King Charles III led the Royal Family at the poignant Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. The annual royal event was even more sombre this year as this was the first time when The Queen, Elizabeth II, was not among us to mark the day.
Every year the Royal British Legion hosts the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. The Festival is a commemorative event dedicated to all those that have served and sacrificed for Britain and the Commonwealth. Members of the Royal Family arrive at the festival. Lieutenant General James Bashall, President of the Royal British Legion and Ian McCulloch, President of Royal Albert Hall greeted them upon arrival.
The Festival of Remembrance is a staple event of the royal Calendar. The Late Queen was committed to honouring the service and sacrifice of the entire Armed Forces community, most notably at the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph where she would lay a wreath that featured around 90 poppies. She laid a wreath at the Cenotaph for the first time as Princess Elizabeth on Sunday 11 November 1945, the first Remembrance Sunday after the end of the Second World War.
On 9 November 1952 The Queen attended Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph for the first time as monarch and as the patron of The Royal British Legion. Since then she only ever missed seven Remembrance Sunday events – once in 2021, four due to being abroad on royal tours and two when she was pregnant. And this year King Charles III attended the Festival of Remembrance for the first time as Monarch.
This year was the 95th Festival of Remembrance. The very first Festival of Remembrance was called ‘In Memory 1914-1918 – A Cenotaph In Sound’, in aid of The British Legion on Field Marshal Earl Haig’s Appeal for Ex-Service Men of all Ranks, and was held on 11 November 1923. A royal delegate including HRH The Prince of Wales was in attendance to hear John Foulds’ new composition, A World Requiem: A Cenotaph in Sound, performed by a chorus and orchestra.
In 1927 the concert was simply renamed the ‘Remembrance Festival’ and featured community songs including Pack up Your Troubles, Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty, and Tipperary. The event ended with a service that has now become familiar, featuring The Last Post and ending in God Save the King/Queen. In 1928, King George V and Queen Mary attended the Festival, with The Queen writing in her diary that it “was most beautiful & uplifting“. The King noted in his diary that, “At 9.0 May & I were present at the Remembrance Festival at the Albert Hall for the British Legion. The place was crammed & they sang all the war songs and & also some hymns, the singing very fine, & the whole thing was most impressive & dignified, with Guards hands & organ.“
Joining the King at the event were Queen Camilla, The Prince and Princess of Wales, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Princess Royal and Sir Timothy Laurence, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra.
The host of the event was Sir Huw Edwards who has been continuously hosting the event for the last 20 years. Remembering the late Queen Sir Hue said, “Service and duty are at the core of military life and no individual symbolised those words more completely than her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
More from the ITV report,
“In one clip, the Queen was heard speaking of the “tremendous contribution” the Armed Forces had made to Britain’s “standing and reputation” throughout the world during her reign. The evening also featured a performance by tenor Andrea Bocelli with his son Matteo and daughter Virginia, as well as a version of Hallelujah by EastEnders actress Shona McGarty.
The royals joined the crowd to sing Jerusalem after the remembrance book, containing the names of British war dead, was brought into the centre of the hall. Brigadier Justin Stenhouse, who is helping to train Ukrainian troops for battle against invading Russian forces, carried the book.
Footage marking the 40th anniversary of the Falklands war was shown, with contributions from people who had served. The evening ended with the crowd singing God Save the King followed by three cheers, after which Charles waved to the crowd who applauded as he left with the other royals.”
An emotional rendition of God Save the King to end the Festival of Remembrance 2022. pic.twitter.com/XPW4sNEPt9
— Belle (@RoyallyBelle_) November 12, 2022
An emotional rendition of ‘God Save The King’!
Moving towards The Princess of Wales’s style of the evening. Catherine chose a sombre black look and wore Self Portrait Crepe and a pleated-chiffon midi dress. Thanks to KateMiddStyle for the id.
The dress was described as,” An elegant 1950s air with the silhouette of this black midi dress, which features a belted jacket bodice that’s shaped with an hourglass waist. Rendered in a tactile combination of crepe and pleated chiffon, it falls to a midi hem that’s banded with airy lace.”
Catherine paired the outfit with the late Queen’s Four Strands Diamond and Pearl Choker Necklace and She was also wearing three poppies on the outfit that was a tribute to her Great-Granduncles.
and Queen’s Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings
The Princess of Wales was carrying her Mulberry Bayswater clutch. Tomorrow the Royal Family will be attending the Annual Remembrance Sunday service.
