In Pictures: When The Queen Was Moved To Tears In Public

Queen Elizabeth, who died on Thursday, led a disciplined life and was rarely spotted showing emotions in public. She suffered personal tragedies, yet maintained a steadfast and resolute public persona. Yet, there are instances where she was caught welling up on camera. Here is a look at a few occasions when the monarch was moved to tears:

The 1966 Aberfan Mine Disaster

In 1966, a horrifying coal waste avalanche in Aberfan, Wales, killed 144 people, the bulk of them youngsters. Queen Elizabeth II wept when she spoke with the survivors. She travelled with Prince Philip to pay their condolences to the dead and their loved ones. This expedition to Aberfan was also included in the web series 'The Crown'.

The Queen was also photographed crying in public during the Royal Yacht Britannia's decommissioning ceremony in Portsmouth in 1997. Her majesty had a deep personal affection for the vessel, which she had herself launched in April 1953.

Queen's Tears for the War Dead: Field of Remembrance

In 2002, Queen Elizabeth appeared emotional when she stepped into her late mother's shoes to inaugurate a war memorial at Westminster Abbey in London.

A minute of silence was observed after the monarch, who was clad entirely in black, set a modest wooden cross amid others in the customary Remembrance Field. She appeared to be wiping away tears during the quiet.

The memorial field honours the Commonwealth and British war dead. The monarch was able to control her emotions before leaving the churchyard to greet soldiers and look at some of the 19,000 crosses that had been sent from all around the nation. The cross-planting ceremony had been performed by Elizabeth's mother, Queen Mother Elizabeth, for virtually all of the previous 50 years.

In 2016, at the memorial for the dead soldiers, the Queen started to cry

Since the regiment's formation, a total of 32 members have passed away. During the event, Queen Elizabeth unveiled a monument at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and laid a wreath.

2019 Remembrance Day Events: Queen sheds a tear for war heroes

In 2019, as the UK observed a moment of silence to remember its fallen soldiers, the Queen was pictured wiping away her tears. She watched as her son, Prince Charles, laid the first red poppy wreath at the Whitehall memorial. The Queen last led the country in a Remembrance Day service in 2016.