King, Queen and Prince William to attend Portsmouth D-Day 80 commemorations

The royals will also be appearing at events in France

Author: Ryan Burrows and Ellie Ng, PAPublished 17th May 2024

The King, Queen and Prince of Wales will attend commemorative events in both Portsmouth and Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Charles, Camilla and Prince William will all be at the UK's national gathering on Southsea Common on June 5th.

The event will be hosted by actress Dame Helen Mirren, and will feature spoken word testimony by well-known faces and military personnel.

Buckingham Palace has also confirmed that Charles and Camilla will be at the Ministry of Defence and Royal British Legion's (RBL) event at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer on June 6th, and William will attend the Canadian commemorative ceremony at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer, on the same date.

The prince will then attend the international commemorative ceremony at Omaha Beach, Saint Laurent sur Mer, later that day alongside 25 heads of state and veterans from around the world.

The Princess of Wales is not expected to travel to France.

Other members of the royal family will also mark the anniversary of the D-Day landings over the two dates.

The announcement follows a number of official appearances Charles has made since his return to public duties after his cancer diagnosis.

This week he visited Middle Wallop air base in Hampshire to hand over a role with the Army Air Corps to the Prince of Wales, hosted his first investiture ceremony since returning to official duties, unveiled his first portrait as king, attended a service honouring the Order of the British Empire at St Paul's Cathedral and hosted a garden party for 4,000 people from the creative industries.

Kate appealed for her family to have time, space and privacy when she announced her diagnosis of an undisclosed form of cancer in March, and said she had begun chemotherapy.

Her husband gave a positive update about her treatment as he toured a hospital on the Isles of Scilly last Friday, saying "she's doing well".

On June 5, the Princess Royal, accompanied by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, will unveil a statue of a Second World War Canadian Royal Regina Rifleman and attend a reception in Normandy with members of the regiment.

They will also join Normandy veterans at an RBL commemoration service at Bayeux War Cemetery and attend an annual service of remembrance at Bayeux Cathedral.

On June 6th, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join veterans and their families at the RBL's remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, while the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are expected to attend a commemorative event at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.