Britain's King Charles III on Saturday led a minute's silence in memory of the Ahmedabad-London Air India plane crash victims after making last-minute amendments to his annual Trooping the Colour birthday parade, with black armbands commemorating the victims.
Buckingham Palace said the 76-year-old monarch wanted the alterations "as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy".
It saw all members of the royal family in uniform sporting black armbands as a mark of respect to the 241 passengers and crew who lost their lives in Thursday's London-bound plane crash in Ahmedabad.
"Following the Air India incident this week, His Majesty has requested that members of the Royal Family in uniform at Trooping the Colour should wear black armbands, as will mounted Officers in the Procession and all liveried Mews staff," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
"The parade will also incorporate a minute's silence, to be observed after Their Majesties [King Charles and Queen Camilla] have exited the carriage and joined The Princess of Wales [Kate Middleton] on the dais, following the inspection of the parade," the statement said.
"The silence will be signalled by the sounding of a Last Post and Reveille. This will be as a mark of respect for all the lives lost, the families in mourning and the communities affected by the tragedy," it added.
In an earlier statement, King Charles had said he and Queen Camilla were desperately shocked by the terrible events in Ahmedabad".
"Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations, as they await news of their loved ones," a Buckingham Palace statement noted in the wake of the tragedy. -- PTI
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