King Charles and Queen Camilla marked Remembrance Day by paying tribute to fallen soldiers from Britain and the Commonwealth – and the monarch also paid tribute to his late parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
At the Royal British Legion’s annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, King Charles and Queen Camilla unveiled new statues of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Prince Philip, known as the Duke of Edinburgh, died in April 2021 at the age of 99. Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022 at the age of 96 after a historic 70 years on the throne, and her son became the monarch immediately after her death. The royal couple was buried together in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. in the chapel of St. George within Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth’s parents – King George VI, who died in 1952, and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who died in 2002 – are also buried in the cemetery, as is her sister, Princess Margaret, who also died in 2002.
A new statue of Queen Elizabeth was unveiled at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 11, 2023.
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Remembrance Day, which evolved from Armistice Day, is observed on November 11 each year because World War I hostilities officially ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” in 1918.
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A statue of Prince Philip is unveiled at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 11, 2023.
Maja Smiejkowska-WPA Pool/Getty
The Festival of Remembrance was also attended by Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Prince and Princess of Wales; Prince Edward and Sophie, Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh; Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence; The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
They all decorated their sets with red poppy pins. The symbol, believed to come from John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”, has been used since 1921 to commemorate members of the military who died in the war.
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Members of the Royal Family attend the Festival of Remembrance at London’s Royal Albert Hall on November 11, 2023.
Chris Jackson/Getty
Members of the royal family have played a central role in commemorating Remembrance Day since Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather, King George V, laid the Unknown Warrior to rest in Westminster Abbey on November 11, 1920. Later that day, he unveiled the Cenotaph War Memorial in nearby Whitehall.
“The Royal Family expresses gratitude for the loss of life that actually happened on their behalf – certainly on behalf of the sovereign as head of state,” A century of memories author Laura Clouting previously told PEOPLE, referring to the British military oath.
She added: “The memory is very, very personal to them.”
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Kate Middleton and Prince William at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 11, 2023.
Chris Jackson/Getty
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The royals will gather again tomorrow for the National Service of Remembrance, also known as Remembrance Sunday, at the Cenotaph war memorial in London.
The royal family’s social media accounts also changed their photos on Thursday to reflect the somber nature of the occasion, as they have done in past years to mark Remembrance Day.
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Source: HIS Education