Kate Middleton Visits WWI Centenary Art Installation

Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry visited Paul Cummins and Tom Piper’s installation at the Tower of London ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ (2014), marking the centennial of Britain’s entrance into World War I.

the UK first entered on August 5, 1914. According to the Daily Mail, Middleton was overheard describing the artwork as “amazing” and “spectacular” As the royals viewed the immense installation consisting of bright red ceramic poppies that surface the building’s moat. The art work is a commemoration of the centenary of World War I.

Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, were also joined by Prince Harry for the official unveiling of Paul Cummins Tom Piper’s commemorative installation at the Tower of London on August 5.

All three royals planted a poppy of their own as an addition to the installation, which is set to grow with the help of 8,000 volunteers. The garden will reach its conclusion, with a total of 888,246 flowers. This number symbolizes each and every British soldier killed during World War I. The additions to the ‘garden’will end on November 11, Armistice Day, marking the anniversary of the war’s end in 1918.

Each night of the installation, a ceremonial roll of honour will be called reading the names of those who died, with the ‘Last Post.’played in commemoration. Later that evening video imagery was projected on the Tower with the shadows of British soldiers marching off to war appeared against a blood-red background.

Each of the poppies are being sold for £25, with 10 percent of the proceeds to benefit six different charities related to the British armed forces.

Red poppies are traditionally worn by Britons that day each year in honour of dead servicemen and servicewomen.

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