The Queen and other senior members of the Royal Family will be marking Remembrance Day this weekend. In recent years Prince Charles has laid a wreath for Queen Elizabeth II who has watched on from a balcony. She typically dons a black ensemble with five red poppies adorned on her coat. But why exactly does the Queen choose to wear five poppies on Remembrance Day?
The annual national ceremony on Remembrance Sunday will be private for the first time.
On November 8, the Queen will oversee the ceremony which will be closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s event will be held at the Cenotaph in London and will be limited to a few senior royals, some politicians and military leaders.
Everyone else will be asked to pay their respects at home.
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This year will be the first there will be no public participation at the event since commemorations began following the end of the First World War.
Typically the Queen watches on from the balcony overlooking Whitehall with other female members of the Royal Family.
Prince Charles has in recent years laid a wreath down for the Queen which is said to be in honour of the nation in remembrance and to show gratitude for all those who made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives for their country.
At present, it is not currently known which members of the Royal Family will attend the ceremony this year.
In 2019, Kate Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall were also shown wearing multiple poppies.
Camilla used a silver brooch to pin the three red poppies to her outfit.
Whereas Kate used a fourth poppy as her brooch to pin three red poppies.
This brooch worn by Kate was a code-breaker poppy which may have been worn in honour of her grandmother Valerie Glassborow who worked in signal intelligence at Bletchley Park during the war.
While it is unknown exactly why the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall wore more than one poppy on these occasions, it is possible it is in honour of additional branches of service.
The Duchess of Cornwall undertook one of her final royal outings before the second national lockdown began this week.
She visited the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey and delighted fans by wearing a poppy face mask, as well as a poppy brooch.
Royal fans were quick to honour and praise the Duchess of Cornwall on her choice of mask.
One person tweeted: “Love the face mask. I asked a poppy seller, but they said they weren’t selling any. Can I ask where I can obtain one from please.”
Another wrote: “I know there are far more important things happening today, but we’re gonna SMT Cam in a poppy mask right?!? Very, very here for masks with a message.”
What do different colour poppies mean?
There are several different types of poppy worn in honour of Remembrance Day.
The most famous is the red poppy which is used to commemorate people who lost their lives in World War One.
The purple poppy is worn in honour to remember all the animals that died as victims of war.
The black poppy represents African, Black and Caribbean communities and their contributions to the war effort.
The white poppy is worn by people who want to promote peace and who believe the red poppy glorifies war and conflict.
