The Queen has led stripped-back Remembrance Sunday commemorations amid England’s second coronavirus lockdown.
Usually, thousands of veterans, servicemen and women and bystanders gather at the Cenotaph war memorial in London’s Whitehall to mark the event.
But lockdown rules – which came into force on Thursday – meant that the service was closed off to the public, with just a select group of veterans invited.
The Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, all attended the event.
With the Queen watching on from a government building, Prince Charles laid a wreath on the Cenotaph on her behalf. The Queen had penned a note reading: “In memory of the glorious dead”.
PM Boris Johnson and Labour leader Keir Starmer also laid poppy wreaths at the service, which was attended by former prime ministers Theresa May, Tony Blair and John Major.
Away from Whitehall, people marked two minutes of silence at 11am on their front doorsteps and put poppies in their windows, with many local events reduced to adhere to lockdown rules.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace said with growing Covid infection rates it was important the “balance” was “right”.
Speaking about the importance of the day, he added: “If we don’t learn from our history we are always destined to repeat the failures in the future.
“Fundamentally remembering why people gave their lives to this country, to our values, and to helping those around the world who couldn’t help themselves – that’s important to never forget.
“Right now, as we speak, thousands of men and women of the Armed Forces are helping the country’s resilience fight Covid, they are in Liverpool in their thousands – that’s important for us to remember the troops are our backbone.
“These are the people that give Britain its strength, its security and are acting in all our interests. So, today is an opportunity to mark the contribution to Covid, but also remember all those that have gone before making sure Britain is a safe and stable country whose values are wanted all around the world.”
On Sunday, General Sir Nick Carter – the UK’s most senior military commander – warned that the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic has made the prospect of World War Three “a risk”.
The Chief of the Defence Staff told Sky News that Britain and the rest of the world would need to “learn” from history and the international missteps that led to the previous world wars in the last century given the uncertainties caused by Covid-19.