Royals join veterans for VE Day service at Westminster Abbey

Telegraph

08-05-2025

The Royal family has attended a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
The King, Queen, and Prince and Princess of Wales joined the congregation for the event, which begins a day of activities celebrating the anniversary of victory in Europe.
The Prime Minister gave a reading at the service, while young members of the congregation handed out white roses to Second World War veterans sitting in the nave.
Alexander Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill's 10-year-old great-great-grandson, lit a candle of peace 80 years on from his ancestor's famous speech telling the nation the war had ended.
After completing his task, the youngster, dressed in a suit and tie, stood proudly with his hands clasped and smiled at the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, who mouthed: 'Well done.'
The Princess of Wales joined the Queen and other members of the Royal family in laying flowers at the Innocent Victims' Memorial outside the abbey's West Door in tribute to all victims of war and oppression at the close of the proceedings.
The live televised service got under way with a national two-minute silence in honour of those who made sacrifices during the conflict, both on the front line and at home, to protect people's freedom and shared values.
The King and the Prince then laid wreaths of seasonal flowers, which would have been in bloom in May 1945, at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
The monarch did so on behalf of the nation and the Commonwealth, and the Prince for the veterans and the wartime generation, with 99-year-old Ken Hay, who served in the 4th Dorset infantry regiment, at their side.
The King was in a lounge suit with medals and neck order and the Queen, in a white crepe silk dress and coat by Anna Valentine, with a black and white hat by Phillip Treacy and as Colonel-in Chief of the Royal Lancers, a brooch of the 12 Lancers.
The Queen's father, Major Bruce Shand, served with the 12th Lancers during the Second World War. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1940 during the retreat to Dunkirk and again in 1942 for his efforts in North Africa.
Prince William was also in a lounge suit with a household division tie and Great Master of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath Neck Order. He was also wearing his jubilee and coronation medals.
The Princess wore an Alessandra Rich dress with a hat by Juliette Botterill and earrings that belonged to her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Royal family stood with the congregation as Second World War artefacts including a gas mask and an air raid warden's helmet, representing the armed forces and the Home Front, were placed near the High Altar.
Amid the hymns, wartime anthems formed the soundtrack to the anniversary commemorations with The White Cliffs Of Dover sung by Zizi Strallen and When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World) played by the RAF band.
To conclude, there was a rendition of We'll Meet Again, a song made famous by forces' sweetheart the late Dame Vera Lynn, and channelled in 2020 by Elizabeth II in her televised address to the nation at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The music also included Hubert Parry's Songs Of Farewell, which was sung at the late Queen's state funeral.
On VE Day, the then-Princess Elizabeth, just 19, secretly celebrated among the crowds who gathered on the streets of London with sister Princess Margaret, jubilant that peace had come to Europe after Nazi Germany's surrender.
A setting of words from Psalm 46 by Sir John Rutter, which was composed specially for a service to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day in 2020 that was unable to go ahead due to the Covid-19 lockdown, was performed for the first time on television.
An extract of Sir Winston's VE Day speech was played in the abbey, and actor Josh Dylan read a moving letter by Fredrick Burgess, a serving soldier on the front line, written to his seven-year-old son.
Actress Nina Sosanya shared a letter written by Janet Thornton to her young daughters on VE Day, and Cadet Warrant Officer Bethan Holmes read from the memoir of Joan Broome, a 15-year-old girl, of her experience of VE Day in London.
Ms Thornton's grandson, Colin Vallance-Owen, who is at the service, said his grandmother had truly 'captured the moment' with her words, as she told her children: 'This is the most important day of your life and this is the most important day for the world.'
He said the letter was found in 2018 when he was helping his mother clear out her house and represents 'a bit of history'.
Some 78 veterans were in attendance alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who gave a bible reading.
Among those in the congregation was 102-year-old Harry Winter, who was working at a paper mill in Cardiff when the war broke out. He joined the RAF two years later and flew Halifax bombers.
Shot down on his 19th mission in 1943, he was captured as a prisoner of war and was detained at the infamous Stalag Luft 7 prison camp for two years before being freed on VE Day.
Younger veterans included Johnson Beharry, 45, who became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in the 21st century in March 2005 for his service in Iraq with the Princess of Wales's Royal regiment.
Also there were senior government and military representatives, members of the Diplomatic Corps, service chiefs, parliamentarians, former British prime ministers and representatives of faith communities.
The sermon was delivered by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, the temporary leader of the Church of England in the absence of an Archbishop of Canterbury.
The King and Queen, accompanied by members of the Royal family, met and spent time with the veterans in the abbey's nave at the end of the service.
Also in attendance were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
The women of the family placed posies and Sir Tim, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent left white roses at the large circular slate Innocent Victims' Memorial on departure.
The bells of the abbey were 'fired' 80 times – meaning all 10 bells were sounded simultaneously to produce a powerful clashing sound.
The gesture is generally reserved for great celebrations, anniversaries and rejoicing.
On VE Day – May 8 1945 – short 'thanksgiving for victory' services were held every hour in the abbey from 9am to 10pm, with an estimated 25,000 people attending.