Prince Harry and Duke of Edinburgh honour fallen troops

Prince Harry and his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh paid their respects to Britain's fallen troops on Thursday at the annual opening of the Field of Remembrance, in their first joint engagement.

The royals walked through a field of around 100,000 crosses planted in the grounds of Westminster Abbey in memory of those who died serving their country.

The pair then paid their own tributes, each laying a small cross of remembrance in front of two wooden crosses from the graves of unknown British soldiers from the First and Second World Wars.

After a two-minute silence, they met veterans and members of the Royal British Legion and the charity's Poppy Factory, which makes the lapel poppies sold in its annual appeal.

While the Duke, 92, opens the Field of Remembrance every year, it was the first time he was joined by his 29-year-old grandson, who has served in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter commander.

Their visit comes two days after the death of a British soldier in a suicide blast near Lashkar Gah, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

Lieutenant Colonel Andy Cox said Prince Philip told him "Sorry about yesterday" in reference to the death of 42-year-old Warrant Officer Class 2 Ian Michael Fisher.

Cox also said Harry stopped to pat Staffordshire bull terrier Corporal Watchman V, the mascot of the Staffordshire Regiment.

The Field of Remembrance first opened in 1928, when two crosses were planted.

It now opens for 11 days each year for veterans and members of the public to plant crosses in memory of comrades and loved ones.

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