King's D-Day gratitude for our 'remarkable' veterans

Heroes weep as they recall fallen comrades in an emotional ceremony on the 80th anniversary of Normandy landings

- JOE MIDDLETON

King Charles praised the "remarkable wartime generation" and unflinching bravery of those who fought for freedom in a highly emotional speech on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. While the monarch spoke, veterans wept as they recalled comrades who had given their lives storming the beaches of Normandy.

The King and Queen were deeply moved by the ceremony at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, with Camilla wiping away a tear as the memories of a D-Day hero were read to the audience. World leaders, including UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and French president Emmanuel Macron, sat in silent prayer alongside the royals and veterans, to honour the tens of thousands of soldiers who fought to free Europe from the Nazis.

Charles, wearing his Field Marshal No 4 Tropical Service dress uniform, told the crowd: “How fortunate we were, and the entire free world, that a generation of men and women in the United Kingdom and other Allied nations did not flinch when the moment came to face that test. On the beaches of Normandy, on the seas beyond and in the skies overhead, our armed forces carried out their duty with a humbling sense of resolve and determination, qualities so characteristic of that remarkable wartime generation.