The Queen watched the moving Remembrance Sunday service from home while she recuperates from a chest infection.
Camilla observed the two minutes’ silence privately as she followed the proceedings live on television at Raymill, her Wiltshire house, after doctors ordered her to miss the annual ceremony.
She was said to be disappointed not to be able to join the royal family including the King and the Princess of Wales at the Cenotaph to see the veterans parade in remembrance of the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Royal doctors ruled out her attendance during the commemorative weekend, urging Camilla to take a few more days rest to fully recover after she caught a seasonal bug following her long-haul trip to Australia and Samoa.
There was also concern she might pass on the illness to others, with the King still undergoing treatment from cancer, and Kate recovering from the disease.
Camilla’s wreath, as is the custom even if she had attended, was placed at the Cenotaph on her behalf by her equerry Major Ollie Plunket, of The Rifles.
On it was a handwritten tribute from the Queen which read “In everlasting remembrance” and was signed “Camilla R”.
The ring of poppies closely resembles the one used for Charles’s late beloved grandmother, the Queen Mother.
The 95 closed-style poppy petals are made from bonded fabric and mounted on an arrangement of black leaves.
The ribbon across the middle takes its brown, red and yellow colour from Camilla’s racing silk.
Major Plunket placed the wreath to the right of the King’s, before stepping back to salute the monument.
The Queen is said to have dearly wanted to pay tribute in person to the nation’s war dead this weekend.
The service at the Cenotaph is an important fixture in the royal calendar and holds deep personal meaning for Camilla, through her official connections to the armed forces, and because of her late father Major Bruce Shand’s military service.
But royal doctors ordered her to have another few days’ rest to get back to full strength, meaning she also missed the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening.
The Queen plans to return to London early next week if given medical clearance.
She has a number of engagements in her diary, including a Booker Prize event at Clarence House on Tuesday, a Palace reception celebrating the TV and film industry and a night out with the King at the star-studded global premiere of Gladiator II on Wednesday.
Thursday is also the King’s 76th birthday.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel