Duke of Kent, 91, Attends Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph in London
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, attended the National Service of Remembrance in London on Sunday, 8 November 2026. It was his first major public appearance since his 91st birthday last month.
The service takes place each year at the Cenotaph, the stone war memorial on Whitehall, a broad road in central London. Remembrance Sunday is the United Kingdom's day for honoring those who died in war. It falls on the Sunday nearest 11 November, the date the First World War ended in 1918. Americans will recognize the date from Veterans Day, though the British day focuses on the dead.
King Charles led this year's commemorations and laid a wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph. Royals, politicians and other dignitaries followed, each laying a wreath in turn. A wreath is a circle of flowers or greenery placed as a mark of respect.
The Duke of Kent did not lay a wreath himself. Town & Country reported that Captain Thomas Baker-Cresswell laid one on his behalf. Captain Baker-Cresswell is the duke's equerry, the military officer who acts as a royal's personal aide.
The duke watched the service from the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the British government department that runs foreign affairs and overseas aid. He stood between Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, a senior Royal Navy officer.
The duke has a long military record. He served in the UK's armed forces, at home and overseas, for 21 years. He retired from the British Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1976. He later received the honorary ranks of Major General in 1983 and Field Marshal in 1993. Honorary ranks are granted as an honor, not for commanding troops.
He still holds several regimental roles. He is Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, a deputy honorary head of that cavalry regiment. From 1974 until April 2024, he was Colonel of the Scots Guards, the honorary head of that regiment. In April 2024 the role passed to the Duke of Edinburgh.
Hello! Magazine has described him as a cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, mother of King Charles. He has carried out official royal duties since 1952, the year the queen came to the throne.
Remembrance Sunday asks the whole country to stop and remember. This year, that meant a 91-year-old duke standing on a balcony above Whitehall, watching the wreaths go down.
