King Charles leads Remembrance Day

For the first time in his role as monarch, Britain’s King Charles presided over Sunday Remembrance Day ceremonies in London by laying a brand-new wreath at the Cenotaph war memorial following a two-minute silence.

Charles was joined by other senior royals, including as his son and successor, Prince William. Camilla, his wife and consort, watched from the balcony of a neighbouring government structure.

After the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September, Chief of the Defense Staff Tony Radakin said the event honouring Britain’s war dead had “added poignancy.”

“She [the late Queen] represented duty and service, but also that dignity of that wartime generation and all that they sacrificed for our freedom,” Radakin told the BBC.

According to Buckingham Palace, the wreath was a homage to the wreaths of his maternal grandparents, King George and Queen Elizabeth, and featured crimson, purple, and gold ribbons with poppies as an arrangement of black foliage.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, leaders of the opposition political parties, top ministries, and representatives of the religious communities also placed wreaths during the ceremony in Whitehall in the heart of London, lined by tens of thousands of spectators.

After being virtually silent for a five-year conservation program in 2017, the Big Ben bell in parliament’s Elizabeth Tower was permanently reconnected with the chimes signalling the start of the two-minute silence at 11:00 GMT for Remembrance Day.