London: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron will attend a ceremony today to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, the document that laid the foundation for parliamentary democracy in the West.
The queen will lead commemorations on the meadow in Runnymede, south England, where her distant predecessor King John sealed the document on June 15, 1215.
Spectators gathered for the celebrations, which included musical and spoken word performances ahead of a formal ceremony.
The 3,500 word Magna Carta, Latin for "Great Charter", made the monarch subservient to the law and is widely recognised as the first charter protecting human rights and freedoms.
The document was annulled by the pope nine weeks later, ruling that the king had been forced to sign it under duress, but was later reissued after John's death in 1216.
As part of the celebrations, a major new art installation comprising bronze chairs will be unveiled at the site, honouring the calf-skin document's 39th clause, which gave the right to a jury trial.
The queen will lead commemorations on the meadow in Runnymede, south England, where her distant predecessor King John sealed the document on June 15, 1215.
Spectators gathered for the celebrations, which included musical and spoken word performances ahead of a formal ceremony.
The 3,500 word Magna Carta, Latin for "Great Charter", made the monarch subservient to the law and is widely recognised as the first charter protecting human rights and freedoms.
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The document was annulled by the pope nine weeks later, ruling that the king had been forced to sign it under duress, but was later reissued after John's death in 1216.
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As part of the celebrations, a major new art installation comprising bronze chairs will be unveiled at the site, honouring the calf-skin document's 39th clause, which gave the right to a jury trial.
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