King Charles leads the two-minute silence at the Cenotaph this morning. The National Service of Remembrance on Whitehall marks the Armistice of the First World War and every conflict since in which British and Commonwealth forces have served. He is joined by members of the Royal Family, the Prime Minister, senior politicians and faith leaders. The government notice, issued on Sunday by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, says about 10,000 veterans will take part in the Royal British Legion march past.
More than 300 armed forces and civilian organisations are represented. The youngest person marching is seven. Some of those in the column are over 100, among the last who served in the Second World War. Veterans have travelled from Canada and Australia. About 10,000 members of the public are expected along Whitehall. The service is broadcast live on the BBC, ITV and Sky News. While the country stands still, 6,500 UK armed forces personnel remain deployed on operations and at overseas bases, including NATO allies in eastern Europe and the continuous at-sea deterrent.
Saturday night at the Albert Hall
The Cenotaph follows the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening, the King's first official appearance with the wider family since he and Queen Camilla left the Caribbean on Wednesday. The King, the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester joined serving personnel, veterans and families. This year's festival was built around individual stories, told in part through blueys, the light-blue airmail letters sent home from operations.
The programme marked anniversaries that sit heavily on the serving generation and the one before it: British peace-support operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which 59 British personnel died; the 35th anniversary of the Gulf War, when more than 50,000 British personnel deployed on Operation Granby and 47 were killed; and the Iraq campaign under Operation Telic. The Queen wore three poppies on a black dress. The Princess of Wales wore a poppy with diamond earrings first associated with Queen Elizabeth II. Sunday's papers led with those photographs, and with the silence still to come.
Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph
- The King leads the two-minute silence at 11am on Whitehall.
- About 10,000 veterans march past, from more than 300 organisations.
- The column runs from a child of seven to veterans over 100.
- About 10,000 people are expected to line Whitehall.
- 6,500 UK personnel remain deployed while the service is held.
A week after the Caribbean
The King and Queen returned from a nine-day tour that took him to the Bahamas and Guyana, and both of them to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting. In a message as they left on 4 November, he thanked the people of those three countries for the welcome. The political argument of that week, sorrow without an apology for the slave trade, is still the line from the Palace aide who called him a secret weapon for ministers. Remembrance is a different room. Here the script is fixed, the wreath is his to lay, and the silence is the point.
The same Sunday papers that carried the Albert Hall also carried a harder claim about the living: injured veterans waiting months, and in some cases years, for compensation. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the department was working at pace, with overtime and weekend work, and was putting the terminally ill first. The march on Whitehall and that queue for a decision are the two halves of the morning. One is public. The other is still on a desk.