Sunday 8 November 2015

The Queen leads Remembrance Sunday commemorations

She has stood before the Cenotaph to pay her respects for over seven decades. Many of those we remember this November weren't born when she first laid her wreath and bowed her head before the memorial that is now the focus of a nation's commemorations. And today, the Queen once more led her country in remembering those who lost their lives in armed conflict as services for Remembrance Sunday took place.


The Queen bows her head at the Cenotaph as she led Remembrance Sunday commemorations
London, November 8th 2015
(photo MOD Crown Copyright)

The Queen walked onto Whitehall just before 11am this morning with the King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, at her side. She had invited him to lay a wreath this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. Behind the two monarchs was the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Kent.  And all of them marked the two minutes silence as Big Ben chimed eleven.



 
The Queen laid her wreath first with the Dutch king following her and then it was the turn of the Duke of Edinburgh.

 
 
And then for the first time, other members of the Royal Family walked to the Cenotaph in groups of three to lay their wreaths with William, Harry and Prince Andrew stepping forward first followed by Edward, Anne and the Duke of Kent.  It was part of a new design aimed at making the service slightly shorter to prevent veterans, and the Queen, having to stand for too long.

 

Politicians, including the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, then laid their wreaths and prayers were said and hymns sung. And then the royal party left to allow the veterans to march past and pay their own tributes. As is traditional, a member of the Royal Family takes the salute and this year it was the Duke of Cambridge who watched thousands of veterans stream by on an emotional day.

 


Queen Maxima had watched the ceremony from the balcony overlooking the Cenotaph where she stood alongside the Duchess of Cambridge, the Countess of Wessex and the Princess Royal's husband, Sir Timothy Laurence.

 
 
And there was a photo for the history books when the longest reigning monarch in Europe and one of the newest crowned heads on the continent were snapped next to their consorts on a very special day.

 


There were small and subtle differences in this year's ceremony but, just as she has for many years now, the Queen led a nation in grateful remembrance.
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