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| Queen visits Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp site | Queen visits Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp site |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Queen has made her first visit to a World War Two concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen, in northern Germany. | |
| The camp, where teenage diarist Anne Frank was among thousands to die, was liberated by British soldiers in 1945. | The camp, where teenage diarist Anne Frank was among thousands to die, was liberated by British soldiers in 1945. |
| The UK monarch, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, laid a wreath at a memorial there on the final day of her four-day state visit to Germany. | The UK monarch, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, laid a wreath at a memorial there on the final day of her four-day state visit to Germany. |
| She met British veterans who liberated the camp, and heard stories of the "horrific" scenes that greeted them. | |
| More than 50,000 prisoners from all over Europe were killed at Bergen-Belsen or died later as a result of their treatment in the camp. | |
| At the scene | At the scene |
| By Peter Hunt, BBC royal correspondent | By Peter Hunt, BBC royal correspondent |
| This was a Queen who lived through World War Two as a teenager, coming to learn first-hand about some of the very worst excesses of a former enemy. | This was a Queen who lived through World War Two as a teenager, coming to learn first-hand about some of the very worst excesses of a former enemy. |
| With Prince Philip she passed the mounds that mark where the mass graves are. There are 13 mounds. They contain the remains of more than 20,000 people. | With Prince Philip she passed the mounds that mark where the mass graves are. There are 13 mounds. They contain the remains of more than 20,000 people. |
| There was no pomp or ceremony; just a couple from the wartime generation taking their time to reflect and to pay their respects. | There was no pomp or ceremony; just a couple from the wartime generation taking their time to reflect and to pay their respects. |
| The 89-year-old Queen and her husband, who's 94, walked quite a distance through what remains of the camp, and met a few of those who lived and three of the British soldiers who set them free. The survivors and the liberators told them about their shared experience of horror. | The 89-year-old Queen and her husband, who's 94, walked quite a distance through what remains of the camp, and met a few of those who lived and three of the British soldiers who set them free. The survivors and the liberators told them about their shared experience of horror. |
| At the end the Queen said to one person: "It's difficult to imagine isn't it?" | At the end the Queen said to one person: "It's difficult to imagine isn't it?" |
| Read more from Peter Hunt | Read more from Peter Hunt |
| Read more | Read more |
| Bergen-Belsen liberated 70 years ago | Bergen-Belsen liberated 70 years ago |
| Bergen-Belsen survivor reunites with one of the camp liberators | Bergen-Belsen survivor reunites with one of the camp liberators |
| The Belsen 'finishing camp' remembered | The Belsen 'finishing camp' remembered |
| The Queen, who is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, had not visited a concentration camp before and it is believed she requested the trip. | |
| She was taken on a tour of the site - which was razed to the ground and is now a museum and memorial to those who died - with the minimum of protocol. | |
| She met with representatives of Jewish and Christian communities, as well as a small group of survivors and liberators. | |
| Among them was veteran pilot Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown, 96. The Queen asked him what sort of scene greeted the British troops when he first arrived. | |
| "I told her this was just a field of corpses," he said. | |
| He said the Queen replied: "It must have been horrific really." | |
| "She was listening very carefully. I would say she was quite affected by the atmosphere here. You can't avoid it, can you?" he added. | |
| The Queen also visited a memorial to Anne Frank and her sister Margot. | |
| Millions of copies of Anne Frank's Diary, written during the two years the teenager and her family hid from the Nazis in occupied Amsterdam, have been sold across the world. | Millions of copies of Anne Frank's Diary, written during the two years the teenager and her family hid from the Nazis in occupied Amsterdam, have been sold across the world. |
| Dr Jens-Christian Wagner, head of the Bergen-Belsen Memorial who gave the royal couple a guided tour, said the experience of visiting the site had been an emotional one for the Queen. | |
| British troops found 60,000 prisoners when they entered the gates in April 1945, suffering from malnutrition, disease and the brutal treatment they had endured. | British troops found 60,000 prisoners when they entered the gates in April 1945, suffering from malnutrition, disease and the brutal treatment they had endured. |
| Lasting horror | |
| Thousands of corpses also lay unburied on the camp grounds. | Thousands of corpses also lay unburied on the camp grounds. |
| Another of the first British soldiers to arrive after liberation described the scene to BBC Radio 5live. | |
| Corporal Bernard Levy, who was 19 at the time, said: "It was so horrendous that nobody could take it in. | Corporal Bernard Levy, who was 19 at the time, said: "It was so horrendous that nobody could take it in. |
| "For 68 years I'd shut the whole subject out of my mind. | "For 68 years I'd shut the whole subject out of my mind. |
| "But we've got to make sure that this particular horror stays in people's minds." | "But we've got to make sure that this particular horror stays in people's minds." |
| The visit to the former concentration camp was the Queen's final engagement before returning to the UK. | |
| During her official visit, she also met German Chancellor Angela Merkel and visited Berlin and Frankfurt. | |