The prince will lay a wreath and give a reading at the service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Prince Harry will lead the UK’s Armistice Day remembrance services when he lays a wreath at the National Memorial Arboretum on Friday.

The 32-year-old is to attend a service of remembrance at the armed forces memorial with representatives from the army, navy and RAF.

Harry will give a reading during the service before inspecting the names on the memorial’s towering Portland stone walls.

The memorial, part of the arboretum in Staffordshire, honours the 16,000 British servicemen and women who have died on duty or as a result of terrorism since 1948.

It is designed so that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month a shaft of sunlight streams through the walls and illuminates the central bronze wreath sculpture.

Harry, who left the army last summer after 10 years as an officer, during which he was deployed twice to Afghanistan, will take the salute from the hundreds of serving personnel and armed forces veterans taking part in the march-past after the service.

The prince has continued his association with the military since leaving, most notably in his work supporting the nation’s injured, sick and wounded servicemen and women and veterans through a number of projects including his Invictus Games.

On Thursday, he visited Westminster Abbey’s field of remembrance to lay small wooden crosses with his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The event was Harry’s first public engagement since he confirmed that US actor Meghan Markle was his girlfriend.