King Charles to lead greatest VE Day celebration in years
The King will lead the nation through the most prominent VE Day celebrations in years.
Senior members of the Royal family will mark next week's commemorations as they come out in full force to take part in nationwide tributes in the last major 'living memory' opportunity to do so.
The public is being urged to 'not forget' the sacrifices made by Second World War veterans.
Landmark buildings across the country will be lit up as events are staged to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Europe, including a military procession, an RAF fly-past over Buckingham Palace, as well as a concert at the Horse Guards Parade.
Starting the commemorative proceedings will be Timothy Spall, the actor who is set to read extracts from wartime prime minister Winston Churchill's renowned VE Day victory speech in 1945.
He will be followed by Alan Kennett, the 100-year-old Normandy veteran who will formally begin Monday's procession of 1,300 members of the Armed Forces after being handed the Commonwealth War Graves' Torch For Peace.
The Tower of London will unveil a new installation of nearly 30,000 ceramic poppies on the site as one of their Beefeaters praised the importance of 'the last big one' for WWII veterans.
Sergeant Daniel Benson, the Yeoman Warder who stood guard over the late Queen's coffin as she lay in state in Westminster Hall, said: 'It's important that our veterans are going to be alive for this last one, or this last big one.
'But I think it's for everybody, because there have been a lot of conflicts around the world, and especially those that I've been involved with, that my colleagues have been involved with.
He added: 'So it's important for everybody just to understand, and it's sad that the veterans are going to probably not get another big one – this is our time to remember that.'
The 54-year-old, who formerly served in the Armed Forces for 26 years, was wearing his Yeoman Sergeant stripes for the first time on Thursday as he was photographed amid the poppy display being assembled around him.
Among the 30 daily volunteers building the display – modelled from the 2014 commemorative art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red – was Annette Boak, a retired teacher whose late grandfather died during the war serving as a signals operator for the Royal Air Force.
As she assembled the ceramic poppies wearing protective gloves, she said: 'Soon we'll have nobody that remembers the war.
'My father, who died years ago, was a child during the Blitz and he was evacuated away and he remembers being in Devon and told stories all about it.'
The poppies installation within the inner walls of the Tower of London, which is taken care of by the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) charity, has been made to resemble a 'wound' at the heart of the tower, which was bombed during the Blitz.
During the commemoration celebrations, Queen Camilla will view the installation and meet the team behind the display, which took 10 days to complete at the pace of around 3,000 poppies planted each day.
It has been designed to mark and reflect the sacrifices made by so many during the Second World War.
Rhiannon Goddard, the head of public engagement projects at HRP, said: 'The Tower of London has become a bit of a place of remembrance...the 80th anniversary is a really important one.
'It's sort of as things are passing out of living memory, so we wanted to do something really special...this is a moment where we can still talk to those veterans and share their memories.'
She added: 'I do think that 2014 really made us into a place where national commemoration was something people thought about.'
Surviving veterans around the country will see London's most iconic buildings light up from Tuesday evening, including Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and the Shard.
Sir Keir Starmer described next week's commemoration plans as 'a moment of national unity' to 'salute' the service of Second World War veterans.
His comments came as one of the last survivors of the assault on the D-Day beaches in 1944 died aged 101 on Thursday.
Cecil Newton from Aldbourne, Wiltshire, who served in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, died in his sleep a few days before the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
The Prime Minister added that it will be 'a time to celebrate that hard-won peace, honour the memory of those who lost their lives, and remember the sacrifices made by so many to secure our freedom'.
He said: 'Their legacy lives on today in how we stand together in defence of the values they fought for and which bind us together as a nation.'
Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, said: '80 years ago, millions of people celebrated the end of the Second World War in Europe.
'This week, we will recreate this moment across towns and cities, in our homes, in pubs and on our streets.
'We must do all we can to ensure that the stories and memories of this period in our history are not forgotten. We must not forget the hardships, the heroics and the millions who lost their lives.
'We are here because of the sacrifices they made and the horrors they endured. This week, I urge the nation to come together and send a powerful message: we will remember them.'
On Thursday, celebrations will include a service at Westminster Abbey will begin with a national two-minute silence and then will conclude with a concert at the historic Horse Guards Parade.
The concert, intended to finish the VE Day 80 commemorations in a celebratory tone, will be attended by the King and Queen.
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