It was a much different Remembrance Day for the royal family.
Kate Middleton and Prince William honored fallen servicemen and women during a Remembrance Day ceremony in the Cenotaph in London’s Whitehall on Nov. 8. They were joined by Queen Elizabeth at the solemn event, as well at Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Remembrance Day, which is also known as Armistice Day, is an annual holiday celebrated in the U.K. on Nov. 11. It was created to honor the 1918 armistice that ended World War I, but has since been used to pay tribute to all people lost in military service.
Typically the Remembrance Day event, which involves laying wreaths for the late members of the United Kingdom’s military, is witnessed by more than 10,000 people, including members of the armed forces, veterans, and military families. However, in order to enforce social distancing measures due to the coronavirus pandemic, that was not possible. Less than 30 veterans were invited to this year’s scaled-back event and the annual military march was also cancelled.
The solemn event saw the royal family dressed in all black. As part of the holiday’s tradition, the women pinned poppies to their tops, a symbol of hope that stemmed from the fact that poppies grew over the battlefields of World War I.