Queen Camilla attended the 95th year of the Field of Remembrance ceremony outside Westminster Abbey on Thursday morning (November 9) ahead of Veterans Day weekend, which the British call Armistice Day or Remembrance Day.
The consort of King Charles III was invited to lay a white Cross of Remembrance in a larger cross covered in red poppies, a Commonwealth-wide emblem used to commemorate the end of the First World War on November 11, 1918. An "Exhortation of Remembrance," Big Ben's 11:00 chimes, and a two-minute silence followed, the Daily Express reported.
Aside from Camilla, the event was attended by British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, Veterans Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer, and some of the staff and supporters of The Poppy Factory.
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Queen Camilla lays a Cross of Remembrance during The 95th Year Of The Field Of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on November 09, 2023, in London, England. For 75 years, North Green outside Westminster Abbey has been offered as a location for poppies to be laid to remember those involved in the conflict.
Almost-Century of Tradition
The queen's participation in the ceremony was the latest in a long-standing early November tradition that was started by World War I veteran George Howson in 1928, who suggested using the land outside Westminster Abbey - which was the venue of Charles's and Camilla's coronations last May - as a place where the public could plant a poppy in memory of a loved one who fell in the Great War and in subsequent wars and conflicts the British military was involved with.
Camilla was able to review the 308 plots arranged for this year's display.
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