The Prince and Princess of Wales are continuing a digital tradition
Kate Middleton and Prince William are refreshing their social media presence ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
As of Nov. 9, the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 42, changed their profile pictures on the official X and Instagram accounts that they share. A close look at the pages shows that the royal couple has switched out their pictures to pay tribute to Remembrance Day events.
Remembrance Sunday is commemorated on the second Sunday of every November in the U.K., where King Charles leads the national charge in honoring those from the U.K. and Commonwealth nations who died in war. While the royals have paid respects at Remembrance services and events for generations, it’s become a modern tradition for their teams to change their profile and cover photos to Remembrance-related images to set a solemn tone as a gesture of respect. After about a week, the official social accounts revert back to the previous photos that were in place.
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A zoom into Prince William and Princess Kate’s X and Instagram pages reveals that their new profile picture is a shot of them together at last year’s Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall in London. The Royal British Legion organizes the annual festival to honor the service and sacrifices of British and Commonwealth military personnel, and the British royals have attended for generations.
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Continuing tradition, the Prince and Princess of Wales wore dark outfits with red poppy pins to the event last year, and their cover photo on X now appears to be a field of ceramic red poppies, perhaps from the Tower of London’s famous tribute in 2014 to represent the British military fatalities in World War I. The red flower is closely associated with the U.K. and Commonwealth countries around Remembrance, and has been used since 1921 to honor military members who have died in war.
Every November, the royals incorporate poppy pins into their wardrobes as tribute, and count the Field of Remembrance memorial at Westminster Abbey, a poignant tribute of poppies on crosses, as a staple engagement in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday.
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The Prince and Princess of Wales weren’t the only members of the family to switch up their profile pictures in honor of Remembrance Sunday — so did King Charles and Queen Camilla. As of Nov. 9, the King and Queen’s team changed their profile photos on X, Instagram and Facebook to a throwback of them attending a Remembrance Day Service at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada in 2009. The image might look familiar, as they’ve featured it on social media for Remembrance Day previously, including last year!
“Lest we forget,” reads a message over their cover photo — a field of wild poppies — on X.
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On Nov. 9, Princess Kate, Prince William, King Charles and more working royals stepped out to attend the annual Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall as The outing is significant as Princess Kate’s first major royal event after announcing she completed chemotherapy for cancer in September, but looks different than past years as Queen Camilla is not in attendance.
Buckingham Palace confirmed earlier on Saturday that the Queen, 77, would be absent as she recovers from a chest infection.
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“Following doctors’ guidance to ensure a full recovery from a seasonal chest infection, and to protect others from any potential risk, Her Majesty will not attend this weekend’s Remembrance events,” the palace said in a statement, referring to the Festival of Remembrance and Remembrance Sunday on Nov. 10.
“While this is a source of great disappointment to The Queen, she will mark the occasion privately at home and hopes to return to public duties early next week,” it continued.
PEOPLE understands that there is no cause for concern for Queen Camilla, who is spending the weekend at Ray Mill Wiltshire, her private home in the countryside. The King’s wife did not want to pass on any lingering infection to others and was worried that attending the events would prolong her recovery.
Source people.com
