Kate Middleton attended the Remembrance Sunday service with Queen Elizabeth and a couple of the royal family members to pay respect to the fallen. However, the moment was something personal for the Duchess of Cambridge as well.
Kate Middleton’s grandmother Valerie Glassborow worked in signal intelligence at Bletchley Park during the war. In 2014, the Duchess of Cambridge went to Bletchley and learned about her grandmother’s role in the intelligence services.
As it turns out, Valerie Glassborow was one of the few people who learned that Japan had surrendered in the Second World War. But due to secrecy, Kate Middleton’s grandmother had to keep her knowledge on the down-low as she was not allowed to share the news.
At 82 years old, Valerie Glassborow died in 2006. Although her grandmother didn’t talk much about the war, Kate Middleton is still very proud of her.
Lady Marion Body, a former colleague of Valerie Glassborow revealed that Kate Middleton was keen to know more about her grandmother. “She didn’t know about that and said she’d go and tell her father. “She wanted to know what she did here. I was able to tell her,” she said. “Valerie would never have spoken about it – I wouldn’t have done until recently. Valerie died a few years ago and it was only fairly recently that people felt able to talk about it.”
To honor the memory of her grandmother, Kate Middleton pinned a poppy brooch on her black jacket, which had inscribed words “lest we forget” on the back. It is also known as “code-breaker’s poppy.”
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth was seen visibly moved to tears during the memorial service on Sunday. Prince Charles laid a tribute at the Cenotaph on behalf of his mother, as Her Majesty looked very emotional. After the future king laid the wreaths in Whitehall, Central London, he was followed by Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Princess Anne, and the Duke of Kent.
Meanwhile, Kate Middleton stood with Queen Elizabeth in the same balcony, while Meghan Markle was beside Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, who is Princess Anne's second husband.
But before people conclude that there’s something fishy going on why the Duchess of Sussex was not with Her Majesty, People’s reporters Maria Pasquini and Simon Perry explained last year that “as the balconies of each window are small, it’s nearly impossible to fit more than three or four women on each – and although Meghan didn’t join her family members, she was given a very important position of her own.”
