1815 Revisited: Ceremonies Mark Fateful Battle of Waterloo
Royalty, dignitaries and soldiers commemorated the 1815 Battle of Waterloo on Thursday, a watershed moment in European history that marked the end of the continent’s domination by France and its emperor Napoleon and the beginning of the British century.
From left, Prince Edward, Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Arthur Wellesley, Marquis of Douro, son of the ninth Duke of Wellington, Prince Nikolaus Furst Blucher von Wahlstatt, Prince Jean-Christophe Napoleon Bonaparte, Belgium's King Philippe and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg attend a ceremony to commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo in Braine l'Alleud, near Waterloo, Belgium on Thursday, June 18, 2015. Didier Lebrun/Pool Photo via AP
BRUSSELS — Royalty, dignitaries and soldiers commemorated the 1815 Battle of Waterloo on Thursday, a watershed moment in European history that marked the end of the continent’s domination by France and its emperor Napoleon and the beginning of the British century.
Belgium’s King Philippe led a ceremony for hundreds of guests Thursday, while thousands of re-enactors gathered under the Lion’s Mount monument at the Waterloo battle site. The commemorations took place exactly 200 years after more than 10,000 soldiers died in a half-day battle between French troops and an international coalition led by Britain’s Duke of Wellington.
