King Charles leads Remembrance Sunday service at Cenotaph
King Charles led the nation at the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony attended by thousands of war veterans at the Cenotaph in London.
A sea of poppies and military uniforms could be seen as hundreds queued in Whitehall on Sunday morning; Three D-Day veterans among World War II personnel were also attending the ceremony.
Charles was the first to lay a wreath in memory of those who have died in conflicts since the First World War, followed by the Prince of Wales.
The 76-year-old monarch, wearing a ceremonial frock coat and Marshal’s uniform, saluted before leaving the monument after a two-minute silence.
His son, wearing his Royal Air Force uniform with the rank of Wing Commander, also saluted after laying a wreath at the Mausoleum.
William, who completed seven-and-a-half years of full-time operational military service in 2013, promotes the roles and wellbeing of current and former service personnel as a key part of his work.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also presented flowers alongside senior politicians including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, home secretary Shabana Mahmood and speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, as well as representatives from the Commonwealth.
The Princess of Wales and the Queen, both dressed in black, and other members of the royal family watched the Remembrance Sunday service from a balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office overlooking the Cenotaph.
The duo were also joined by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Edinburgh.
Eight former prime ministers stood near the Cenotaph: Sir John Major, Sir Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Lord Cameron, Baroness May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
The wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph followed a two-minute silence in the center of Whitehall and at war memorials in villages, towns and cities across the country.
A gun was fired to mark the end of the silence before the Royal Marines’ Buglers played “The Last Message”.
At the end of the ceremony, after the national anthem was sung, Camilla and Kate smiled as the King left to the applause of the crowd.
About a dozen people wearing military uniforms and poppies were wheeled into Whitehall before the service, while respectful applause rang out near the cenotaph and one of the veterans saluted.
Among the Second World War personnel who attended Whitehall were three D-Day veterans.
Henry Rice, a former signalman who arrived from Juno Beach five days after D-Day, and Mervyn Kersh, who arrived in Normandy as a 19-year-old three days after the D-Day invasion began, were among those in attendance Sunday.
Sid Machin, one of six 101-year-olds registered for the march, was also there. He is one of the last surviving “Chindit” soldiers of the Burma campaign of World War II.
Mr. Machin, a young man of about 19, landed behind enemy lines in a glider at night as part of a special forces unit in Burma (now Myanmar), damaging Japanese supply lines and infrastructure.
Nearly 10,000 armed forces veterans took part in the Royal British Legion’s post-service march in London, including nearly 20 Second World War veterans 80 years after the end of the conflict.
Crowds lining the streets of Whitehall applauded the marchers to music played by the Massed Bands of the Home Division and the combined bands of the Royal Marines and Royal Air Force, and many participants wore medals.
Some of the walkers, including several Chelsea Pensioners, were pushed in wheelchairs, while others traveled on mobility scooters.
