ONE by one they came forward yesterday to honour the memories of those they had lost.

Ten years after the horrors of September 11, relatives of the 67 British victims gathered and read out the names of those who had perished in a tranquil garden where they will never be forgotten.

In the shadow of the US Embassy in London's Grosvenor Square, they held hands and wept as they struggled to banish horrific images of burning towers and terror-stricken faces – and remember instead the smiles and laughter of sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, parents and partners.

Children, too young to really understand, helped them place white roses on a plaque above a buried section of steel girder from Ground Zero – the only grave at which they have to grieve.

As the world remembered the dreadful events of a decade ago, the UK victims' families were joined by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and other dignitaries for a simple but poignant 30-minute ceremony.

Relatives of some of those killed joined survivors at an early-morning church service in the Grosvenor Chapel.

Later, in St Paul's Cathedral, a 2,000-strong congregation were "Remembering with Hope" – including members of the London Fire Brigade paying tribute to the 343 brother firefighters in New York who perished trying to save others.

SILENCE

At 13.46 – the time the first plane hit the North Tower – a minute's silence was held at fire stations across the country.

And at the same time members of the September 11 UK Family Support Group began arriving at the flower-filled memorial garden they opened in 2003.

Across the road on the US Embassy roof, behind the huge statue of an American eagle, the Stars and Stripes flag fluttered at half-mast in memory of all 2,977 victims who lost their lives that day.

Nearby, around 100 radical Islamic protesters tried to ruin the quiet air of dignity with a noisy demonstration. And an English Defence League protest ended in a brief scuffle with police.

But mourners such as Tom Clarke, 28, were too focused on coping with the added anguish of this milestone anniversary to notice. His sister Suria, 30, communications director for finance firm Cantor Fitzgerald, was working on the 105th floor of the North Tower when it was hit.

Science journalist Tom, 38, from Islington, North London, said: "I mourn my sister's loss every day but the run-up to this anniversary has brought so many images and reminders of just how horrific and prolonged my sister's death was.

"That's something you don't come to terms with. Because we never had my sister's remains to bury, we don't know exactly what happened to her. But we do know, tragically, that she was in the worst place you could be, trapped from any possible hope of escape.

"I try not to think about how awful her death might have been but on the anniversary it is impossible not to be reminded of that."

At the moving remembrance ceremony, his grieving mother Alex Clarke, 68, who is chair of the Family Support Group, spoke of the "bitter-sweet memories" that each anniversary brings. But she added: "For many of us this 10-year anniversary will mark a turning point – a time to try to look forward, not back at bleak times."

US Ambassador Louis Susman compared the beauty and tranquility of the garden to the "chaos and devastation" witnessed 10 years ago. And he quoted one of the many tributes left in the book of condolence opened hours after the attacks.

John and Ann Hodgkins, from Derby, had written: "There is no death while memories live – and their memories will live for ever."

In his sermon, Canon Mark Oakley paid special tribute to Robert Eaton – a former St Paul's chorister. Mr Eaton, 37, a Cantor Fitzgerald broker, was on the 105th floor of the North Tower when the hijacked jet smashed into the skyscraper.

Dame Judi Dench read the same moving poem she had delivered at the victims' memorial service in November 2001, which begins, "Remember me when I am gone away, gone far away into the silent land" but ends "better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad".

Then Prince Charles gave a heartfelt speech in which he referred to his own devastation and struggle to find forgiveness after his Uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed in an IRA terror attack in 1979.

He said: "None of us will ever forget where we were or what we were doing when, on that otherwise ordinary day and out of a clear blue sky came so much premeditated death and destruction on a scale that shook the whole world.

"We cannot change the past, but by struggling to find a light that can light our darkness we can ultimately bring the healing the world so desperately needs."

The Prince then joined David Cameron and Ambassador Susman in laying wreaths near the stone plaque which commemorates the victims. It is inscribed with a poem later read out by Hannah Ali – her sister Sarah, 35, from Balham, South West London, was killed while attending a conference in the World Trade Center during the attacks.

Simple but poignant, the verse reads: "Time is too slow for those who wait/Too swift for those who fear/Too long for those who grieve/Too short for those who rejoice/But for those who love, time is not."

Tears flowed as the 67 victims' names were read out – "My darling mother Christina McNulty", "My brother, Michael Joseph Cunningham", "My darling son-in-law Robin Blair Larkey" – and long-stemmed roses piled up on the stone floor. Some had photos or messages attached.

On the front of the oak pagoda, which shields the names of the dead, eight words summed up what each relative has known since that cataclysmic day 10 years ago: "Grief is the price we pray for love."

You could see it in their faces yesterday. So much pain but so much love – and a determination to honour the lives lived, not the terrorist-wrought agony of their deaths.