QUEEN’S TEARS FOR OUR FALLEN HEROES

THE Queen was visibly moved and shed a tear yesterday as she joined wounded veterans and other Army personnel to unveil a memorial paying tribute to soldiers killed while serving in an infantry regiment.

Family and friends of fallen soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment were among those at the service to unveil a statue of the “Lion of England” featured on its royal badge.

A total of 32 members of the regiment have died in its service since it was formed in 2006 after an amalgamation of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, the King’s Regiment, and the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment.

After the service of dedication at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffs, the Queen placed a wreath below the statue, and praised the work of the memorial’s creators.

The Queen chatted to stonemason Nick Johnson and sculptor Georgie Welch, who crafted the lion from clay before it was cast at a Gloucestershire foundry.