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The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince William join David Cameron at Runnymede for 800th anniversary of Magna Carta
- King John accepted Magna Carta on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede, Surrey, as a peace treaty with angry barons
- Senior members of Royal family and dignitaries joined at same site to mark eight centuries since that moment today
- Prince William has unveiled a new art installation inspired by the 39th clause, which gives the right to a jury trial
- David Cameron and the Archbishop of Canterbury gave speeches at ceremony and the Queen unveiled a plaque
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince William have joined the Prime Minister at the site where the Magna Carta was granted 800 years ago to lead today's anniversary celebrations.
King John accepted the historic document that limited the power of the Crown on June 15, 1215, on the bank of the River Thames at Runnymede near Old Windsor in Surrey.
Senior members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, came together with the reigning monarch - who is patron of the Magna Carta Trust - at the same site where the charter was first sealed.
The Queen greeting the Prime Minister David Cameron (left) at Runnymede this morning, before taking their seats beside one another at the formal ceremony (right). They joined to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta
The Duke of Edinburgh and Prince William were also at the ceremony, where they smiled at each other during a conversation this morning
David Cameron makes conversation with the Queen ahead of the formal ceremony at Runnymede in Surrey this morning to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta
A number of performances have been ongoing this morning as thousands of spectators gathered to commemorate one of the most famous documents in the world.
The 3,500-word Magna Carta, Latin for 'Great Charter' and written on calfskin parchment, made the monarch subservient to the law and is widely recognised as the first charter protecting human rights and freedoms.
Prince William kicked off today's international celebrations by unveiling a major new art installation by British-Guyanese artist Hew Locke.
The permanent piece, titled the Jurors, consists of 12 bronze chairs situated in a circle around an invisible table and is influenced by Clause 39, which paved the way for the idea of trial by jury.
It states that no man can be imprisoned 'except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land' and is said to be the foundation for British democracy and justice.
The chairs feature 24 stories relating to justice and symbols relating to past and continuing struggled for freedom, rule of law and equal rights, including those of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Oscar Wilde's Ballad Of Reading Gaol.
Details on the chairs include the key to Mr Mandela's jail cell, the key to the Bastille and black-eyed Susan flowers, which are traditionally associated with justice.
It even includes a loudhailer belonging to Harvey Milk, the gay rights campaigner and the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.
When the Duke arrived he took his place at one of the chairs and joined 10 performers and the artist who were already seated.
Mr Locke said: 'It’s a very complex piece of work. If you look at it, you will see certain things in it. The piece is something that reveals itself in layers.
'The Magna Carta is a precious document and commemorating it with a bronze piece - that’s a precious thing. This is a piece for people, this is for regular people.
'The Duke was quite fascinated by it. My impression was when we started talking about the Mandela chair he got interested in that. He was the easiest guy I have talked to all day.'
Next the Duke met children operating giant puppets of people who have played key roles in advancing human rights.
Children from Thorpe Lea Primary School in Egham were operating an 8ft tall puppet of Edward Coke, architect of the Bill of Rights in the 17th century.
Karl Newman, 55, from Surrey Arts, who was inside the puppet, said: 'I'm not sure if the Duke had heard of Edward Coke but he was interested to know who made the puppets and I told him they were made for the 799th anniversary last year and we kept them until now.'
David Cameron gave a speech during the ceremony where he declared that fundamental reforms to UK human rights laws are required to 'safeguard the legacy' of the charter.
The Prime Minister said its principle is 'as relevant today as it was then' and remains 'sewn into the fabric of our nation, so deep we barely even question it' but will complain that the notion of human rights in Britain eight centuries on has been 'distorted and devalued'.
'It falls to us in this generation to restore the reputation of those rights - and their critical underpinning of our legal system,' he said.
'It is our duty to safeguard the legacy, the idea, the momentous achievement of those barons. And there couldn't be a better time to reaffirm that commitment than on an anniversary like this.'
He added that the Magna Carta had been 'revolutionary - altering forever the balance of power between the governed and the government'.
Down the years it had inspired the fighters in the English Civil War, the Chartists, the Suffragettes, the founders of the first American states, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and 'anyone challenging injustice or checking arbitrary power', he added.
'Liberty, justice, democracy, the rule of law - we hold these things dear and we should hold them even dearer for the fact that they took shape right here, on the banks of the Thames.
'So on this historic day, let's pledge to keep those principles alight. Let's keep Magna Carta alive.
'Because as those barons showed, all those years ago, what we do today will shape the world for many, many years to come.'
Cameron's Government has controversial plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and assert the role of the UK's Supreme Court over the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg - leaving open the option of withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights if reforms are blocked.
Artist Hew Locke tells Prince William about how Clause 39 of the Magna Carta inspired his installation