The Princess of Wales stood alongside the Queen Consort at today's moving Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall to pay tribute to the war dead. While Kate looked incredibly elegant as she watched from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, many fans questioned why she was wearing three poppies.
Unlike King Charles and other members of the Royal Family who wore one simple poppy on their uniforms, Camilla and Kate both added several of the flowers and a diamond brooch to their outfits to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the World Wars and other conflicts.
Despite never being confirmed by the palace, one theory is that the royals wear multiple brooches in honour of family members who have fought and died in wars.
While the reason The Princess of Wales always chooses to wear several poppies to Remembrance events has never been revealed, many believe the reason stems from her wish to pay tribute to lost family members.
Kate's great-grandmother had three brothers who were all killed in action during World War One and the Princess had the opportunity to view letters from her ancestors during an emotional visit to the Imperial War Museum in 2018.
Other female members of the Royal Family often choose to do the same. The late Queen would famously wear a collection of five poppies to the Cenotaph which many believed was her way of paying tribute to the five branches of service, these include: the Army, the Royal Navy and the RAF.
At today's emotional Remembrance Day service - the first since the death of the Queen - saw the royals out in force.
The King lay a new poppy wreath incorporating a ribbon of his racing colours, with the design a tribute to the ones used by both his late mother and his grandfather George VI.
A wreath was also laid on the Queen Consort’s behalf for the first time as Camilla watched from the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office building.
Prince William lay the same wreath previously laid by his father, who held the title Prince of Wales for more than 64 years before his accession to the throne. It features the white Prince of Wales feathers but will bear a new ribbon in “Welsh red”.
Also present were the the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
The Queen, who died just nine weeks ago at the age of 96, considered Remembrance Sunday, which commemorates the war dead, to be one of the most significant and important engagements in the royal calendar.
The country's longest reigning monarch lived through the Second World War and became the first female royal to serve in the Armed Forces as a full-time active member when she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945.
As head of the Armed Forces, the late Queen only missed seven Cenotaph services during her reign, including in 2021 due to a back sprain.
