Why Are Members of the British Royal Family All Wearing Poppy Pins This Month?
Samir Hussein/WireImage Kate Middleton
The royal family is adding a special accessory to their outfits this month.
Royal watchers may have noticed that members of the family have been sporting red poppy pins with their ensembles in recent days. Kate Middleton and Prince William both wore the flowers during their outing in Scarborough on Nov. 3, with the Prince of Wales also adding the accessory to his tuxedo at the 10th annual Tusk Conservation Awards and his suit for the Film Africa festival earlier in the week. King Charles III, Queen Camilla and Princess Anne also wore the pins when they welcomed athletes from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games for a reception at Buckingham Palace.
Each November, the red poppy pins become a piece of the royals' wardrobe. The poppy has been used since 1921 to commemorate military members who have died in wars. The red flower is primarily associated with the U.K. and Commonwealth countries for Remembrance Day on November 11.
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Chris Jackson/Getty Images Kate Middleton and Prince William
The poppy symbol is believed to have come from the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, a poem about World War I. The opening stanza reads:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
In the U.K., the pins are sold by the Royal British Legion to help raise money for veterans.
Although less common, the U.S. also uses the symbol. The Veterans of Foreign Wars conducted the first nationwide distribution of remembrance poppies before Memorial Day in 1922, and the American Legion Auxiliary distributes paper poppies in exchange for donations around Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Chris Jackson/Getty Prince Richard, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Prince Edward
This month, members of the royal family will participate in several events honoring military personnel, culminating in the National Service of Remembrance, also known as Remembrance Sunday. They will gather for a service at The Cenotaph war memorial in London.
Last year, Queen Elizabeth missed the Remembrance Day service due to a sprained back. She was said by a royal source to be "deeply disappointed," as she regards the moving ceremony as "one of the most significant engagements of the year." Her son Charles, who became King Charles following her death on Sept. 8, placed a wreath at the memorial on the Queen's behalf.
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Chris Jackson/Getty Queen Elizabeth and Kate Middleton
It's also likely that the social media accounts of the royal family will change their photos to reflect the somber nature of the occasion, as they have done in years past around Remembrance Day. The Royal Family pages on Twitter and Instagram follow the work of King Charles, Queen Camilla and other royals, while Kate and Prince William have separate accounts.
