Between Princess Kate's Armistice Day ceremony and The King and Queen's VJ Day reception, November 11 marked a busy day of Remembrance Day events for the Royal Family. Following Kate's first solo appearance at the annual Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum, members of the Royal Family gathered to honor military veterans at a special Windsor Castle event. During the reception, they met with one attendee who made comments that particularly moved The King and Queen.
Their Majesties previously met 105-year-old Yanvar Abbas at a service of remembrance earlier this year, when the Army veteran went off-script and thanked The King and Queen for being there despite King Charles's battle with cancer. His words appeared to move the couple to tears during the event, which was held at the National Memorial Arboretum in August.
"Before I read the excerpt, I make due apologies for briefly going off the script to salute my brave King who is here with his beloved Queen in spite of the fact that he's under treatment for cancer," Abbas said in his speech at the time.
"I told him, ‘We can’t go on meeting like this,'" Abbas joked at the Tuesday event. "I was very much looking forward to meeting him again. "I have a lot of respect for His Majesty, not just as a monarch, but as a human being."
Abbas is a cancer survivor himself, and while speaking of The King, added, "It’s wonderful to meet him and to know that he is improving, because I had cancer and I got rid of it. I’ve been rid of it for 15 years now."
Prince William, Prince Edward and the Duchess of Gloucester also attended the event, with the Prince of Wales freshly back from his trip to Brazil for the Earthshot Prize. And although he was focused on hearing the stories of veterans on Tuesday night, the prince also managed to make a surprise appearance on U.S. television.
William made a cameo on the 20th anniversary special episode of Dancing With The Stars, appearing in a video call with contestant Robert Irwin, who serves as an ambassador for William's Earthshot Prize. The Prince of Wales teased his friend—who missed the Brazilian ceremony because of his dance training—calling Irwin "twinkle toes" and wishing him luck in the rest of the competition.
