The Royal Family comes together at the Cenotaph in Whitehall every year to honour British servicemen who lost their lives serving their country. For the past three years the Remembrance Sunday ceremony has been watched by the Queen from the Foreign Office and Commonwealth building balcony accompanied by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.

Camilla, 72, had to pull out of her first solo engagement with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today due to ill-health.

A Clarence House spokesman said: “The Duchess of Cornwall has been told by her doctor to cancel her engagements owing to a chest infection which has got progressively worse over the last few days.”

Camilla was said to be very upset to miss the event at Westminster Abbey.

As Patron of the Poppy Factory, she was due to attend alongside the Sussexes and place her own poppy tribute at the site.

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The moving ceremony was marked with the Last Post being played and a two-minute silence.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were then given a tour of memorial plots and introduced to veterans.

Whether Camilla is up to the weekend’s Remembrance Day events is yet to be seen.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William will come face to face with Meghan and Harry in public for the first time in months on Saturday.

Senior royal family members will join the Queen for a special Remembrance event at the Royal Albert Hall on the eve of Remembrance Sunday.

If Camilla is still not well enough to make the engagement on Sunday, it seems likely Meghan could take her place on the balcony next to the Queen.

In previous years Prince Edward’s wife – the Queen’s reported favourite – Sophie Wessex has also stood on the balcony.

The Queen traditionally lays a wreath at the Cenotaph to mark the memorial.

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She has been on the throne for 66 years and placed dozens of wreaths during her reign.

However, she ceased with the ritual in 2016 when Prince Charles took over the mantle.

The future king of England will lay a wreath on his mother’s behalf this Sunday, as he has done for the last few years.

The gesture is symbolic and a key indicator Prince Charles is steadily preparing for the role of king.

The Prince of Wales also accompanied the Queen to the State Opening of Parliament last month, showing his support at the key occasion.

The Queen will have to give another Queen’s Speech following the December 12 snap election as the new Government will not be able to progress with business without one.

Prince Philip attended the Remembrance Sunday memorial ceremony until he retired from royal duty in 2017.

A royal equerry will lay a wreath on the Duke of Edinburgh’s behalf on Sunday.

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