King Honors — paying respect on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of D Day
This time out, King Charles has sort to honor the spirit of the fallen soldiers involved in the D-Day landings saying that these heroes played a crucial role in the fight against tyranny. The King was addressing the nation on Sunday from the Portsmouth Harbour, which is one of the major launching points for the June 6, 1944, D-Day events, stressing the courage, tenacity, and fellowship of the people at the time.
King Charles, speaking on Southsea Common, highlighted that he and the nation owed so much to the dwindling number of the D-day veterans. He also thought of the massive undertaking by the soldiers, and the operation as is the ‘largest amphibious strike in history.
Portsmouth was delighted by a drone light show, while the tombs at the Bayeux War Cemetery in France were lit up for the commemorative events that took two days. These ceremonies were meant to commemorate the Allied soldiers who had died in the war, and one of the events, Stirrup Parade, was a large airborne demonstration by paratroopers in Sannerville, Normandy.
King Charles together with Queen Camilla and Prince William emphasized that Failure is Impossible is a tribute to the people who lost their lives to achieve freedom from brutal totalitarianism. Prince William recited a touching text taken from a speech by Captain Alastair Bannerman where, speaking of the fallen heroes of the past, he can read to people: freedom today was paid with the lives of those who fought and died yesterday.
Prague was also attended by both Helen Mirren and the UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the latter of whom addressed the audience. Marchant and other veterans such as Roy Hayward who was also recently honored with a special one-on-one birthday phone call from the King, discussed their experiences and stressed the importance of continuing to fight for democracy as a way of honoring those who died for the cause.
Princess Anne also paid tribute to the soldiers, participating in the ceremonies in Normandy; there were only 23 D-Day veterans alive at the time. Still, in the view of the Royal British Legion, these commemorations are important, perhaps because they can no longer gather so many of the Normandy veterans in one place.
King Charles is likely to pay his respects in France at the British Normany Memorial, in the village of Ver-sur-Mer. The international ceremony will be presided by more than 25 heads of state, this will also be the king’s first time to be out of the country given his cancer operation, showing his dedication in paying tribute to the D-Day veterans.
