Queen leads UK silent tribute to war dead

Queen Elizabeth II has led Britain in paying silent tribute to the Commonwealth war dead on Remembrance Sunday, an annual event made particularly poignant this year on the centenary of the start of World War I.

The 88-year-old monarch, senior royals and politicians laid wreaths at the Cenotaph national war memorial in London, as thousands of military veterans looked on.

Security was tighter than normal amid heightened fears of the risk of a terror attack, but the program of marches and military music was unaffected.

In Afghanistan, Prince Harry returned to the country where he served two tours with the British army to lay a wreath at the NATO base at Kandahar.

The centrepiece of Sunday's events was the two minute's silence at 1100 GMT, observed by millions of people across Britain and marked in London by the firing of a 13-pounder World War I gun.

"Today we stand united to remember the courageous men and women who have served our country, defended our freedoms and kept us safe," Prime Minister David Cameron said ahead of the event.

"We remember all those who have fallen and those who have risked their lives to protect us."

He noted the "particularly poignant" timing of this year's events, 100 years after the start of World War I, 70 years after the D-Day landings and just as Britain was leaving Afghanistan.

Remembrance Sunday is the Sunday nearest to Armistice Day on November 11, the anniversary of the 1918 signing of the peace that ended fighting in World War I.

The queen laid the first wreath followed by her husband Prince Philip, 93, her son and heir Prince Charles and grandson Prince William, all of whom have served in the military.

Forty-six high commissioners from Commonwealth countries then followed suit.