jersey, the isle of man, bermuda, the british virgin islands, cayman islands, the falklands, gibraltar, montserrat, pitcairn, now the chiefs of defence staff, the merchant and the civilian services. led by chief of the defence staff tony radakin, sir ben key, chief of the general staff, general sir roly walker and chief of the s—type, air chief marshal so richard knighton. each of them lay a wreath. candid attacking

is the air transport auxiliary association and mark hardingham from the civilian services. the ambassador of ireland, representative of nepal and now the high commissioners. from the commonwealth, some of whom joined after these wars were over but most of whom played a part in both first and second world wars and behind them, faith and belief communities, many different faiths who take their place for the religious ceremony. we are now three minutes from 11 o'clock and the two minutes' silence. next we will see on the

balcony looking down over whitehall, the princess of wales, catherine, who is here and will be standing in the central balcony with the duchess of edinburgh, the queen is indisposed, not here today. parade. shun!

so, everybody now is standing to attention and waiting for the royal family, catherine the princess of wales is there with sophie, the duchess of edinburgh. the princess of wales was at the festival of remembrance yesterday. and those members of the royal party will be laying a wreaths, led by his majesty the king, the princess royal behind, prince edward duke of edinburgh and their and the prince of wales. watched from the balcony above, they take their place in front of the

cenotaph. we arejust coming up to we are just coming up to big ben chiming 11 o'clock and the two minutes' silence. big ben strikes the hour. king's troop gun fires.

music: last post.

if wreath laying led by his majesty the king. and this wreath is being laid on

behalf of the queen, who is not here. by her equerry major 0llie plunket. next, the prince of wales in the uniform of the wing commander in the uniform of the wing commander in the uniform of the wing commander in the royal air force. william, who was himself commissioned as an army officer in 2006. transferred to the royal air force. the duke of edinburgh, edward, in the uniform of the royal wessex yeomanry, those long grey coats that

he wears. 20 years he has been the royal honorary colonel of the wessex yeomany. and the princess royal, princess anne. royal naval uniform. she is an admiral in the royal navy and a general in the royal air force. and the last wreath from the royal party laid on behalf of the duke of kent. by a lieutenant from the scots dragoon guards. the duke served twnt

21 years, before retiring as a lieutenant—colonel. parade. stand at ease. stand easy! the royal party remain at attention, as many more wreaths will be laid. first on behalf of the nation by sir keir starmer. as the massed bands play the funeral march.

the new leader of the conservative party, kemi badenoch. the leader of the liberal democrat, sir ed davey.

next, stephen flynn on behalf of the snp and plaid cymru.

gavin robinson, on behalf of the democratic unionist party. the speaker of the house of commons, sir lindsay hoyle.

the speaker of the house of lords, lord mcfall. now, together the foreign secretary, david lammy and the home secretary, yvette cooper, who lays her wreath on behalf of the intelligence agencies.

the politicians have laid their wreaths. now the crown dependencies and united kingdom follow. the bailiwick of guernsey and jersey. and the isle of man. representatives of the british virgin islands, the falklands

islands, pitcairn islands, st helena and the turks and caicos islands. they will be followed by groups of high commissioners. the high commissioners who follow are effect ambassadors for their countries here in britain. it is interesting that more than half of those who fought in the second world war were from commonwealth countries outside great britain.

canada, australia, new zealand, and malaysia. they're they�* re followed by they're followed by representatives of nigeria, cyprus, jamaica, trinidad and tobago, you uganda and kenya.

malawi, malta, the island which was awarded the george cross for its courage in resisting german invasion. botswana, and barbados. mentioning those who fought from the old empire, 115,000 from africa fought in the first world war, alongside the british. 10,000 it was estimated were killed. they were

awarded 166 decorations for bravery. that is why these commonwealth countries are represented here at the cenotaph, because of the part they played in both world wars. this is notjust they played in both world wars. this is not just a they played in both world wars. this is notjust a british event here today. 12 high commissioners from mauritius, eswatini which is to be called swaziland, tonga, fiji, bangladesh, the bahamas, papua new guinea, seychelles, dominica, st lucia, st vincent and the grenadines. more than 10,000 men and women across the atlantic in world war ii

to fight in europe, 103 decorations for the caribbean air force personnel alone. for the caribbean air force personnelalone. in for the caribbean air force personnel alone. in the last group to come, 11 high commissioners. belize,, antiqua and barbuda, brunei, namibia, cameroon, mozambique, a recent member of the commonwealth, gabon and toga. during the first world war, 15,000 soldiers from the west indies regiment saw action in france, palestine, egypt, italy. 2500 of them from the west indies were killed or wounded. the

wreaths being laid on their behalf. the ambassador of ireland and charge d'affaires of nepal side by side lay their wreaths. nepal has been invited to lay a wreath since 2019. they've been recruited since 1816, supporting britain in almost every major military campaign over the past 200 years. and today there are 3000 gurkhas setting in the british army. now the chief of the defence staff,

