Prince Harry joined residents of a small Northamptonshire town for a quiet Remembrance Sunday service on 8 November, marking the day away from the national ceremony in London. The Duke of Sussex, 42, was seen standing among local people in Brackley as they paid tribute to Britain's war dead.

Harry, wearing a dark suit, his military medals and a red poppy, was spotted near The Crown Hotel shortly before 3pm. He stayed for the whole service and spent time afterwards greeting residents and shaking hands with people who had gathered in the town centre. His wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was not with him.

It was his first Remembrance Sunday in Britain since he returned to live in the United Kingdom with Meghan and their two children in late August, after several years in California.

A quiet service away from the Cenotaph

Earlier the same day, King Charles led the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London. The King led the two-minute silence and laid a wreath at the war memorial, followed by the Prince of Wales. Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales watched from a nearby balcony, and around 10,000 veterans took part in the traditional march past the memorial.

Harry last attended the national Remembrance Sunday service alongside senior members of the Royal Family in 2019, before he and Meghan stepped back from their roles as working royals in 2020. No confirmed explanation has been given for his absence from the Cenotaph this year, and it would be wrong to assume the separate arrangements were a personal snub.

In September, it was reported that Harry would not take part in Remembrance Day events even after moving back to Britain, because he had “no desire to create drama” or distract from the observance.

A soldier's remembrance

Harry served for more than ten years in the British Army, rising to the rank of captain and completing two tours of Afghanistan. He has remained closely involved with veterans' causes, including the Invictus Games, the sporting event for wounded, injured and sick service personnel which he founded.

Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November each year to honour the service and sacrifice of British and Commonwealth armed forces personnel. The main observance, Armistice Day, falls on 11 November, when the country pauses for two minutes of silence at 11am to mark the end of the First World War.