The Queen is not alone in wearing a poppy in November to honour those who have fallen in battle and conflict. But Her Majesty tends to wear not one but five poppies on Remembrance Sunday. While Buckingham Palace has never confirmed the reason for the monarch's preference, it is thought that the Queen's five poppies represent each service in the war: the Army, the Navy, the RAF, the Civil Defence and women.
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Her Majesty was spotted wearing all five poppies as she stepped out to attend a wreath-laying service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London. The Queen used to lay her own wreath at the monument in a tribute to the war dead, but for the past couple of years, her eldest son and heir Prince Charles has been doing so on her behalf. An equerry also lays a wreath for Prince Philip, who has not attended the service since his retirement from official duties in 2017.
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© Photo: Getty ImagesThe Queen's five poppies represent each service in the war
The royals always wear at least one poppy to show their respects in November, but on Sunday, the Duchess of Cambridge wore a particularly special brooch. Kate chose to don The Codebreakers Brooch in honour of her grandmother Valerie Glassborow, Valerie's twin sister Mary and her great-aunt, who all served as codebreakers at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.
In May, Kate paid a fascinating visit to Bletchley Park where she opened up about her late relatives. Speaking to a group of children, who had taken on the role of codebreakers for the day, Kate said: "My granny and her sister worked here. It's very cool. When she was alive sadly she could never talk about it. She was so sworn to secrecy that she never felt able to tell us."
© Photo: Getty ImagesKate donned The Codebreakers Brooch in honour of her relatives
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The Duchess also spent time with four women, who had worked at Bletchley at the same time as her relatives: Rena Stewart, who worked in Hut 3; Georgina Rose, a Teleprinter Operator and Morse Code Slip Reader in Block E; Elizabeth Diacon, a Teleprinter Room Supervisor, serving Hut 3, Hut 6 and Hut 8; and Audrey Mather, a Teleprinter Operator who was based in Block E. "You were very important," Kate told the women. "Your families must be very proud."
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