Abbey Commemorates Victims of 2015 Attacks

Tuesday, 12th April 2016

Abbey Commemorates Victims of 2015 Attacks

His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, representing Her Majesty The Queen, attended a Service of Solemn Commemoration for the Victims of the 2015 Terrorist Attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey at Noon on Tuesday 12th April 2016.

The National Anthem was sung.

The Prime Minister the Rt Hon David Cameron MP attended the Service.

At the start of the service, Prince Harry laid a wreath at the Innocent Victims' Memorial outside the Abbey's Great West Door.

In his Bidding, the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said:

Here in Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been crowned since 1066, and where the great men and women of our history are buried and memorialised, we gather in sorrow to remember those who suffered and those who died in terrorist attacks in Tunisia on two days in 2015.
We remember with thanksgiving the people we love whose lives were so brutally cut short, and we share our loss with each of those affected by the tragedy. We honour the courage of those who survived the assault, and the families of those who suffered. We share our grief with the victims of the attacks from other countries, and with their families.
We celebrate the values that inform our national life, and pray for a world united where peoples of all nationalities and of all faiths can live together in mutual respect, peace, and harmony, enriched and united in our diversity.

Prince Harry read Revelation 21: 1-7 and the Prime Minister read Isaiah 41: 1, 8-10.

Frank Gardner OBE, BBC Security Correspondent, read a Reflection.

The Address was given by the Dean.

During the Act of Remembrance, 31 candles, each representing a life lost, were borne through the Abbey Church and placed on the High Altar. The names of those who died were read by Frank Gardener OBE.

Prayers were led by the Reverend Christopher Stoltz, Minor Canon and Precentor, and said by: The Reverend (Flight Lieutenant) David Skillen, Chaplain in the Royal Air Force; Hamish Cowell, Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia; and the Reverend Jane Sinclair, Canon in Residence.

The service was sung by the Special Service Choir of Westminster Abbey, directed by Daniel Cook, Sub-Organist. The organ was played by Matthew Jorysz, Assistant Organist.

The Order of Service

The Address