Wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph by the Monarch, senior royals and Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Britons around the UK remembered their own local war heroes.

Thousands of veterans marched past Whitehall's famous war memorial to pay their respects to fallen comrades and were applauded by the watching crowds.

Prince William - an officer in the Blues and Royals - represented a new generation of British service personnel as he laid a wreath for the first time at the war memorial in central London.

Before the wreaths were laid a round was fired from nearby Horse Guards Parade by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery to mark the start of the two minutes' silence. The whole of Whitehall fell silent as the thousands gathered bowed their heads to remember the war dead.

The Queen, who wore black and a large red poppy, then faced the Cenotaph ahead of the royal family and after being handed a wreath by her equerry, Squadron Leader Andrew Calame, placed the floral tribute at the base of the stone monument. The other senior royals - the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, Prince William, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Kent - were dressed in military great coats and also laid wreaths.

Watching from balconies at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alexandra and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence.

Prince Harry, a cornet in the Blues and Royals, was not present. A Clarence House spokeswoman said he attended a private remembrance service with his regiment.

The First and Second World Wars were not only remembered but present conflicts Britain is fighting in the Middle East. The UK has suffered 83 military fatalities in Afghanistan and 169 in Iraq since hostilities began in the two countries.

Chris Simpkins, the Royal British Legion's director general, said: "That so many have participated shows the nation is united in remembering the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country and those who continue to put their lives at risk for us today."