With almost all of the 888,246 poppies now in place, the Queen was rendered almost invisible as she walked through the sea of ceramic crimson blooms during a tour of the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation at the Tower of London this morning.
Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, himself a former naval officer, Her Majesty looked sombre as she inspected the display which includes one flower for every British or Commonwealth soldier killed during the First World War.
The Queen was making her first public appearance since returning to London from her summer holiday at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire last month, with much of the last fortnight has been spent completing a series of investitures and meetings at Buckingham Palace.
The Duke of Edinburgh has also been enjoying a busy time of late and last week delighted the men of the 7 Air Assault Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers when he joined them in the cockpit of an Apache helicopter.
But, like the Queen, the Duke was sombre as he inspected the installation, which was created by the artist Paul Cummins, with help from stage designer, Tom Piper.
The installation will remain on display until the 1tth November, after which the poppies will be sold off for £25 each to raise funds for military charities such as Help for Heroes and Combat Stress.
By then all four sides of the ancient dry moat that surrounds the fortress, built by William the Conqueror, will be blanketed in a sea of scarlet. The very next day, the same army of 8,000 volunteers that planted them will begin to uproot each bloom individually - before sending it off to be washed and posted on to its new owner.
There had been fears that that recent rains would make it impossible for the 88-year-old monarch and her husband, 92, to traverse the waterlogged moat but both insisted on viewing the instalment in person.
When the Queen and Duke first arrived at the imposing Tower of London they were met by its Constable, General the Lord Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, and Colonel Richard Harrold, Governor of the medieval fortress.
In an ancient ceremony they surrendered their ceremonial keys of office to the Queen and she symbolically touched the objects. Wearing a jade coat and dress with a mint trim by Stewart Parvin and a matching hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan, the queen and the duke then walked carefully through the poppies before she touched a wreath laid on her behalf by Yeoman Warder Jim Duncan.
After viewing the poppies the Queen and her husband were driven in their official Bentley along the cobbles of Water Lane - past the famous Traitors' Gate - escorted by the resplendent Yeoman Body.
She arrived in The Broad Walk which was thronged by visitors - most of whom had no idea the Queen was due to visit. The royals were greeted by the Lieutenant of the Tower, the Bishop of London and Chaplain of the Tower before being escorted into the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula.
The chapel, which has recently been renovated, is the burial place of three English queens - Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and Jane Grey - as well as Catholic saints Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher.
(Daily Mail)
