Queen Elizabeth II, who cancelled a series of engagements on health advice, will attend this weekend's Remembrance Sunday ceremony honouring military veterans and war dead from Britain and the Commonwealth, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.

The 95-year-old monarch will be at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London on Sunday to take part in the annual commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony.

"As in previous years, Her Majesty will view the service from the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office building," a statement read.

Britain's longest-serving monarch caused public concern in late October after it was revealed that she spent a night in hospital after undergoing unspecified medical tests.

She then resumed "light duties" but pulled out of a scheduled attendance at the UN climate change summit in Glasgow after being advised to rest.

Next week she was due to attend the opening session of the national assembly of the Church of England which she heads, the General Synod, on Tuesday.

But "mindful of her doctors' recent advice, The Queen has decided not to attend", the statement said. Prince Edward, her youngest son, would attend as planned, it added.

Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father, King George VI, in 1952 and next year is her Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70th year on the throne.

She returned to her Windsor Castle residence, west of London, on Tuesday, after a long-planned weekend away at her Sandringham estate in eastern England.

The palace has previously said it was her "firm intention" to attend the Remembrance Sunday event, which brings together veterans, their families and political leaders.

The Queen, who pulled out of the separate Festival of Remembrance event on Saturday, is head of the Armed Forces and served as a mechanic during World War II.

Royal aides have blamed a busy recent schedule that had left her "exhausted" but she was recently seen driving in the grounds of Windsor.

At a public event in Brixton, south London, on Thursday, her eldest son and heir was asked by one onlooker: "Prince Charles, how is your mother?"

"She's alright," he replied.

Macron sheds tears for French Resistance hero on Armistice Day
Paris (AFP) Nov 11, 2021 –

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday shed tears as he paid a final homage to Hubert Germain, the last French Resistance hero recognised by Charles de Gaulle from World War II who died last month.

Macron led a special Armistice Day ceremony for Germain in central Paris before his body was interred in France's war memorial at Mont-Valerien outside the French capital.

Germain, the last surviving Resistance fighter honoured by late Free France leader de Gaulle as a Companion of the Liberation, died aged 101 in October.

His coffin draped in the French flag was carried up the Champs-Elysees on an armoured vehicle to the Arc de Triomphe, where Macron and visiting American Vice President Kamala Harris paid their respects.

"Everyone knew that the day would come when we would have to say farewell to the last Companion. That day has come," said Macron, asking: "Would we be here without Germain?"

Germain, the son of a general in France's colonial army, was in his late teens when he fled to Britain after France's capitulation where he joined up with de Gaulle who was organising resistance to the German occupation.

He went on to fight in key battles at Bir-Hakeim in Libya, at El Alamein in Egypt and in Tunisia, as well as in the invasion of German-occupied France in 1944 which liberated the country.

The Paris-born fighter was one of 1,038 people decorated with the Order of the Liberation for their heroism by de Gaulle, who would go on to become president of France and is the founder of the current constitution.

– Tears and symbolism –

Germain, who became an MP and minister, was buried in a special crypt reserved for Resistance fighters at Mont Valerien, a former fortress west of Paris where German troops used to execute opponents.

Standing alone as a chorus sang the Marseillaise and the coffin was brought towards him, Macron could be seen with his eyes full of tears which he dabbed with a white tissue.

He then laid a Cross of Lorraine, the symbol of the resistance, fashioned out of wood from Notre-Dame cathedral on his coffin, in accordance with Germain's wishes.

France holds a ceremony ever year at the Arc de Triomphe on Armistice Day, a public holiday to mark the armistice signed to end World War I.

Harris' presence at the event is seen as a symbol of the historic strength of France-US relations after a bruising row caused by a cancelled submarine contract.

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Tributes to last French Resistance fighter on Armistice Day
Paris (AFP) Nov 11, 2021 –

President Emmanuel Macron led tributes on Thursday to the last French Resistance fighter from World War II who died last month and will be buried with a cross carved from the wood of Notre-Dame cathedral.

Hubert Germain, who was the last surviving Resistance fighter honoured by late Free France leader Charles de Gaulle, died aged 101 in October.

His coffin draped in the French flag was carried up the Champs-Elysees on an armoured vehicle to the Arc de Triomphe, where Macron and visiting American Vice President Kamala Harris paid their respects.

Germain, the son of a general in France's colonial army, was in his late teens when he fled to Britain after France's capitulation where he joined up with de Gaulle who was organising resistance to the German occupation.

He went on to fight in key battles at Bir-Hakeim in Libya, at El Alamein in Egypt and in Tunisia, as well as in the invasion of German-occupied France in 1944 which liberated the country.

The Paris-born fighter was one of 1,038 people decorated with the Order of the Liberation for their heroism by de Gaulle, who would go on to become president of France and is the founder of the current constitution.

Germain, who became an MP and minister, will be buried later Thursday in a special crypt reserved for Resistance fighters at Mont Valerien, a former fortress west of Paris where German troops used to execute opponents.

Macron will lay a Cross of Lorraine, the symbol of the resistance, fashioned out of wood from Notre-Dame cathedral on his coffin, in accordance with Germain's wishes.

France holds a ceremony ever year at the Arc de Triomphe on Armistice Day, a public holiday to mark the armistice signed to end World War I.