King Charles leads 2-minute silence as Andy Burnham attends first service as PM
Prime Minister Andy Burnham attended his first service in office, alongside a record nine former prime ministers.
King Charles led a two-minute silence and laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday, as Prime Minister Andy Burnham attended his first service in office.
A record nine former prime ministers joined the ceremony in Whitehall.
Afterward, about 10,000 veterans joined the Royal British Legion’s march-past, representing more than 300 Armed Forces and civilian organisations.
“I’m incredibly proud to be honouring those whose sacrifice continues to protect our way of life to this day,” Burnham said before the service.
The silence started when Big Ben struck, quieting the usually busy streets around Whitehall. The Buglers of the Royal Marines played the Last Post when it ended. BBC royal correspondent Sean Coughlan called it a big moment of reflection in a chaotic world.
Charles saluted as he stepped away from the Cenotaph, dressed in a field marshal uniform with a greatcoat, cap and sword. His wreath held 41 paper poppy petals on black leaves and closely resembled a wreath made for King George VI.
Prince William came next, laying his wreath and saluting while wearing a Lieutenant Colonel of the Household Cavalry uniform, a black cloak and sword. He finished seven-and-a-half years of full-time operational military service in 2013. The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, laid wreaths after him.
Queen Camilla and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, wore black as they watched from a Foreign Office balcony above the Cenotaph. The princess chose a Catherine Walker coat, an HMS Glasgow brooch and earrings that had belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales. The Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke of Kent watched from the balconies, too.
After the wreath-laying, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, led a prayer. She is the first woman to hold the office, whose 105 previous holders were men, beginning with St Augustine in 597 AD.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Shabana Mahmood and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle were among the politicians who laid wreaths. Farage took part in the national service’s wreath-laying for the first time after his party reached the required six MPs.
The former prime ministers present were Sir John Major, Sir Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Lord Cameron, Baroness May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. Starmer attended as prime minister a year earlier.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said that “as the number of World War Two veterans grows vanishingly small, I think it’s more important than ever that we pass down through the generations the lessons of those two world wars,” the Daily Mail reported.
The Royal Air Force led the march-past. BBC News estimated that about 20 Second World War veterans marched, while The Independent reported around a dozen, with the oldest aged 105. The Independent said Jeffrey Brereton, 105, was thought to have participated, he had worked as a mechanic on Hurricane aircraft during the Battle of Britain.
Annie Duplock, 103, joined the march for the first time. She had lied about her age to enter the Land Army in 1940, when she was 16.
“I think it will be a very emotional day, bringing back memories of all those who didn't return home,” Duplock told BBC News.
Ronan Doncaster was the youngest marcher at eight years old. He walked for his father, a Coldstream Guards guardsman who died in April 2024.
Elsewhere, Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney laid a wreath outside Edinburgh City Chambers. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant attended a memorial service in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
In 1987, an IRA bomb struck the town’s Remembrance event, killing 11 people that day and a 12th victim years later.
