Prince Charles Remembers Bombings

4 months ago 08th Jul 14:00

Britain's Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall attended a memorial on the anniversary of the July 7 bombing in London yesterday (07.07.09).

The 60-year-old prince and his wife Camilla were joined by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the unveiling of a new monument to commemorate the 52 victims of the bombings, which took place in 2005.

Charles said: "I believe the date of the London bombings is etched vividly on all our minds, as a brutal intrusion into the lives of thousands of people.

"Tragically, as we know, some were not so fortunate as to walk away from what happened on that awful day, and it is them that we seek to honour with the memorial which has been erected here in Hyde Park in their memory.

I believe the date of the London bombings is etched vividly on all our minds, as a brutal intrusion into the lives of thousands of people.

"Camilla and I wanted to express our deeply held grief and anguish at the appalling aberrations in the human consciousness which produced such cruel and mindless carnage."

Over 700 relatives and friends of those who died also attended the ceremony, which saw a new, permanent memorial - comprising 52 steel columns in London's Hyde Park, grouped into four to represent the places the bombs were detonated - to the victims unveiled.

At 9.47am, the time the bombs were let off, the memorial was unveiled.

TV Presenter Sir Trevor McDonald read out the names of everyone who died, then added: "We will remember them all."

A minute's silence was held for those who were killed in Tavistock Square, Edgware Road, King's Cross and Aldgate.

Afterwards, Charles and Camilla took wreaths to the monument as composer Christian Forshaw played his piece 'Remembrance', which was specially created for the event.

Saba Mozakka, whose mother was killed in the atrocity and helped come up with the idea for the statues, said: "We think it is truly incredible and reflects the importance of the people commemorated.

"One of the fantastic things about the monument is that it reflects the individual and the collective and shows the connectivity of events."