LONDON – King Charles III led the nation Sunday in a two-minute silence in remembrance of fallen service personnel in central London as the Princess of Wales looked on, a further sign that the royal family is slowly returning to normal at the end of a year in which two of the most popular royals were sidelined by cancer.
Remembrance Sunday is a totemic event in the U.K., with the monarch leading senior royals, political leaders, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his eight living predecessors, and envoys from the Commonwealth countries in laying wreaths at the Cenotaph, the Portland stone memorial that serves as the focal point for honoring the nation’s war dead.
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The service is held on the second Sunday of November to mark the signing of the armistice to end World War I “on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” in 1918. Across the U.K., services are conducted at the same time in memory of the dead.
After the two-minute silence, buglers from the Royal Marines played the “Last Post,” and Charles led the wreath-laying part of the service.
The 75-year-old king, dressed in his Royal Navy uniform of the Admiral of the Fleet, laid a wreath of poppies at the base of the Cenotaph in recognition of the fallen from conflicts dating back to World War I.
His eldest son and the heir to the throne, Prince William, left his own floral tribute — featuring the Prince of Wales’ feathers and a new ribbon in Welsh red.
Dressed in somber black, his wife, Kate, watched on from a balcony of the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, as is tradition. Queen Camilla, who would normally be standing next to the princess, wasn't present as she recovered from a chest infection.
It's the first time since the start of the year that Kate carried out two consecutive days of public official engagements. On Saturday, she attended the Royal British Legion Festival Of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.
Following the wreath-laying, around 10,000 veterans, including those who have fought in wars this century, notably in Afghanistan and Iraq, marched past the Cenotaph. With the passage of time, there were only a handful of World War II veterans present.
“It’s always a great honor to be back on occasions like this, but I remember the guys that never came home on my ship when it was torpedoed," said 99-year-old Stan Ford, who has had to walk with leg calipers ever since the ship that he was serving on — HMS Fratton — was sunk off France's Normandy coast in August 1944 at the cost of 31 lives.
“They never came home, and I always feel it’s my duty to put in an appearance and thank God for those that did survive, and to pray for the ones who didn’t," said Ford, who was one of 38 survivors.
Charles’ ceremonial role as commander in chief of the armed forces is a holdover from the days when the monarch led his troops into battle. But the link between the monarchy and the military is still very strong, with service members taking an oath of allegiance to the king and members of the royal family supporting service personnel through a variety of charities. Charles and William served on active duty in the military before taking up full-time royal duties.
Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February, forcing him to step away from public appearances for two months as he focused on his treatment and recovery. Just a few weeks later, Kate announced her own cancer diagnosis, which sidelined her for much of the year as she underwent chemotherapy.
The king has been in good form in recent months and recently completed a taxing trip to Australia and Samoa. Kate, who made her first post-diagnosis public appearance during the monarch's birthday parade in June, is slowly returning to public duties.
Prince William reflected this week on the strain that the cancer scare has placed on the royal family.
“I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” William told reporters on Thursday as he wrapped up a four-day trip to South Africa. “But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”
While the Cenotaph was the focus of the national remembrance service, communities throughout the U.K. held their own ceremonies on Sunday.
Needham-Crofton, who served with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers before a truck accident ended his military career, planned to attend a local service in Eastbourne on the south coast of England.
He has spent much of his time honoring veterans and trying to help them, including 20 years as a volunteer for the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans. Like some of his army tasks, raising cash was rather grueling as it involved standing in front of London subway stations collecting coins to help fund the group’s efforts.
“I like to respect all the veterans and do what I can for them," he told The Associated Press. “It’s a brotherhood really. Even if you don’t know a veteran that you meet, you feel a kinship toward them. That is very important to me. I shall be like that for the rest of my life."