'Remembrance is for everyone,' the Prince of Wales told pupils in a video message for the Royal British Legion’s Remembrance Assembly on Tuesday 11 November, setting the tone as the country paused to reflect.

In Staffordshire, the Princess of Wales joined veterans and families at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, where the 11:00 silence was observed. It was her first time attending the Armistice Day service at the Armed Forces Memorial; she laid a wreath and paused in reflection as prayers were said.

The service included the premiere of 'A Sonnet For Us All' by the Arboretum’s poet-in-residence, Arji Manuelpillai, a piece written for this year’s ceremony. One line, 'love is a compass', drew quiet nods across the crowd.

For many northern families, the Arboretum is a familiar place to honour relatives. It holds over 400 memorials among 25,000 trees, welcomes more than 300,000 visitors each year including 20,000 young people, and is home to the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment memorial dedicated by the late Queen in 2016.

Across in London, Queen Camilla travelled on the 09:28 from Chippenham with wreaths gathered from more than 60 stations for the 'Poppies to Paddington' service. At Platform 1 she laid a wreath beneath the memorial and viewed a special train carrying the names of 2,545 Great Western Railway employees who died in the Great War.

William’s message, played to children aged nine to fourteen nationwide, stressed that wearing a poppy and observing a silence says, simply, 'we have not forgotten'. His reminder that remembrance is 'for everyone' was pitched squarely at the next generation.

Later today, the King and Queen are due to host a Windsor Castle reception honouring veterans who served in the Pacific, rounding off this year’s VJ Day 80 commemorations that began with a national service at the Arboretum on 15 August.

Armistice was marked beyond Britain too. In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron took part in the ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, laying a wreath and rekindling the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, while in Brisbane the Princess Royal laid a wreath at Gallipoli Barracks.

Closer to home, the Royal British Legion’s Field of Remembrance remains open at the Arboretum until 16 November, while Bury’s Fusilier Museum is running a VJ Day 80 special exhibition through to 31 December - quiet, practical ways for families across the North to pay their respects.

On a cool Tuesday morning in Staffordshire, the two-minute silence carried the same message from factory floors to front rooms: thank you, and we will not forget.