Duchess Kate and Prince William participated in the annual tradition on UK Remembrance Day. Queen Elizabeth II stayed away from “Poppy Day”.
London – Since the end of the First World War, Remembrance Day has traditionally been celebrated in the Commonwealth to commemorate fallen armed forces. While Memorial Day was celebrated in Germany and Veterans Day in the USA, all royals wore poppy pins to commemorate them. Duchess Kate (39) wore the token with pride, because she was aware of her role and the special importance of this year’s event. *
Duchess Kate’s Pin: That’s why she adorns herself with poppies
All active royals were on their feet, Prince Charles * (73) with Duchess Camilla (74), Prince William (39) and his wife, Prince Edward (57) and the Countess of Wessex (56), Princess Anne (71), Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence (66), the Duke (77) and Duchess of Gloucester (75), the Duke of Kent (86) and Princess Alexandra (85) all attended the annual memorial service at the Whitehall Cenotaph. Only Queen Elizabeth II (95) had to stay away from the Sunday service *. It came to Duchess Kate * to take her place on the balcony between Duchess Camilla and Countess Sophie.
Following tradition, the men wore suits and coats while the women were dressed in black. Everyone adorned themselves with red poppy-seed badges, the symbol that has been used since 1921 to commemorate members of the military who died in the war.
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Duchess Kate’s Pin: The Origin of the Poppy Symbolism
The poppy symbol is said to come from the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae (45, † 1918), a poem about the First World War. The first stanza reads:
Poppies blow in the fields of Flanders
Between the crosses, row by row,
that mark our place; and in the sky
The larks that still sing bravely fly
Hard to hear in the midst of the cannons below.
Duchess Kate’s pin: 2021 – a year dedicated to round anniversaries
The Royal British Legion has existed for exactly 100 years and was organized in charity associations for the armed forces. This year the poppy has also been a symbol of remembrance for a hundred years. It also celebrated the 30th anniversary of Operation Granby, the largest deployment by the British Forces since World War II in the Gulf War in 1991 and the dead in Operation Pitting in Afghanistan in 2021. * 24royal.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
Headline list image: © Stephen Lock / Imago
