Princess of Wales to attend Remembrance Sunday service at Cenotaph - but another Royal will miss

The Princess of Wales is to attend both the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph and the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the Princess of Wales will join the the King, the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family at the national commemoration on Sunday, and also attend the annual festival on Saturday evening.

The Princess of Wales attending the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Picture: Chris Jackson/PA Wire | PA

But the Queen’s attendance at Remembrance events will be subject to medical advice nearer the time, the Palace said.

Camilla, 77, is unwell with a chest infection and was forced to pull out of engagements earlier this week.

The announcement marks the next significant step in Kate’s gradual return to public royal duties as she prepares to join the King and the Prince of Wales to honour the nation’s war dead on November 10.

It comes after William revealed how 2024 has been “brutal” and the “probably been the hardest year in my life” with both Kate and the King were diagnosed with cancer.

William spoke candidly about the royal family’s major health scares, saying 2024 has “probably been the hardest year in my life” and a “dreadful” experience.

The princess has talked about her cancer journey, describing in a video how the episode had been “incredibly tough for us as a family”, but this is the first time the prince has revealed his thoughts in detail.

When asked about his year, William replied: “Honestly, it’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life.

“So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.

“But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done.

“But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s beenbrutal.”

Kate appeared in a deeply personal video with her family in September to confirm her return to public duties following the completion of a course of chemotherapy.

The princess’ heartfelt message about her cancer journey was spoken over images showing the Waleses and their children enjoying the outdoors, and she said her focus now was “doing what I can to stay cancer free”.

The King’s cancer diagnosis was announced in February and he has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of the disease as an outpatient, but will be returning to fuller duties and greater overseas travel next year.

Theprince’scomments were made in an interview with British media covering his four-day visit to South Africa, which ended on Thursday, to stage his Earthshot Prize in Cape Town.

When told he appeared relaxed, theprincereplied: “I couldn’t be less relaxed this year.”

It appears his work recognising environmental entrepreneurs with the Earthshot Prize or trying to find solutions to end homelessness have provide an antidote to his tough year.

“It’s more a case of just crack on and you’ve got to keep going,” he said.

“I enjoy my work and I enjoy pacing myself, and keeping sure that I have got time for my family too.”

William staged his Earthshot Prize ceremony in an eco-dome on Wednesday night and in a speech to guests dubbed his environmental awards as a “movement for change”, and called on the world to join.

The event saw five category winners awarded £1 million each to develop their ideas to “repair” the planet.

The ceremony was opened by composer and singer Lebo M, performing Circle of Life from The Lion King in a pre-recorded performance from the top of Table Mountain that left theprince“emotional”.

He said: “When they started singing and I saw the clips from the top of the Table Mountain, and we were all there and it’s happened, I did feel quite emotional.

“But the key thing is really the impact now. We need to translate the sort of effort that we put into the visibility of the prize and particularly the visibility of the solutions.”