In November, the British celebrate Bonfire night, but November is also a time of remembrance. What do they remember? They remember all the British soldiers who died at war, specifically since the First World War. "Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918" (Wikipedia). But you can see people wearing a poppy on their jacket for weeks! The red poppy is the emblem of Remembrance Day because of the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae. Those poppies bloomed in battlefields in Flanders during World War I. The poppies also represent the blood that was and is still spilt at war.
Anyway, now you know a bit about Poppy Day. And now I can move on to the exciting part; I saw Princes Charles of Wales in London yesterday (13th of November). I just went to London to do a bit of Christmas shopping and to soak up the busy and swarming atmosphere of the City. At around 11am, while I was walking down Downing Street, heading towards my Parliament, I saw that something was going on. Some barriers were up and the police was there, arranging some flower wreaths and talking in their walkie-talkies. So I stopped and asked one of the policemen what was happening and he said that there would be a Service of Remembrance at around noon (it's actually called the War Widows annual Service of Remembrance). So I decided I would come back later to see that! I went to my Parliament and was awed by it, as always. I stared at it for a bit and then headed back to Downing Street.
And waited....
After a (long) while, a fanfare in kilt arrived, playing the bagpipe. That was funny haha. And then, Prince Charles arrived. Although, I wasn't sure it was him then. After that, a man talked for a while, and said some prayers. I moved so I could see better and suddenly, a woman next to me said "Look! Prince Charles is putting the wreath on the pillar!". That's when I knew it was him. And even though I was quite far away, I could recognise him: tall, big ears haha. Then, he just left in a private car and that was it! I left the crowd, with a stupid smile on my face, thinking "Jeez, I've just seen Prince Charles!!" and texting my mum and host mum about it haha!
Here are some pictures to prove that I DID see Prince Charles of Wales:
And as my pictures' quality is crap (sorry about that, I only had my iPod...), here is a decent pic I found on the Internet:
And to finish with, here is a video I took of the fanfare ^^ And I think (though am not sure) that you can see Prince Charles at the very end of the video!
Anyway, now you know a bit about Poppy Day. And now I can move on to the exciting part; I saw Princes Charles of Wales in London yesterday (13th of November). I just went to London to do a bit of Christmas shopping and to soak up the busy and swarming atmosphere of the City. At around 11am, while I was walking down Downing Street, heading towards my Parliament, I saw that something was going on. Some barriers were up and the police was there, arranging some flower wreaths and talking in their walkie-talkies. So I stopped and asked one of the policemen what was happening and he said that there would be a Service of Remembrance at around noon (it's actually called the War Widows annual Service of Remembrance). So I decided I would come back later to see that! I went to my Parliament and was awed by it, as always. I stared at it for a bit and then headed back to Downing Street.
And waited....
After a (long) while, a fanfare in kilt arrived, playing the bagpipe. That was funny haha. And then, Prince Charles arrived. Although, I wasn't sure it was him then. After that, a man talked for a while, and said some prayers. I moved so I could see better and suddenly, a woman next to me said "Look! Prince Charles is putting the wreath on the pillar!". That's when I knew it was him. And even though I was quite far away, I could recognise him: tall, big ears haha. Then, he just left in a private car and that was it! I left the crowd, with a stupid smile on my face, thinking "Jeez, I've just seen Prince Charles!!" and texting my mum and host mum about it haha!
Here are some pictures to prove that I DID see Prince Charles of Wales:
And as my pictures' quality is crap (sorry about that, I only had my iPod...), here is a decent pic I found on the Internet:
And to finish with, here is a video I took of the fanfare ^^ And I think (though am not sure) that you can see Prince Charles at the very end of the video!
Enjoy! =)
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