Kate returns to official royal duties with commemoration of war dead

LONDON — King Charles III led Remembrance Day commemorations in London on Sunday as the United Kingdom remembered British and Commonwealth servicemen and women who have lost their lives to conflict.

After a two-minute silence observed across the nation at 11 a.m. local time, the King laid the first wreath at the foot of the capital’s Cenotaph war memorial. U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and opposition leader Kemi Badenoch also lay wreaths.

Charles was joined by Prince William and Princess Kate, who has slowly returned to public duties this year following treatment for cancer. She watched from the balcony of the U.K.’s foreign office.

Queen Camilla missed the occasion after falling ill with a chest infection that forced her to withdraw from public duties this week.

The wreaths were adorned by poppies, a symbol of remembrance also worn on lapels by many across the U.K. in the build-up to Remembrance Day.

Poppies were a common sight on the battle-scarred lands of Europe during World War I. The lime in the rubble left behind after artillery bombardments helped fertilize the plants, which flourished across Belgium and northern France during the war, then largely disappeared once the lime was gone.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian who served as a brigade surgeon in the war, made the poppy a famous symbol of the conflict with his poem “In Flanders Field,” where he channeled the voice of fallen soldiers buried beneath the poppies.

Remembrance Day was originally intended to commemorate the victims of World War I where some 9.7 million military personnel from more than two dozen countries lost their lives during the conflict, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as well as 6.8 million civilians, who died from causes like starvation and genocide.

King Charles was joined at the event by Prince William and Princess Kate, who has slowly returned to public duties this year following treatment for cancer. She watched on from the balcony of the U.K.’s foreign office.

Queen Camilla’s personal attendant Major Ollie Plunket laid a wreath on her behalf.

Princess Kate was also in attendance at Saturday evening’s Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, her first major public appearance since finishing chemotherapy.

Kate was also in attendance at Saturday evening’s Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, her first major public appearance since finishing chemotherapy.

She watched a commemorative concert from the royal box alongside William and other members of the Royal Family, as singer Tom Jones performed for the crowd alongside the Royal Air Force band.

Both events form part of the United Kingdom’s Remembrance Day commemorations as the nation pays tribute to those whose lives were affected by World War I, and remembers those who died.

Services will be held in almost every town and city across the U.K.

Charles, who has also received treatment for cancer this year, received a standing ovation from the audience when he arrived at the Royal Albert Hall.

Prince William said the past year has been “brutal” as his wife and father announced their diagnoses with cancer at the beginning of the year.

“It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life,” William told NBC News’ international partner, Sky News, at the end of a weeklong tour in Cape Town, South Africa, for the fourth annual Earthshot Prize.