London’s Royal Albert Hall was bathed in a soft red glow as the Queen and senior members of the royal family joined veterans and members of the public to remember Britain’s fallen at the Royal British Legion’s annual Festival of Remembrance.
The event, held ahead of Remembrance Sunday to commemorate all those who have lost their lives in conflicts, held an extra poignancy this year following the centenary of the start of the first world war.
The country’s political and military leaders also attended the event, which had the theme of “a century of service and sacrifice” and acknowledged the beginning of the first world war in 1914, 70 years since the Normandy landings and the withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier this year.
Following an organ prelude, the festival began with a fanfare from The Massed Bands of the Guards Division, with the festival chorus performing When Duty Called, before a royal fanfare and the national anthem to welcome the royal family, including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke of York.
The festival was awash with the finest of British pomp and pageantry, at no point more so than during the entry of the Union Flag and the Royal British Legion National Standards, the Representative Standards of the Royal British Legion and the Ex-Service Associations’ Standard Bearers, with yellow and blue standards cutting a dash of colour across the hall’s stage.
