Queen visits poppy display at Tower of London marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day

The Queen has laid the final poppy in a new installation at the Tower of London featuring 30,000 ceramic poppies to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

The poppy is the flower synonymous with Remembrance.

Now, within the grounds of the Tower, they are lining the walls, culminating in an eye-catching display on the south lawn, resembling a wound, to reflect the sacrifices made during the Second World War.

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The Queen met staff who helped create the display, as well as 99-year-old D-Day veteran Henry Rice who handed her a poppy to plant.

"Those poppies out there represent the life of a person, irrespective of what service they served in," said Mr Rice.

"Suddenly, the realisation comes to me that these men gave their lives for the happiness that I'm enjoying today, the safety. Long may it happen."

Mr Rice had previously met King Charles and Queen Camilla at a commemorative event in Normandy last year and was thrilled when she remembered him.

The Tower of London itself was bombed during the Blitz, making the setting for this display even more poignant.

"The place we're standing is where bombs actually fell during the Blitz in the 1940s," said former Brigadier Andrew Jackson, the Governor of the Tower of London. "A lot of damage was caused.

"Five lives were lost inside the Tower of London and we're hoping the installation, which is here until November, will allow lots of people to come and use it in their own way, to remember people, to remember places and reflect that life goes on and we recover."

The ceramic poppies were first created in 2014 for an installation called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, marking the sacrifices made by so many during the Second World War.

The original poppies, which have been used in the latest display, are on loan from Imperial War Museums and were first designed and made by the artist Paul Cummins.

The new display has been created by Tom Pipe.

Organisers hope visitors to the poppy installation will have the chance to reflect and remember on this significant 80th anniversary year.