British Royals Mark Remembrance Day 2011

Following annual tradition, the British Royal Family gathered on Sunday November 13th to mark the 2011 Remembrance Day, with a service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. The Remembrance Sunday service takes place on the second Sunday in November, to remember the men and women who have died fighting for their country.

Queen Elizabeth II led the thousands in attendance in two minutes silence at 11am to honour the dead, before laying a wreath at the base of the Cenotaph. The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex, The Princess Royal and The Duke of Kent all followed The Queen in laying personal wreaths at the memorial. British politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron, then followed suit. Dr Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, then led a prayer service.

Watching the ceremony from above, on the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Building, were members of the royal family who have ‘married in’ – The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duchess of Cambridge, The Countess of Wessex and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, as protocol dictates. The women all wore black outfits and hats, and each person in attendance was wearing one or more red poppies attached to the lapel of their coat – the poppies are the symbol of remembrance, having begun in 1920. Red poppies were chosen as the symbol due to the poem In Flanders Field, which describes how poppies were the first flower to grow up through soldiers’ graves in Flanders.

Click here to read more about the 2011 Remembrance Day service.

Filed under The United Kingdom
Tagged Armistice Day, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Remembrance Day, World War I.

4 Responses to British Royals Mark Remembrance Day 2011

1. k says:

   November 15, 2011 at 2:12 pm

   It’s very sad that JessRulz forgot or totally ignored other members of the RF who were attending the ceremony. According to the Court Circular, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, watched laying the wreaths too. For God’s sake, can you be more professional in what you do here, JessRulz? It’s really not only about Kate’s dress and her little talk to her in-law.
2. JessRulz says:

   November 15, 2011 at 8:40 pm

   As none of the media sources I read in relation to the Remembrance service mentioned that the Gloucesters and the Kents were in attendance, I was unaware they were on the balconies too. I didn’t see any photos either. If you had read the blog correctly, you would notice that Catherine was only mentioned once as being on the balcony with the other senior royals – nothing specifically about her clothing, nor about her chatting with the in-laws. Therefore, this entry was hardly “only about” Catherine.
3. k says:

   November 16, 2011 at 5:48 am

   You’re right about the Kate thing, and I am sorry for that. It’s just I feel the whole mass media are just so overloaded with Kate, like there’s no one other in the Royal Family doing more important things. But, as to the presence of the Gloucesters and Kents not mentioned by you, I think you should check the most important and reliable sources in the case of the life of Monarchy, the Court Circular, in first place, when writing this note. The disturbing lack of them in the press coverage of the Remembrance Sunday may be a result of the whole Katemania. That’s just sad. But, does it mean they were not there?
4. JessRulz says:

   November 16, 2011 at 11:13 pm

   It’s the whole “shiny new toy” mentality with Catherine at the moment in the media – she’s young, beautiful and newly married. Give it time, and hopefully the media will focus on the more serious aspects of Catherine and her future work for the BRF.

   In relation to the Gloucesters and Kents, should I have checked the Court Circular? Yes, I admit I should have. But as they typically are mentioned in media reports on events they attend with the family (prior-Catherine I suppose :P), I wrongly assumed they were not in attendance. Thank you for pointing out that they were in fact present – Princess Alexandra of Kent always provides a sense of ‘high-born class’ for lack of a better terminology whenever she appears, and Princess Michael, well, one cannot help but get something positive out of her appearances 🙂