The Queen and Prince Philip watch Remembrance Sunday commemorations from balcony

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh watched the Remembrance Sunday commemorations from the balcony of the Foreign Office on Sunday as the nation fell silent to honour those who lost their lives in battle.

For the first time in recent history, Her Majesty did not lay a wreath at the Cenotaph, with Prince Charles placing one on her behalf.

The Queen has only missed laying a wreath at the Cenotaph six times in her reign. On four of those occasions, she was on tour. The other two times she was pregnant.

The 96-year-old Duke of Edinburgh also didn’t lay a wreath at this year’s event. Instead, an equerry laid one on his behalf.

Also laying wreaths in Whitehall was the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent.

The Duchess of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Countess of Wessex and Princess Alexandra joined Her Majesty and Prince Philip as they watched on from the Foreign Office balcony.

Leading the politicians in tribute was Prime Minister Theresa May and Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.

Other party leaders also laid wreaths, as well as the Speakers of the House of Commons and House of Lords and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

This was the Queen’s 72nd Remembrance Sunday service that she has attended. The first such occasion she was present at took place at the end of World War II in 1945 when she was just aged 19 years old.

On Saturday, The Queen was joined by most of her family at the Royal Albert Hall for the Festival of Remembrance.

The Festival of Remembrance began in 1927 and was Originally intended to honour those who died in World War One, the Festival of Remembrance began in 1927, but it has since grown and now honours all those who have died in war, from battles that are decades gone, and those that are ongoing.