In Pictures: United Kingdom pauses to remember fallen service personnel

12:33, 11 November 2024

updated: 12:40, 11 November 2024

Events were held at home and abroad to mark Armistice Day and the sacrifice of service personnel.

Silences were observed with the Duchess of Edinburgh leading the commemoration at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire.

Across the country, similar solemn events were held.

The poppy wreath and message laid by the Duchess of Edinburgh during the Remembrance service at National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire (Jacob King/PA)

The Duchess of Edinburgh during the Remembrance service at National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas (Jacob King/PA)

People during a ceremony to mark Armistice Day in Edinburgh (Andrew Milligan/PA)

People attending a ceremony in Edinburgh (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle during a ceremony to mark Armistice Day (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle lays a wreath (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Sir Lindsay Hoyle led commemorations at the Palace of Westminster, while Sir Keir Starmer joined France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

I am honoured to be in Paris to stand united with President @EmmanuelMacron in tribute to the fallen who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy today. pic.twitter.com/L7AgLvOtc1
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) November 11, 2024

It was the first time a prime minister had joined a French leader there on Armistice Day since Sir Winston Churchill accompanied General Charles de Gaulle in 1944 while war was still raging.