The Queen has asked Prince Charles to step in and lay her wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.
This break in tradition will see Her Majesty observe the annual ceremony from the balcony instead.
It will be the first time she has been present at the service but won’t lay the wreath.
Pictured: The Queen lays her wreath at the Cenotaph during Remembrance Service in Whitehall on November 11 1998
The Queen has asked Prince Charles to step in and lay her wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday
The Palace did not give any reason for the change in protocol but the 91-year-old monarch has been gradually sharing more of her duties with her successor Prince Charles as she grows older.
At the Queen’s request, Charles will place the floral tribute at the base of the Cenotaph on November 12, and Philip’s equerry will lay his wreath, Buckingham Palace has said.
The Queen and Duke will be standing on a balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office traditionally used by royal women like the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Cornwall to watch the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: ‘The Queen wishes to be alongside the Duke of Edinburgh and he will be in the balcony.’
Prince Philip formally retired from royal engagements earlier this year at age 96.
In August, The Mail on Sunday reported it had been claimed the Queen was set to abdicate and make Charles king in all but name in a secret Palace plan for her retirement.
Her Majesty was said to have told her inner circle that if she is still on the throne at the age of 95, she will ask for a piece of legislation to grant her eldest son full power to reign while she is alive.
Royal commentator Robert Jobson told the newspaper he has spoken to a number of high-ranking courtiers who say preparations for the transition of the Crown are gaining pace.
He claims Palace communications staff have been ordered to be ‘up to speed’ on the 1937 Regency Act – the bill which grants power to the heir apparent.