11 November 2012 Last updated at 08:01 ET

Remembrance Day service at National Memorial Arboretum

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester represented The Queen at a remembrance service in Staffordshire.

More than 3,000 people attended the National Memorial Arboretum, home to the Armed Forces Memorial.

Government and armed forces representatives were also part of a congregation led by the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Ian Dudson.

The site in Staffordshire is run by volunteers, and is raising funds to build a national Centre of Remembrance.

The arboretum's Armed Forces Memorial is designed so that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, a shaft of sunlight dissects its inner and outer walls, falling on a bronze wreath sculpture.

The Portland stone memorial is the nation's tribute to more than 16,000 servicemen and women who have died on duty, or as a result of terrorism, since 1948.