A moment of stillness for Royal Family and veterans

King Charles has led the annual Remembrance Sunday commemorations, laying a wreath at the solemn ceremony held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London.

With autumn leaves falling, he was joined by other members of the Royal Family, senior politicians and dignitaries, sharing the echoing two-minute silence.

But among the 10,000 veterans marching, there were now only about 20 who had served in World War Two, including six now 101 years old.

This was still living memory, rather than a history lesson, for these last survivors of the conflict.

Many are now in wheelchairs and they drew warm applause from the crowds, aware that they were seeing history inching out of view.

Sid Machin, aged 101, said it had been an “emotional year” remembering those who served with him in the Far East. This summer saw events marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day, the end of the World War Two in Europe and the Far East.

“I will be thinking of everyone I served with and especially those that didn’t make it home,” he said.

Donald Poole, also aged 101, who served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, wanted to “pay tribute to the poor souls who have died in all conflicts and I know how lucky I am to still be here”.

While others were lining up to thank his generation, he paid his own thanks to the civilian services, “particularly the fire service who saved so many lives during the Blitz”.

That was a reminder that as well as the military veterans, the commemoration by the Cenotaph brings together representatives of other types of service.

There were police, fire birgades, ambulance staff, transport workers and coastguards laying wreaths and marching.

The Remembrance service is a time to pause in a noisy world. There’s the two-minute silence and then the Last Post played by a bugler, reverberating around Westminster rather than the usual roar of traffic.

The scandals surrounding the King’s brother Andrew have been like a howling gale in recent weeks, but this was a moment of quiet and stillness.

It is a ceremony that is about keeping the faith with previous generations. The King, wearing a field marshal’s uniform, laid a wreath that is the same as the wreaths once placed here by his grandfather, George VI, with 41 paper poppies on an arrangement of black leaves.

They both would have stood in the same place facing the same message – the Glorious Dead – carved on the Cenotaph.

King Charles’s uniform still has the cypher of his mother, Elizabeth II.

What was he thinking in the big silence?

The Prince of Wales, back from presenting his Earthshot environmental prize in Brazil, joined his father in laying a wreath.

Meanwhile, Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales looked down from the Foreign Office balcony.

More than 20 different faith groups were represented around the plain stone of the Cenotaph, with clerical robes mixing in with the military uniforms.

Sarah Mullally, who is going to become the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, delivered a reading before a hymn was sung.

And like the ghosts of Christmas past, eight former PMs were lined up. Sir John Major is now the elder statesman among them.

The current incumbent, Sir Keir Starmer, said of the moment: “We remember a generation who stood against tyranny and shaped our future. Their legacy is peace, and our duty is to protect it.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch stepped forward with her wreath.

In a perhaps unexpected connection, Prince William was standing near to former PM Gordon Brown. The two are now working together on a homelessness project, having shared a different type of stage recently in Sheffield, talking about tackling poverty.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood laid wreaths on behalf of the intelligence agencies, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

There was also a reminder of current military threats and conflicts, with a Ukrainian flag flying above the Foreign Office building as the veterans marched past.

But on this mild November morning, there was no escaping the sense of time passing and an awareness this will be among the last big anniversaries where veterans of the World War Two will be present.

Last year, there were six veterans of the D-Day landings in 1944 – this year there were three.

“We reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of the Second World War generation, aware that this is one of the nation’s last opportunities to recognise, thank and honour the small number of veterans still with us today,” said Philippa Rawlinson, director of Remembrance at the Royal British Legion.