LONDON (Reuters) – The Tower of London was adorned with a flood of ceramic poppies as part of Britain’s commemorations for the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, in a display which was visited by Britain’s Queen Camilla on Tuesday.
Poppies, the symbol of remembrance in Britain, were installed in their thousands to form a bright red cascade flowing from one corner of the 950-year-old White Tower onto the grass below.
“They become a metaphor for the spilled blood of all those who died in the war,” designer Tom Piper said.
The government has planned a series of events in the run-up to the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender, which took effect on May 8, 1945.
Camilla visited the display, “planted” a poppy and met staff there.
On Monday, she joined her husband King Charles, heir to the throne Prince William and his family, along with veterans and crowds to watch a military parade and flypast outside Buckingham Palace.
The new commemorative display of 30,000 ceramic poppies follows a previous installation in 2014 which remembered lives lost during World War One. Named “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red”, it was visited by the late Queen Elizabeth.
The Tower of London, located on the north bank of the River Thames, is a Norman fortress which, like many parts of London, was bombed during World War Two.
The poppies, which were made by artist Paul Cummins, will be on display until November 11.
(Reporting by Christina Anagnostopoulos; editing by Sarah Young and Ewan Harwood)
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