A VETERAN is delighted and honoured to have been chosen to parade the National Standard of the Women's Royal Army Corps at the Festival of Remembrance in London.

Sharon Baker-Joyce, of Kempsey, near Worcester, is the Corps National Standard Bearer and will be parading the standard at the Royal Albert Hall at a ceremony attended by the Queen and other members of the Royal Family on Saturday, November 11.

On Remembrance Sunday Mrs Baker-Joyce will also march with fellow Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC) veterans to the Cenotaph in London's Whitehall for the service and wreath-laying and then the March Past to honour the fallen of the British Armed Forces involved in the two World Wars and all conflicts since.

She believes Prince Charles will be representing the Queen at the ceremony.

Mrs Baker-Joyce, aged 65, said: "This year for the first time we have the honour of parading the National Standard at the Royal Albert Hall and I am very proud and honoured to be doing so, and also rather excited."

She joined the WRAC in 1969 as a physical training instructor serving in the UK and Germany.

Then in 1984 became a recruiting sergeant in Worcester, ending up as the office manager.

The WRAC was disbanded in 1992 and the WRAC Association was formed in 1949 (originally known as the Old Comrades Association which was formed in 1919).

The WRAC Association continues to this day for the comradeship and welfare of it members.

She said: In 1987 I became a member of the Hereford Branch where I became their standard bearer. In 2012 I was asked to be the National Standard Bearer.

"I have paraded the standard at The Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, the VE and VJ Day celebrations in London in 2015 and many other military occasions.

"The Menin Gate ceremony was very moving it actually brings home just how many men and women gave their lives in hope of peace in our time."

Mrs Baker-Joyce has already met the Queen. She went to the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall to meet Her Majesty on Thursday, October 12.

She was presented to her at a reception as part of the 100 Years of Women in Service Uniform. The Queen is an ex-Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) member serving during the Second World War.

Mrs Baker-Joyce said: "Meeting the Queen was amazing. Her Majesty spoke to all present, listening with genuine interest.

"The Queen has this aura around her and you are just drawn to her. When you speak to her she listens so intently to what you are saying.

"It is not until afterwards you suddenly realise what you have done, you think 'I have just talked to the Queen. I have just shaken her hand'.

"It doesn't seem real."

People have been gathering all over the country this year to celebrate 100 Years of Women in Service Uniform.

Ms Baker-Joyce said: "I am very proud to represent my Association and fellow veterans".

The four Corps making up the representation of the 100 Years of Women in Uniform in relation to the Army are Women' Army Auxiliary Corp (WAAC) renamed Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) (1917 to 1921); Auxiliary Territorial (ATS) (1938 to 1949); and Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC) (1949 to 1992).