Queen leads royals AND Tony Blair at St Pauls memorial in honour of Afghanistan war heroes

At St Paul's Cathedral, the 88-year-old monarch was joined by Prince Philip, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan with the Army, and other members of the Royal Family in a service marking the end of military operations.

Other royals at the cathedral included the Duke of York - wearing the uniform of Vice Admiral for the first time in public since his mother promoted him to the rank for his 55th birthday last month ­ the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent.

The Duchess of Cambridge, attending her fourth day of official engagements this week despite being eight months pregnant with her second child, wore a £650 navy chiara wool coat by British fashion firm Beulah.

The cathedral was packed with veterans and the families of the 453 British service personnel who died in the conflict as well as leading politicians, including Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Labour predecessors, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, who sent the troops off to war.

During the service, Camp Bastion's memorial wall cross to the fallen, made from used .50 shell cases mounted on a 105mm shell case base and bearing the names of the 453 dead, was borne through the cathedral.

Mr Cameron gave a reading from Matthew 5: 1-12, the sermon on the mount but it was left to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, to sum up the national mood in his address.

"Today is a moment for us to say thank you; thank you to all who served, whatever your role," he said.

The Queen, who is commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, had not originally been intending to attend the ceremony, pleading a prior private engagement.

But when eyebrows were raised about her absence, her diary was changed.

After the ceremony, Prince Charles took the salute as detachments of the Armed Forces and veterans marched from the cathedral to the Guildhall to applause from workers in the City lining the route.

The forces were sent to Afghanistan on a mission to stop Taliban fighters there from providing a safe haven for Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organisation after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

In that sense, they succeeded but the Taliban fight on in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda has moved to alternative bases, and one of its offshoots, Islamic State has wrought havoc in Syria and Iraq.

Some 143,590 service personnel were deployed during the campaign, with members of the Army, RAF, Royal Navy and Royal Marines all taking part.

Ministry of Defence records show that, in addition to the deaths, 616 casualties suffered serious or very serious injuries or wounds - limbs blown off by improvised explosive devices (IED) buried in the ground, shrapnel wounds, burns or similar.

Almost 7,500 were treated in field hospitals, 2,188 after being wounded in action.

Research suggests it may be up to 12 years before the full impact of post traumatic stress disorder on a generation of veterans is fully evident.

Among those marching past the cathedral was Lance Corporal John-James Chalmers, 27, from Edinburgh, a Royal Marine left with devastating injuries after being blown up in Nad-e-Ali on his first tour to Afghanistan in 2011.

"My entire body was smashed to pieces," he said. "My legs were just torn up, with lots of holes, and I was bleeding from everywhere.

"The holes were filled with dirt and brick and that led to infection. My arms were just completely smashed to pieces.

"I lost two of my fingers on my left hand, my right elbow was destroyed, and there was everything that goes with it - nerve damage and muscle loss."

Proud to be asked to march yesterday, he had mixed emotions, grateful that he survived but thinking of comrades who never came back.

"Going to serve in Afghanistan is the proudest thing I could ever do as a Royal Marine. When I went there I wasn't afraid, I was honoured to be part of it and to try to do my part in the conflict," he said.

"All that changed because of what happened to me. But ultimately I never particularly felt angry about it. It is war, and terrible things happen in war.

"People get hurt, and I look on that as part of it. I was caught up in that."

At the Guildhall, Prince Harry, wearing his own service medals on his Blues and Royals number 1 dress uniform, was joined by Prince Charles, Camilla and Mr Cameron at a reception where they met veterans of the conflict.

Wine and tears flowed in equal measure as relatives of those who were lost toasted their heroism.

Prince William, meanwhile, wearing RAF dress uniform, spent more than an hour at Wellington Barracks in central London, chatting to veterans and the families of those killed in the conflict.

He spoke to Emily Prior, whose husband Private Daniel Prior died in 2011 after being hit by an improvised explosive device in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.

Mrs Prior, 24, from Eastbourne, said: "For me it was a pointless war. I don't think (Afghanistan has) changed.

"I don't think personally we should have ever been there. But I suppose Daniel did what he loved doing and he wanted to go."