Queen joins Charles and Prince William for Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph
The Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William paid tribute to fallen military personnel at Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in central London.
Her Majesty, who served in the armed forces in the Second World War, attended the scaled back ceremony in the capital on 8 November.
The Queen, 94, appeared at the balcony to watch the commemorations at Whitehall, where she makes her annual appearance. She was joined by her lady in waiting but there were no other members of the Royal Family with her.
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge were socially distanced on another balcony.
It comes after the Queen was seen in a face mask for the first time when she joined a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey on Wednesday.
In pictures released on Saturday night, she is shown in a black face covering inside the Abbey, where her equerry laid a bouquet on the tomb. The bouquet featured some of the same flowers she carried on her wedding day.
The Queen regularly attends a service at the Cenotaph often with her son Prince Andrew.
However the Duke of York was not in attendance this year. It is nearly a year since he stepped back from his royal duties, having admitted his friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein had distracted from the Royal Family’s work.
This year’s ceremony was also missing Prince Harry, who moved to California with his wife Meghan in March, having stepped back from senior royal duties in the same month.
According to The Sunday Times, the Duke of Sussex had requested for a wreath to be laid at the Cenotaph on his behalf, but was denied as he no longer represents the monarchy.
The Queen was not told about the request, according to the paper.
The duke served in Afghanistan during his decade in the army, and is passionate about the support life in the military offers as well as the service of the nation.
When he was a working royal, Harry had honorary military roles including Captain General Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant, RAF Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command, but he was stripped of them as part of the deal to step back from royal life.
He marked the day in a military podcast, Declassified, where he said wearing the uniform was one of “the greatest honours there are in life”.
He added: “When I get asked about this period of my life I draw from memories, I draw from what I remember and who I remember.
“Like the first time we were shot at and who I was with, the first casualties we saw, and those we saved. And the first medivac we escorted out of contact in a race against time. One served always serving, no matter what.”
He said he wears the poppy “to recognise all those who have served; the soldiers I knew, as well as those I didn't”.
Read more: Queen wears face mask as she carries out first engagement in London since March
The service at the Cenotaph was scaled back to meet COVID safe guidelines, with members of the military standing three paces apart.
Members of the public were told not to attend, and asked to mark the day at home.
Politicians including the prime minister Boris Johnson, the leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer, and SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford were also in attendance.
Prince Charles laid the monarch’s wreath on behalf of his mother, followed by his own wreath. His sister Anne, the Princess Royal, also laid a wreath, as did Prince William and the Earl of Wessex.
The Duke of Kent, who served in the Royal Scots Greys, laid a wreath, the final of the Royal Family wreaths.
The Queen watched the ceremony from the balcony of the Foreign Office for about 25 minutes. She wears a unique poppy with five petals which is said to represent the three wings of the military, the women who served and the civilians who served.
The Countess of Wessex and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence watched on from a third balcony.
Watch: Queen wears face mask as she visits Tomb of the Unknown Warrior
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were part of the Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance on Saturday evening, recording messages for the annual event which had to be held without an audience.
Charles, 71, said: “In a message pre-recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London, he said: “Over these extraordinarily difficult past few months, almost every aspect of our national life has been disrupted. Many of us have been separated from those we love and, together, we continue to endure anxiety and grief not previously experienced in peacetime.
“Through all this, just as in wartime, the very best of our country has been on conspicuous display. We have reaffirmed our faith in each other and in our communities, and seen afresh that service to others underpins our society.
“We have been reminded that heroes and heroines are all around us and take many forms.”
Camilla, 72, marked the contribution of military nurses, as 2020 was made the international year of nurses and midwives, marking 200 years since Florence Nightingale was born.