Queen leads Royal family at star-studded Festival of Remembrance

Remembrance: This year's event will mark a number of centenaries
PA
Jamie Bullen12 November 2016

The Queen has led the Royal Family to this year’s Royal Festival of Remembrance to mark a number of landmark centenaries.

The monarch arrived at Royal Albert Hall on Saturday with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh to remember the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Jutland.

Also celebrated at this year’s event is the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the Supermarine Spitfire which was credited with helping to win the Battle of Britain,

The 25th anniversary of the Gulf War is also marked.

Family occasion: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were among the other royals to attend
PA

Other royals attending the service include the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Royal visitor: The Queen attends the Royal Albert Hall for the Royal Festival of Remembrance
PA

He was spotted at the rugby stadium without his new girlfriend Meghan Markle

The prince laid a wreath at the National Memorial Arboretum to mark Armistice Day on Friday.

Political leaders including Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn were among those in the audience for the event.

The royals will be received by Jon Moynihan, president of the Royal Albert Hall, and Vice-Admiral Peter Wilkinson, president of the Royal British Legion.

Royals: Prince Charles arrived with the Duchess of Cornwall
PA

They listened as old war songs including Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty, It's A Long Way To Tipperary, and Pack Up Your Troubles opened the colourful show.

Other performances included Michael Ball and Alfie Boe who sang You'll Never Walk Alone, Laura Mvula's version of Abide With Me and Birdy's rendition of her song Wings.

Meanwhile, Alexander Armstrong, presenter of the BBC quiz show Pointless, filled the hall with his performance of Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer, accompanied by the RAF Squadronaires band.

As part of the performance audience members were given wristbands which glowed in the dark, each one representing 100 of the 400,000-plus estimated British missing, dead or wounded during the bloody Somme offensive.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined the Queen
PA

Also taking part was Nick Beighton, who lost both his legs above the knees in Afghanistan, and 11-year-old Beth Molyneux, whose Royal Navy father died when she was six, and who has wrote a poem about why she wears a poppy.

The Queen received a personal mention as, on her 90th year, she was thanked "for her unstinting service to duty and her unswerving commitment to the service of all her people".

Thousands of poppies fluttered to the ground from the hall's domed roof as the room observed a two-minute silence on the eve of Remembrance Sunday.

As the room turned to sing the National Anthem, the Queen waved her hand in acknowledgment before the service ended.

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