'˜Teary moment' for William as Last Post sounded at memorial

IT HAD been a teary moment, the Duke of Cambridge admitted, when he attended the nightly Last Post ceremony on Sunday at the Menin Gate war memorial, a century on from Passchendaele.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge speak with Victoria Wallace, Director General of the Commonwealth War Graves CommissionThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge speak with Victoria Wallace, Director General of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge speak with Victoria Wallace, Director General of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

William took time out yesterday to share his emotions with interns who have been showing relatives around the cemeteries of Ypres.

“It was phenomenal - a proper teary moment for me,” the Duke said. “At the end it was so amazing. It was very, very moving.”

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On Sunday night, he had given a speech, and watched with Kate as thousands of poppies cascaded from the ceiling of the gate, before buglers played the Last Post.

Among the tens of thousands who died, there were many tales of individual courage, he was told. Lt Rupert Hallowes, who was awarded the Victoria Cross, stood on the parapet as bullets and shells flew past him, encouraging men to run back to get supplies.

When he was mortally wounded, his last words were: “We can only die once, if we have to die let us die like men - like diehards.”

William stopped in at another cemetery, Bedford House, to see the graves of five Irish Guardsman killed 100 years ago to the day. The Duke is Colonel of the Regiment and was told how the corporal, sergeant and three privates have never been identified.

Like many of those slain, their relatives will have been told only that they were missing.

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