The Queen is to break with tradition and observe the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony from a balcony overlooking the Cenotaph, with the Prince of Wales laying her wreath.
At the Queen’s request, Charles will place the floral tribute at the base of the Cenotaph on November 12, and Philip’s equerry will lay his wreath, Buckingham Palace has said.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman added: “The Queen wishes to be alongside the Duke of Edinburgh and he will be in the balcony.”
Earlier this year, Philip retired from his public duties, but on occasion has joined the Queen at her official engagements.
The Queen and Duke will be standing on a balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office traditionally used by royal women like the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Cornwall to watch the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall.
The Queen has only missed six Cenotaph ceremonies during her reign – on four occasions when she was on overseas visits to Ghana in 1961, Brazil in 1968, Kenya in 1983 and South Africa in 1999.
The Prince of Wales will take his mother’s place. (Yui Mok/PA)
She was not present during the 1959 and 1963 services as she was pregnant with her two youngest children.
The Cenotaph ceremony is a poignant and significant event in the life of the nation which normally involves the Queen leading the country in remembering those who have died in world wars and other conflicts.
So Charles’ role in laying the wreath – on behalf of the head of state – will be a significant moment.
When asked about the Duke’s decision to watch the event from the balcony, the Buckingham Palace spokeswoman replied: “It’s not unusual for members of the family to to watch it from the balcony. He wants to attend and wishes to be with the family on the balcony.”
Charles has laid a wreath before on behalf of the Queen, in 1983 when she was out of the country, and when the monarch was in South Africa in 1999 she laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in Durban.