King Charles to attend D-Day commemorations in France

King Charles will take part in commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day next month, says Buckingham Palace.

He will travel to Normandy in France for ceremonies marking the landings which took place in 1944 during World War Two.

There had been uncertainty because of the King’s cancer diagnosis.

But he will be taking part in D-Day events in the UK and France alongside Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales.

It will be the first time the King has travelled overseas since he began cancer treatment and it marks a further step in his return to public engagements.

There will also be 23 surviving D-Day veterans going to Normandy and a further 21 veterans are expected at an event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

They are part of a diminishing number of people who took part in what was the biggest seaborne invasion in history.

Five years ago there were 255 D-Day veterans going to Normandy events and Philippa Rawlinson of the Royal British Legion said: “These incredibly moving and poignant commemorations will be our last opportunity to host a significant number of Normandy veterans.”

On Southsea Common in Portsmouth on 5 June, the King, Queen and Prince William will attend a ceremony remembering the wartime Allied landings in northern France when it was occupied by the Nazis.

This national commemoration will have light displays, readings and music in a city that was one of the starting points for the landings 80 years ago.

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, will unveil a statue in Normandy recalling the Canadian contribution to D-Day, before attending a remembrance service in Bayeux Cathedral.

The King and Queen will then travel to France for an event on 6 June at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, which lists the names of more than 20,000 individuals under British command who died during the Battle of Normandy.

This will include veterans’ stories, music and a tribute by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Prince William will attend an international ceremony at Omaha Beach, Saint Laurent sur Mer, which is expected to include 25 heads of state.