King calls for global commitment to peace at VE Day 80th anniversary concert

Independent

08-05-2025

The King has called for a global commitment to restoring peace as he paid tribute to the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation on the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Charles described the allied victory as 'a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when countries stand together in the face of tyranny'.
He took to the Union flag-coloured stage during a celebratory concert – the finale of four days of VE Day commemorations – at London's Horse Guards Parade on Thursday evening.
Echoing his grandfather, Charles delivered his address at 9pm – the exact time King George VI spoke to the nation in a radio broadcast on May 8 1945 to mark the end of the Second World War in Europe.
In a lighter moment, the King joked to the concert-goers that he did not have the energy to 'lead you all in a giant conga from here back to Buckingham Palace'.
Reading an extract from his late mother Queen Elizabeth II's personal diary about how she famously celebrated and danced incognito among the crowds in London on VE Day as a teenage princess, Charles said: ''Out in the crowd again. Embankment, Piccadilly. Rained, so fewer people. Conga-ed into House. Sang till 2am. Bed at 3am!''
He quipped, prompting laughter from the 12,000-strong audience: 'I do hope your celebrations tonight are almost as joyful, although I rather doubt I shall have the energy to sing until 2am, let alone lead you all in a giant conga from here back to Buckingham Palace.'
His remarks brought smiles from the Prince and Princess of Wales who stood watching from the royal box, joined by Queen Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Stars such as Freya Ridings, Fleur East, Strictly dancers Amy Dowden, Carlos Gu and Kai Widdrington, The Darkness and actor Brian Cox were among the performers at the VE Day: A Celebration To Remember event, televised live on the BBC.
Pubs were given permission to stay open for two extra hours, until 1am on Friday, in recognition of the anniversary.
The celebrations followed poignant commemorations earlier in the day, with a national two-minute silence in honour of the war dead and thanksgiving services held across the country.
The Queen was seated next to Mavis Bensley, an evacuee during the war, and the King next to Harry Richardson, a 107-year-old former Second World War bomber pilot – among the six veterans who were the guests of honour in the royal box.
Revellers wore patriotic hats and suits and waved flags from their seats on the parade ground.
Camilla wore a Britannia brooch, featuring the Union flag, which belonged to Elizabeth II, on her navy embroidered Anna Valentine coat, while Kate, with her hair half up, half down and pinned with a large, black velvet bow, was dressed in a white boucle jacket and Self Portrait dress, and a five-strand pearl necklace.
The King referenced his grandfather's historic message as he delivered his own speech.
'It is now 80 years since my grandfather, King George VI, announced to the nation and the Commonwealth that 'the dreadful shadow of war has passed from our hearths and our homes'. The liberation of Europe was secured,' Charles said.
'His words echo down through history as all this week, and especially today, we unite to celebrate and remember with an unwavering and heartfelt gratitude, the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation who made that hard-fought victory possible.
'While our greatest debt is owed to all those who paid the ultimate price, we should never forget how the war changed the lives of virtually everyone.'
He said of those in the armed forces, the Home Front and beyond: 'That debt can never truly be repaid; but we can, and we will, remember them.'
With Russia's three-year invasion of Ukraine continuing, the King also turned to the need to restore a 'just peace'.
'We should also rededicate ourselves not only to the cause of freedom but to renewing global commitments to restoring a just peace where there is war, to diplomacy, and to the prevention of conflict,' he said.
'For as my grandfather put it: 'We shall have failed, and the blood of our dearest will have flowed in vain, if the victory which they died to win does not lead to a lasting peace, founded on justice and established in good will.''
The King added of the wartime generation: 'It falls to us to protect and continue their precious legacy – so that one day hence, generations yet unborn may say of us: 'they too bequeathed a better world'.'
He spoke of the allied victory as a 'result of unity between nations, races, religions and ideologies, fighting back against an existential threat to humanity'.
The King added: 'Their collective endeavour remains a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when countries stand together in the face of tyranny.'
Charles had listened earlier in Westminster Abbey as the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell voiced his concerns about Europe, and warned that the 'good' resulting from the conflict to defeat Hitler's regime was 'under threat'.
With dwindling numbers of veterans, the King said it was 'our duty to carry their stories forward, to ensure their experiences are never to be forgotten'.
At noon, Charles had led the two-minute silence and placed a wreath with the words 'We will never forget' at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at a service of thanksgiving in the abbey.
A child's tiny gas mask and an air raid warden's helmet were among the everyday wartime objects processed to the altar in memory of the sacrifices made during the devastating six-year conflict.
Seventy-eight veterans, now in their 90s or past the age of 100, gathered to bear witness and were handed white roses as the great-great-grandson of wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, 10-year-old Alexander Churchill, lit a candle of peace.
Kate and Camilla left posies at the Innocent Victims' Memorial as they left the church.