Queen pins final poppy on huge war memorial display

The Queen joked that volunteers have “poppies coming out of (their) ears” while she visited a community project in Wiltshire.

Camilla said she was “very impressed” by the Poppy Project in Corsham, a display of knitted and crocheted flowers created to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

The Peacock Women’s Institute (WI) launched the project at the start of the year, with a goal to create 10,000 poppies for display in the town.

The group received more than 31,000 poppies from across the UK and overseas, including from schools, youth organisations, residential homes and businesses.

Meeting volunteers and members of the WI, Camilla said the project was a “lovely idea” and agreed to attach the final poppy to complete a cascade of faux flowers from St Bartholomew’s Church.

Addressing WI members, the Queen said: “It’s so lovely because it’s all the generations working together.

“You’ve got poppies coming out of your ears.”

Camilla laid a wreath at the church’s First World War memorial with a note reading: “In remembrance, Camilla R.”

Pippa Owen, secretary of the Peacock WI, said: “People have been posting (the poppies), we’ve had big packages from all over the UK, Scotland, Isle of Wight, but also from Canada, Los Angeles, Germany, Netherlands, it’s mad.

“And people just loved it because their grandfather or father might have been in the war, and it’s just brought this really nice feeling to a lot of people. It’s their act of remembrance.

“We actually were a little bit cheeky, and we wrote to (the Queen)… and then in about June or July, they said, ‘well, she might come’.”

Maggie Bowden, a member of the WI, made Camilla a knitted wreath to display at her home in nearby Raybridge.

“It’s quite an honour, actually, she thanked me twice for the wreath,” Mrs Bowden said.

The Queen also visited Martingate Shopping Centre, where a dedicated Poppy Shop was opened to provide free knitting lessons and co-ordinate community involvement.

Chris Galpin, another member of the WI, said she thought Camilla was “impressed” by the project.

“I think she was really thrilled,” she added.