Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the day when Allied forces mounted the largest seaborne invasion in history to begin the liberation of France during World War II. Members of the royal family have attended several events to mark the anniversary, and today, the King and Queen were in France, as were several more British and European royals, to honor the sacrifices of the men who fought on that remarkable day.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla were in Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy on Thursday for special commemorative ceremonies in honor of the anniversary. There, they paid a visit to the British Normandy Memorial, which was unveiled three years ago on the 77th anniversary of the landings. The memorial was constructed after a veteran pointed out that Britain was the only Allied nation without a dedicated memorial in Normandy. The limestone memorial is inscribed with the names of 22,442 people from more than 30 countries under British command who were killed in Normandy during the spring and summer of 1944. Of those people, 1,746 people lost their lives on D-Day. Their names surround a bronze sculpture by David Williams-Ellis, which depicts three soldiers coming ashore during the landings.
They were joined on Thursday by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, at the memorial in the small seaside town, which overlooks Gold Beach. Both the King and President Macron delivered remarks at the memorial. King Charles spoke in both English and French during the ceremony. He said, “Eighty years ago, on D-Day, 6th June 1944, our Nation and those which stood alongside us faced what my grandfather, King George VI, described as ‘The Supreme Test.’ How fortunate we were, and the entire free World, that a generation of men and women in the United Kingdom and other Allied nations did not flinch when the moment came to face that test.”
He added, “On the beaches of Normandy, in the seas beyond and in the skies overhead, our Armed Forces carried out their duty with a humbling sense of resolve and determination: qualities so characteristic of that remarkable wartime generation.” He concluded his remarks with a simple message: “Our gratitude is unfailing and our admiration eternal.” You can read the entire speech here and watch video here.
Queen Camilla was joined by Madame Macron as they placed flowers at the memorial during the commemorative service, with the blue sky and the blue sea providing a vivid contrast behind them.
During the service at the memorial and the luncheon that followed, the King and Queen were able to meet with several veterans who took part in the landings 80 years ago today. Among them was 99-year-old Richard Trelease, a veteran of the Royal Navy who was seated beside Queen Camilla during the service.
They also greeted several more veterans after the service’s conclusion. Here, Camilla greets 98-year-old Henry Rice, who arrived on Juno Beach as a signalman five days after the start of the invasion. Poignantly, this is perhaps the last major D-Day anniversary held in the presence of men who served during the operation. The handful of surviving veterans are in their late 90s and early 100s now. For them, the day was especially important. The Telegraph reported that “several veterans broke into tears earlier as the King paid tribute to the ‘remarkable generation’ who fought on D-Day.” Reports also noted that, after the commemoration service, one veteran “handed the Queen a white rose in a touching mark of respect.” You can see video of that moment here.
For the anniversary, both Queen Camilla and Mrs. Macron wore all-white ensembles. Queen Camilla’s coat dress featured metallic embellishments on the collar and sleeves, and she wore accessories in neutral tones. The choice to wear white during a military ceremony of remembrance in France reminds me of the late Queen Mother’s famous “white wardrobe” during a state visit to France held shortly after the passing of her mother, the Countess of Strathmore, in 1938.
Queen Camilla’s jewels for the 80th anniversary commemorations were also a gentle nod to the legacy of the Queen Mother. With her favorite diamond and pearl drop earrings, Queen Camilla wore a brooch from the Queen Mum’s personal collection: the Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch.
The gorgeous brooch was made in 1919 in London by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co., Ltd. It was designed in part by Sir Courtauld Thomson. The son of the inventor of the refillable fountain pen, Thomson served as Commissioner for the Red Cross during the First World War. During World War II, he offered his country home, Dorneywood, in Buckinghamshire to be used as a hostel for officers in the Allied Air Forces. Later, he and his sisters donated the home to the National Trust for the use of senior members of the government.
The lovely scallop-shell brooch that Thomson helped to design after World War I was given to his sister, the writer Winifred Hope Thomson. (Both of Thomson’s sisters were involved in the literary world. His second sister, Elspeth, was married to Kenneth Grahame, best known as the author of The Wind in the Willows.) After her death in 1944, Winifred Thomson bequeathed the brooch to Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother). In her will, quoted by Sir Hugh Roberts in his landmark book on the jewels of Elizabeth II, Thomson noted that she had decided to leave the brooch to the Queen “as a mark of respect and profound admiration,” adding that she hoped that the jewel would “be passed on as a personal possession from Queen to Queen of England.” The brooch would likely have arrived in Elizabeth’s collection in the autumn of 1944, after probate on Thomson’s estate was completed in August.
The Queen Mother cherished the scallop-shell brooch for the rest of her life. Notably, she chose to wear it for the celebrations of her 100th birthday in London on August 4, 2000, as well as for other important occasions.
In 2002, the brooch was passed to Queen Elizabeth II, who owned and wore it for the next two decades. Here, she wears it for the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in Edinburgh in July 2011.
Queen Camilla wore the brooch for the first time at Royal Ascot in June 2023, several months after the late Queen’s passing.
Here’s another good look at Camilla wearing the brooch in Normandy today. The Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II were both important figures in Britain during the war, and it was an excellent choice to wear a brooch associated with the two of them for the anniversary. The brooch also features cascading diamond drops as a part of its design–and drop-shaped diamonds, much like pear-shaped pearl drops, can often be symbols of droplets of water, representing both tears and new life, as well as the sea from which the brave men emerged on that day. And there’s a connection to 1944 as well: the year of the Normandy landings and the year that the royal family inherited the brooch.
Several other members of the royal family, as well as numerous European royals, participated in commemoration ceremonies today as well. The Prince of Wales was also in Normandy. He joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal for a Canadian commemorative ceremony at the Juno Beach Centre. Here, William meets 100-year-old Richard Rohmer, one of Canada’s most decorated veterans, during the commemorations.
After an unannounced stop at the D-Day museum in Arromanches to meet with with British veterans, William joined world leaders at the international ceremony marking the anniversary on Omaha Beach. Other royals in attendance included the King and Queen of the Belgians, the King of Denmark, the King and Queen of the Netherlands, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and the Prince of Monaco.
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore sapphires and diamonds for the ceremony, plus her diamond wedding bracelet and her diamond family initial bracelet.
Queen Mathilde was elegant in the diamond and pearl drop earrings that belonged to her husband’s aunt, the late Queen Fabiola of Belgium.
Back in Britain, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were present for the Royal British Legion’s service of remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
They also had the chance to speak with veterans ahead of the service.
Sophie wore golden earrings with her white and green ensemble for the occasion.
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