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The King and Queen will lead national commemorations for the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
May 5 2025
The national commemorations will begin on May 5th 2025, Bank Holiday Monday in the UK, when the Royal Family will join veterans to watch a fly past and military procession outside Buckingham Palace.
The procession will include 1,300 members of the Armed Forces and youth groups who will march down Whitehall, through Admiralty Arch and up the Mall towards Buckingham Palace.
The formal beginning of the procession will come when 100 year old Normandy veteran, Alan Kennett, is handed the Commonwealth War Graves’ Torch For Peace by Air Cadet Warrant Officer Emmy Jones.Â
(BBC screen grab/ fair use)
King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales will stand with former soldiers, sailors and air force personnel for the commemorations on a special platform by the Victoria Memorial. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, will also join them.
There will later be a Buckingham Palace balcony appearance by the Royal Family.
On the afternoon of May 5th, the doors of Buckingham Palace will be opened to veterans and members of the World War Two generation for a special tea party, marking 80 years of peace.
May 6 2025
On May 6th, The Queen will visit a new display of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London. The flowers are currently being installed as a tribute to those lost in World War Two and in all conflict.
In the evening, Buckingham Palace will be among the buildings and landmarks lit up to mark VE Day 80. The Tower of London will also be illuminated as will Cardiff Castle.
May 8 2025
Their Majesties will attend a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on May 8 2025, exactly 80 years after Victory in Europe Day was declared.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will be joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal and her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, for the service. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent will also attend.
(Royal Family/ Instagram)
The Royal Family will join the nation in a two minute silence at the beginning of the service in memory of the millions killed in the war, in battle and at home.
After the ceremony, The King and Queen will lead their family in a tribute at the Innocent Victims’ Memorial outside the West Door of the Abbey where they will lay flowers. The memorial was unveiled thirty years ago by Queen Elizabeth II as a tribute to the men, women and children who have suffered death, torture and oppression throughout the world.
The 80th anniversary day will also see The King and Queen attend a live concert at Horse Guards Parade.
A week of commemorations
The Royal Family will also attend other commemorations around the UK marking other Liberation anniversaries. On ay 4th 2025, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will pay tribute at events marking 80 years since the liberation of Denmark. The Duchess was born and grew up in Denmark.
The Princess Royal, along with Sir Tim Laurence, will commemorate the anniversary of the freeing of the Channel Islands with a visit to Guernsey on May 9th.
VE Day brought to an end the Second World War in Europe after six years.