the chief of the general staff and the chief of the general staff and the chief of the general staff and the chief of the air staff together lay there wreaths. representatives of the merchant navy, the air transport auxiliary association and civilians services will lay their wreaths together. robin batt on the half of the merchant navy, candida adkins on the half of the air transport auxiliary association and mark hardingham, national fire chiefs council chair of the civilian services. and this is the end of this part of the

wreath laying. there's more to come from the royal british legion and the long march past but now the bishop of london. 0 almighty god, grant, we beseech thee, that we who here do honour to the memory of those who have died in the service of their country and of the crown may be so inspired by the spirit of their love and fortitude that, forgetting all selfish and unworthy motives, we may live only to thy glory and to the service of mankind, throuthesus christ our lord, amen. # 0 god our help in ages past. # our hope for years to come. # 0ur shelter from the stormy blast.

# and our eternal home. # beneath the shadow of thy throne. # thy saints have dwelt secure. # sufficient is thine arm alone. # and our defence is sure. # before the hills in order stood. # 0r earth received herframe. # from everlasting thou art god. # to endless years the same. # a thousand ages in thy sight. # are like an evening gone.

# short as the watch that ends the night. # before the rising sun. # 0 god our help in ages past. # our hope in years to come. # be though our guard while troubles last. # and our eternal home.# teach us good lord to serve thee as thou deservest, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for any

reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will, throuthesus christ our lord. amen. all: 0ur father, which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us oui’ trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever, amen. unto god's gracious mercy and protection we commit you

the lord bless you and keep you make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you the lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you amen. parade. attention! music: reveille. # god save our gracious king # long live our noble king

# god save the king # send him victorious # happy and glorious # long to reign over us # god save the king.# the royal party now leave horse guards parade. the prince of wales will be taking the salute on the

west, leave whitehall i should say, taking the salute on horse guards afterwards. all the 10,000 veterans afterwards. all the 10 , 000 veterans will afterwards. all the 10,000 veterans will be marching past the cenotaph, they'll go round the bottom of the treasury and on to horse guards and have a royal salute taken there. they are followed by the clergy. the chapels royal, the dashing red uniforms, they used to go wherever the sovereign went and sing services. more than one chapel royal, chapels royal. they are followed by the politicians. led by the prime minister, the leader of

the prime minister, the leader of the conservative party. tony blair and john major are there, gordon brown, david cameron, boris johnson with theresa may, liz truss is walking with rishi sunak. behind them, are the representatives of the political parties at westminster. and the various members of the government, who laid wreaths. well, soon we will have the wreath laying, the next formal wreath laying by the royal british legion which now takes

over the event. that's the formal part over and the royal british legion, who have arranged all of this, take over. they themselves will be laying wreaths and then the veterans will start their march past. at this point let's rejoin sophie raworth. there are 11 world war ii veterans here today and we had six normandy the 20, the youngest is 98, the oldest is 101. henry rice, who served with the royal navy, you've been here before, what does it mean to be you can hear the quiet there has been over the last half—hour. that is to change, people starting to talk again. there is the march past, so

important to so many groups. there is 10,000 veterans who are registered to march from more than 300 individual organisations. we have the newly formed uk afghanistan veterans. marching here for the first time. marchers from far afield as australia and canada. there is a wide age group, the oldest person marching here todayis oldest person marching here today is a 104—year—old wren, christian laing, marching for the first time. six d—day veterans here who are marching, including 101—year—old d—day veteran joe randall. including 101—year—old d—day veteranjoe randall. and we spoke to them earlier on bbc news. there is the young contingent, these are children who have been bereaved by

members of the armed forces and so there are 95 children here today marching from the age of nine years old. the youngest who is marching is nine years old. we have heard throughout the coverage today how important it is for all of them to know that they are remembering their loved ones, but also that they have the support of so many people, thousands here in whitehall who have come here to support them and many, many more watching on television is in taking part in services across the country. stay here on bbc news here in the uk and around the world. this is bbc news, the headlines... drone attacks between russia and ukraine escalate into the biggest exchange since the start of the war. donald trump is projected

to have won arizona in the us presidential election — giving him a clean sweep of all seven battleground states. this leaves him with a final electoral college total of 312 votes. gaza's hamas—run civil defence agency says 25 people have been killed in an israeli air strike on a house injabalia —— including thirteen children. it says another five people were killed in a separate strike in gaza city. and — king charles and other senior royals have been leading events to mark remembrance sunday. on saturday evening, the festival of remembrance was held in london, to pay respect to serving personnel, veterans and their families. ukraine and russia have launched their biggest drone attacks against each other since the start of the war. according to the ukrainian military, russia launched 145 drones overnight across the country. ukraine s air defence

says they were able to shoot down 62 of them.