Photo: Canadian Press

Britain’s King Charles III, centre, with Prince William left, and Princess Anne attend the memorial service at the Cenotaph in London, Sunday, November 10, 2024.

King Charles III led the nation on Sunday in a two-minute silence for fallen service workers in central London as the Princess of Wales looked on, a further sign the royal family is slowly returning to normal at the end of a year in which two of the most popular royals were sidelined by cancer.

Remembrance Sunday is a totemic event in Britain, with the monarch leading senior royals, political leaders, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his eight living predecessors, and envoys from Commonwealth countries as they lay wreaths at the Cenotaph, the Portland stone memorial that serves as the focal point for to honor the nation’s war dead.

The service is held on the second Sunday in November to mark the signing of the Armistice to end the First World War “at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” in 1918. Across Britain, services are held simultaneously in memory of the dead.

After the two-minute silence, buglers from the Royal Marines played the final note and Charles led the wreath-laying part of the service.

The 75-year-old King, dressed in his Royal Navy uniform of the Admiral of the Fleet, laid a wreath of poppies at the foot of the Cenotaph in recognition of the fallen from conflicts dating back to the First World War.

His eldest son and heir to the throne, William, left his own floral tribute – with Prince of Wales feathers and a new ribbon of Welsh red.

Dressed in dark black, his wife, Kate, watched from a balcony of the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, as is tradition. Queen Camilla, who would normally be standing next to the princess, was not present as she recovered from a chest infection.

It is the first time since the beginning of the year that Kate has completed two consecutive days of public servants. On Saturday she attended the Royal British Legion Festival Of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.

After the wreath-laying, around 10,000 veterans, including those who have fought in wars this century, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq, marched past the Cenotaph. As time went on, only a handful of World War II veterans were present.

Charles’ ceremonial role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces is a holdover from the days when the monarch led his troops into battle. But the link between the monarchy and the military remains very strong, with service members taking an oath of allegiance to the king and members of the royal family supporting service personnel through a variety of charities. Charles and William served actively in the military before taking up full-time royal duties.

“They show us respect, as we have shown them by serving,” said Victor Needham-Crofton, 91, an army veteran who served during the 1956 Suez Crisis and later in Kenya.

Charles was diagnosed with an unknown form of cancer in February, forcing him to step away from public appearances for two months as he focused on his treatment and recovery. Just weeks later, Kate announced her own cancer diagnosis, sidelining her for much of the year as she underwent chemotherapy.

The King has been in good form in recent months and recently completed a tough trip to Australia and Samoa. Kate, who made her first public appearance since the diagnosis during the monarch’s birthday parade in June, is slowly returning to public duties.

Prince William reflected this week on the strain the cancer scare has placed on the royal family.

“I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for dealing with the things they’ve done,” William told reporters Thursday as he wrapped up a four-day trip to South Africa. “But from a personal family standpoint, it’s been, well, it’s been brutal.”

While the Cenotaph was the focus of the national service of remembrance, communities across the UK held their own ceremonies on Sunday.

Needham-Crofton, who served with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers before a lorry accident ended his military career, planned to attend a local service in Eastbourne on England’s south coast.

He has devoted much of his time to honoring veterans and trying to help them, including 20 years as a volunteer for the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans. Like some of his army duties, fundraising was quite strenuous as it involved standing in front of London Underground stations and collecting coins to fund the group’s efforts.

“I like to respect all veterans and do what I can for them,” he told the Associated Press. “It really is a brotherhood. Even if you don’t know a veteran that you meet, you feel a kinship with them. That’s very important to me. I will be like that for the rest of my life.”