Charles to lead UK in four days of VE Day celebrations on 80th anniversary of Second World War victory
3 May 2025, 22:17 | Updated: 4 May 2025, 09:32
King Charles will lead the UK in four days of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe in the Second World War.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The events on bank holiday Monday mark the beginning of four days of celebration across the nation up until Thursday May 8, exactly eight decades years since Victory in Europe was declared.
The King, the Queen, the Prime Minister and Second World War veterans will be on a platform on the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.
Later, members of the Royal Family will watch the fly past from the balcony at Buckingham Palace.
Normandy veteran Alan Kennett, 100, will formally start the procession after being handed the Commonwealth War Graves' Torch For Peace by air cadet Warrant Officer Emmy Jones.
Read more: VE Day RAF flypast route - when and where to watch
The procession will see more than 1,300 members of the Armed Forces and youth groups march down Whitehall, through Admiralty Arch and up The Mall towards Buckingham Palace.
Representatives of the Ukrainian military, selected from the UK armed forces' training programme for Ukrainian recruits Operation Interflex, will also take part.
Actor Timothy Spall will open the celebrations in London on Monday when he recites some of Winston Churchill's victory speech from 1945.
The 68-year-old, whose roles include playing Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter film series, will read extracts from the speech in which Churchill told Britons: "This is not victory of a party or of any class.
"It's a victory of the great British nation as a whole."
From 9pm on Tuesday, hundreds of buildings across the country will be lit up to mark the big day, including the Palace of Westminster, the Shard, Lowther Castle in Penrith, Manchester Printworks, Cardiff Castle and Belfast City Hall.
RAF veteran will remember friends ‘who didn’t make it’ on VE Day
On Thursday, a service at Westminster Abbey will begin with a national two-minute silence.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "This 80th anniversary is a moment of national unity.
"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.
"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.
"This week, we come together to salute their service."
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "Eighty 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."
