Royals and world leaders will meet veterans in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The King and Queen will pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the UK’s national commemoration event at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer.
They will be joined by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The site, opened in 2021, pays tribute to 22,442 servicemen under British command who died on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
This will be the first major anniversary event held at the memorial, and Charles and Camilla will officially open the Winston Churchill Center for Education and Learning following the celebrations.
Meanwhile, Prince William will take part in the Canadian commemorative event at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer, before joining more than 25 heads of state and veterans for the official international ceremony on Omaha Beach.
The day will begin early with a flutist on Arromanches beach helping to mark the moment when the largest maritime invasion in military history began.
Bayeux War Cemetery, the largest Second World War Commonwealth cemetery in France, will host a service led by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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In the United Kingdom, a flotilla of 80 boats will depart from Falmouth, Cornwall, where thousands of soldiers departed to take part in the invasion.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join veterans at a Royal British Legion memorial service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will meet veterans at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London .
It will be the second day that the general election campaign has been largely suspended while the Prime Minister, Labor leader and other political figures take part in the celebrations.
US President Joe Biden, who is on a state visit to France, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Canadian Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also be in Normandy.
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See more information:
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On Wednesday, the Prince of Wales spoke to veterans and gave a reading at the D-Day event in Portsmouth.
He told a veteran who asked how his wife was doing that Kate would have “loved” to have participated in the 80th birthday events.
“King Charles and an emotional Queen Camilla in the Royal Box at UK national commemorative event”. Photo: PA
The King also addressed the crowd and paid tribute to the “courage, resilience and solidarity” of those involved in the historic invasion of Normandy – a crucial moment in the defeat of the Nazis.
At a certain point, the Queen was photographed in tears as Royal Navy veteran Eric Bateman recalled the horrors of the day.
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After the event in Portsmouth, tributes moved to the beaches of Normandy, where hundreds of Allied troops parachuted into a historic D-Day drop zone to commemorate the air invasion 80 years ago.
Princess Anne unveiled a statue of a marine storming the beaches and hailed the “loyalty, bravery and duty” of the Canadian forces.
Later on Wednesday evening, a candlelight vigil was held at the Bayeux War Cemetery following the annual D-Day thanksgiving service at Bayeux Cathedral in Normandy and the Pegasus Bridge, a Champagne toast was held just before 11pm, continuing a tradition that has occurred since 1944, when fireworks were launched into the air.
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