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As part of the Â鶹Éç’s coverage of the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Royal Correspondent Jonny Dymond presents a tribute to the late British monarch’s close connection with the Armed Forces. In her titular role as head of the UK’s military, Her Majesty led the nation’s tribute annually at the Service of Remembrance to the fallen in war, held each November at the Cenotaph in London. She was, throughout her long reign, also a faithful presence at the annual Trooping of the Colour ceremony – a military parade held on Horse Guards’ Parade – which, for many years, she attended on horseback. But the Queen’s association with Britain’s fighting forces and with those of many Commonwealth countries, was far more than simply ceremonial. And from her earliest days as a young princess in World War Two, when Her Majesty enlisted for the Auxiliary Territorial Service and throughout her life, the Queen’s close connection with soldiery was emotional as well as symbolic.

Contributing to this portrait of the late monarch’s close association with the military are former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt, David Johnston, Governor-General of Canada from 2010 to 2017, royal biographer Ingrid Seward as well as stalwart ex-soldiers from the Royal Hospital, Chelsea in London, where former servicemen and women find sheltered accommodation in their later years.