King Charles III led the nation in a solemn two-minute silence on Sunday in central London to honor fallen service personnel, while the Princess of Wales looked on—a sign that the royal family is starting to return to normal after a tumultuous year in which two of its most beloved members battled cancer.
Remembrance Sunday is a pivotal event in the UK. The monarch, along with senior royals, political leaders, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his eight living predecessors, and envoys from Commonwealth countries, gathers to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph, the Portland stone memorial dedicated to the nation’s war dead.
Held on the second Sunday of November, the ceremony marks the armistice that ended World War I at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” in 1918. Across the UK, services are conducted simultaneously to remember the fallen.
Following the two-minute silence, buglers from the Royal Marines played the “Last Post,” and King Charles led the wreath-laying ceremony. The 75-year-old king, donned in his Royal Navy uniform of the Admiral of the Fleet, laid a wreath of poppies at the base of the Cenotaph, paying tribute to those lost in conflicts dating back to World War I.
His eldest son, Prince William, heir to the throne, followed suit, leaving his own floral tribute adorned with the Prince of Wales’ feathers and a new ribbon in Welsh red. Clad in somber black, his wife, Kate, watched from a balcony of the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, upholding tradition. Queen Camilla was absent, recovering from a chest infection.
On Saturday, Kate attended the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, marking her first two consecutive days of public engagements since the beginning of the year.
Following the wreath-laying ceremony, around 10,000 veterans—some who fought in modern conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq—marched past the Cenotaph. Only a handful of World War II veterans were 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 walked with leg calipers since the ship he served on, HMS Fratton, was sunk off the Normandy coast in August 1944, claiming 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, one of 38 survivors.
Charles’ ceremonial role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces harks back to when monarchs led troops into battle, but the link between the monarchy and the military remains robust. Service members pledge an oath of allegiance to the king, and the royal family supports them through various charities. Both Charles and William served in the military before dedicating themselves to full-time royal duties.
Charles’ diagnosis with an undisclosed form of cancer in February forced him to step back from public appearances for two months to focus on treatment and recovery. Soon after, Kate announced her own cancer diagnosis, which sidelined her for much of the year as she underwent chemotherapy. Both have shown signs of recovery, with Charles completing a demanding trip to Australia and Samoa, and Kate slowly resuming her public duties, including her first post-diagnosis appearance during the monarch’s birthday parade in June.
Prince William recently reflected on the toll the cancer diagnoses have taken 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 during 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 in London was the focal point for national remembrance, communities throughout the UK 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 England’s south coast.
Committed to helping veterans, Needham-Crofton has volunteered for 20 years with the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, often standing in front of London subway stations to collect donations. “I like to respect all the veterans and do what I can for them,” he said. “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.”
