King’s first overseas trip since cancer diagnosis revealed with Charles jetting off to France to mark D-Day anniversary
THE King will make his first trip abroad since his cancer diagnosis to stand with World War II veterans in France and mark 80 years since D-Day, the palace has announced
Charles, 75, will honour those who fought and died on the beaches of Normandy to defeat the Germans and free Europe of the Nazis.
He will attend commemorations in both Portsmouth on June 5 and in northern France on D-Day itself 24 hours later on June 6 with Queen Camilla by his side.
Prince William is jetting off to France to attend the Canadian commemorative ceremony at Juno Beach Centre alongside Canadian D-Day and Second World War Veterans.
The Prince of Wales will also be joined by over 25 Heads of State at a commemorative ceremony at Omaha Beach that night.
It comes after the King returned to public duty as doctors were pleased by his response to treatment for cancer.
On Monday June 3, some of the surviving D-Day veterans will meet modern-day Royal Marines and schoolchildren and watch a flypast The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Early on Tuesday June 4, veterans will set sail from Portsmouth recreating their journey from 1944.
Then on June 5, in Portsmouth there will be more than 500 members of the Armed Forces including a 79-piece orchestra, a 25-strong choir and Royal Marines drummers.
In Normandy, hundreds of servicemen will parachute into Normandy to recreate the pre-D-Day drop.
There will also be a joint UK-French service of thanksgiving hosted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at Bayeux Cathedral.
And there will be a stunning lightshow in the skies above Portsmouth.
On D-Day itself, the Ministry of Defence and Royal British Legion will host the UK’s commemorative enet at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer.
It will conclude with the Last Post, two-minutes silence and flypast from the Red Arrows and The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The announcement comes just hours after Charles beamed on stage with Camilla by his side in London on Thursday night.
The Monarch was the special guest at a gala being hosted at the Royal Opera House.
Charles’ appearance comes after palace sources said he was working on “supercharging his diary” as he returned to public duties.
Buckingham Palace revealed the King had cancer on February 6 after a prostate operation.
And announced at the end of April that he was well enough to return to front line duties.