‘So much suffering': King Charles delivers heartbreaking speech marking Victory in the Pacific Day
The six minute message, which was recorded earlier this month in the Morning Room at Clarence House, was released on Friday to mark the upcoming 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war.
During the address, the 76-year-old monarch reflected on his own Grandfather, King George VI's speech to the nation marking the end of the war eight decades ago.
''The war is over', declared my Grandfather, King George VI, in his address to the nation and Commonwealth on VJ Day eighty years ago today – four short words after six long years of bloodshed, fear and suffering,' the King said.
'Seldom can a simple message have resonated with such a potent mix of relief, celebration, and sorrow for those who never lived to see the glow of freedom's new dawn.'
In addition to paying tribute to all lives lost in the global conflict, the King also made particular mention of the victims of the atomic bomb attacks on Japan in the closing days of the war.
'On this landmark anniversary, we should also pause to acknowledge that in the war's final act, an immense price was paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – a price we pray no nation need ever pay again,' he said.
'But in recalling so much suffering, we must not lose sight of how great was the cause and how sweet the victory.
'For those heroes of VJ Day gave us more than freedom; they left us the example of how it can and must be protected.'
The King also emphasised the importance of different cultures and faiths living together as the 'vital lesson of our times'.
'Countries and communities that had never before fought together learned to co-ordinate their efforts across vast distances, faiths and cultural divides,' he said.
'Together they proved that, in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear, but the arms you link.
'That remains a vital lesson for our times.'
The speech comes as US President Donald Trump is set to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska amid renewed hopes of a possible end to the war in Ukraine and even bilateral nuclear arms control.
The location of Friday's meeting is somewhat symbolic – with Alaska sharing a narrow maritime border with Russia through the Bering Strait.
The two nations' closest point is between the islands of Little Diomede (Alaska) and Big Diomede (Russia), which are separated by just 3.9 kilometers of water.
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