Britons shared America's grief yesterday, writes Frank Millar. More than 3,000 white rose petals - one for every victim of the September 11th atrocities - fluttered from the Whispering Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Upon the altar, a tattered Union flag - recovered from Ground Zero - the focal point of shared grief and the endurance of an Anglo-American relationship renewed in the darkest hours following the world's worst ever terrorist outrage.
The Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Dr Richard Chartres, likened the cathedral itself to a chalice holding "an ocean of suffering", the focus of the memories and prayers of the 2,000-strong congregation within and of those lining the streets outside.
Prince Charles represented Queen Elizabeth at the service as across the UK, Britons lit candles of hope in honour of those who died and of those left to grieve.
The London Stock Exchange and most of the City fell silent at 1.46 p.m., while staff at Cantor Fitzgerald - which lost 658 staff in the World Trade Centre - held another minute's silence at 3.29 p.m. to mark the moment the North Tower collapsed.
Military personnel across the country stood in silent tribute, as did delegates to the TUC Congress in Blackpool, while passengers and staff fell silent at Heathrow Airport for a moment of terrible remembrance observed likewise in schools, shops, offices and factories, by taxi drivers and pedestrians where they stopped on the streets and, poignantly, by firemen outside their stations.
A six-foot bronze eagle was unveiled at Hayle, Cornwall, the hometown of Briton Rick Rescoria, 62, who was head of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. A service at the London Central Mosque was one of many throughout Britain, while in Birmingham over 1,000 people gathered to hear prayers and to join a live video link-up with New York fire fighter Keith Nicocello. The remembrance ceremony at Belfast City Hall included the planting of a maple tree. In Liverpool last night, twin beams lit up the city's most famous landmark, the Liver Building, in tribute to New York's Twin Towers.
Prince Harry accompanied his father to the service at St Paul's, also attended by the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and assorted leaders of Church and State, including the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr John Reid, and Northern Ireland's First Minister, Mr David Trimble. After the service, the Prince of Wales and his younger son spoke privately with the many friends and relatives of the 67 British victims of the September 11th attacks.
In her message, read by Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw at an emotional service held for the British victims in New York on the eve of the anniversary, Queen Elizabeth praised the armed forces fighting terrorism and the "courage and determination" of those striving to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice. The queen also paid tribute to the strength of the victims' relatives, saying: "The dreadful attacks of September 11th may have threatened freedom, innocence and other values we hold dear, but they also inspired grace, charity and courage."
There were armed roadblocks in London yesterday, with security tightened around key sites, and a no-fly zone was in force.