The Princess of Wales smiles as she steps on to the balcony of the Foreign Office in London’s Whitehall, overlooking the Cenotaph, where (right) her husband the Prince and father-in-law the King, joined by the Princess Royal, prepare to lay wreaths in memory of the UK and Commonwealth service personnel who died in the First and Second World Wars
The Duchess of Edinburgh joins Kate on the balcony, the Princess in a Catherine Walker button-down coat accessorised with a velvet bow, a black velvet hat with a birdcage veil, and three poppies in honour of her great-grandmother’s three brothers, all of whom died in the First World War
The Duchess of Edinburgh switched from her original position on a neighbouring balcony so she could join Kate
Stepping back on to the public stage, the Princess of Wales made a poignant return to the annual Remembrance Sunday service as the royal family gathered at the Cenotaph to pay their respects to the fallen.
Dressed in black and with three red poppies pinned to her lapel – thought to be in honour of her of great-grandmother’s three brothers, who lost their lives in the First World War – Kate watched from a balcony in Whitehall as her husband the Prince and the King paid their tributes below.
With the Queen absent as she recovered from a chest infection, Kate, 42, was joined by the Duchess of Edinburgh, 59, who had moved from her original position on a neighbouring balcony.