Queen Camilla appeared teary-eyed as she listened to veterans' stories during a moving event in Portsmouth to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day alongside her husband King Charles and Prince William
Queen Camilla fought back the tears as she listened to a D-Day veteran remember the horrors of war during an emotional ceremony today.
Camilla joined her husband King Charles as well as Prince William at the 80th anniversay of D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth and both she and the monarch looked visibly moved as Navy veteran Eric Bateman recalled his experience on Utah beach during the landings in the Second World War.
He described how he and his comrades bravely jumped from boats after crossing the English Channel to land on the beaches of northern France, which proved to be the turning point in the allies’ Second World War victory. He said: "So many men and women, including my dear friend Fred, joined up with me but unfortunately never made it." And it left Camilla visibly overcome with Charles also dabbing his eyes.
The royals joined leading UK politicians and veterans at the major event on the south coast of England, where both Charles and William addressed the crowd and mingled with veterans. And in footage captured showing William chatting to 100-year-old Geoffrey Weaving, the veteran sweetly asked him about the Princess of Wales, who was not at the commemorations as she continues her cancer recovery amid preventative chemotherapy treatment.
He asked William: "I was going to ask you if your wife was getting any better?" And William replied: "Yes... she would have loved to have been here today." He added: "I was reminding everybody, her grandmother served at Bletchley so she would have had quite a bit in common with a few of the other ladies here who served at Bletchley but never spoke about it until the very end." Kate's paternal grandmother Valerie Glassborow, later Middleton, worked at the Second World War codebreaking centre and in 2014, the princess visited it to see where her grandmother would have once worked.
It came after the King paid tribute to the "courage, resilience and solidarity" as he addressed the crowd in Portsmouth. He added that veteran's stories "cannot fail to move us, to inspire us and to remind us of what we owe to that great wartime generation".
He explained: "It is our privilege to hear that testimony, but our role is not purely passive. It is our duty to ensure that we and future generations do not forget their service and their sacrifice in replacing tyranny with freedom."
The King also praised the "truly collective effort" of those on the Home Front during the Second World War and said Britain today was 'eternally' indebted to those who served. His appearance at the event in Portsmouth was his first public speech and his most high-profile appearance since his cancer diagnosis.
Charles faced breezy conditions on stage as he spoke, with his speech notes blowing around in his hand. After event, Charles met with 21 veterans – with one sharing a joke with him and revealing that he had served on the same ship as the King’s father, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
In his programme notes for the event, he spoke of his "profound admiration and respect" for those who took part in D-Day, adding: "It remains our solemn duty to continue to honour the outstanding gallantry, service and sacrifice of those who took part in that perilous mission."
Earlier, William read an extract from the diary of Captain Alastair Bannerman of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, a soldier who was part of D-Day, addressed to his wife on the morning of the landings.
He told the flag-waving crowd he was "deeply honoured" to be part of proceedings on Southsea Common and said "we will always remember those who served". William wore medals during his address, including the Great Master of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath around his neck, Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals and a coronation medal.
William said: “We will always remember those who served and those who waved them off. The mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who watched their loved ones go into battle, unsure if they would ever return.
"Today we remember the bravery of those who crossed this sea to liberate Europe. Those who ensured that Operation Overlord was a success. And those who waited for their safe return." He said those who fought on D-Day “came from across our nation and from all walks of life to join in the fight against tyranny”. “Many of those that took up arms had never seen combat before, some were still only in their teens,” he added.
The official British commemoration for the 80th anniversary of D-Day will take place tomorrow at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, where the King will join French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
William will attend events in Normandy including a service hosted by Canada at Juno Beach and an international ceremony hosted by France at Omaha Beach which will be attended by more than 25 heads of state.
