Prince Charles led tributes at the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London, as the Queen watched on instead of laying a wreath herself for the first time in the 65 years of her reign.
The Queen had asked the heir to her throne to lay her wreath at the memorial this year as the the UK fell silent in respect for the country's war dead.
In a break with tradition, the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh observed the two-minute silence at 11am from a Foreign and Commonwealth Office balcony while senior members of the royal family and political leaders laid wreaths.
The Queen appeared to wipe away tears as she watched the ceremony, which remembers those who have died in world wars and other conflicts.
Since 1920 the service has traditionally the monarch leading the country laying a wreath at the Cenotaph.
The decision to hand the role to the Prince of Wales has been seen by some as a significant moment in the transferral of duties from the Queen.
Buckingham Palace announced the change last month. It gave no official reason but a source said the Queen decided to hand over the duty to be with her husband Philip, 96, who this year retired from his solo public duties.
The palace source also acknowledged the event was physically demanding for someone in their 90s.
Philip's equerry laid his wreath, said Buckingham Palace, while Charles also laid his own wreath.
Charles had laid a wreath before on behalf of the Queen, in 1983 when she was out of the country, and when the Queen was in South Africa in 1999 she laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in Durban. She also missed ceremonies in 1959 and 1963 while pregnant with her two youngest children, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
But this year was the first in which she has attended the service and not laid a wreath.
The Queen was expected to be joined by other royal women such as the Duchess of Cambridge, Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex, in observing the service.
On Saturday night, the Queen and senior royals joined servicemen and women past and present at the annual Festival of Remembrance as the nation remembered its war dead on Armistice Day.
The monarch was joined at the Royal Albert Hall in London by thousands of veterans for the 90th anniversary of the event, organised by the Royal British Legion, of which she is patron.
Among the acts performing were singers Mel C, Emeli Sande, Tom Odell, Lesley Garrett and Alfie Boe, alongside hymns, prayers and readings.
