Royals arrive at VE Day 2025 service at Westminster Abbey

The royal family has arrived at Westminster Abbey for the annual VE Day service with war veterans.

London is filled with red, white and blue this week to mark the emotional moment 80 years ago when Germany surrendered and the Allies declared victory.

King Charles greeted crowds outside Westminster Abbey in central London today as he attends the service with Queen Camilla, Prince and Princess of Wales, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, veterans and 2,000 guests.

Charles was dressed in a pinstripe suit, while Kate donned a dotted turtleneck dress next to William, who wore a classic navy suit and red and blue tie.

Experience VE Day 1945 as it happened with Metro’s live blog

The country will observe a two-minute silence to remember the heroes and those who lost their lives in the war, which killed up to 60 million people.

After the service, held as ‘an act of shared remembrance and a celebration of the end of the war,’ Charles and Prince William laid wreaths made of flowers that would have bloomed in May 1945 at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.

King’s message on the wreath read ‘we will never forget’ and his Charles R. signature.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stepped to the front of the church and gave a bible reading from Matthew 5.

Earlier, the wartime PM Winston Churchill’s great-great-grandson, Alexander Churchill, 10, lit a candle of peace while six young churchgoers gave out white roses to veterans in the congregation.

The 10-year-old said: ‘My great-great-grandfather’s very important to us and we’re just very proud to know that he is part of our family and also I think it’s very important for our generation, my generation, to say thank you to all the veterans and everyone who took part in the war because I think that’s very important.’

After the candle lighting, Alexander read out a prayer for ‘peace in Europe and across the world’.

The famous words of the wartime leader has already sounded out around the Church, as they played an excerpt from his May 8 victory speech.

Later today, you can hear the bells toll at 6.30pm for a united call to ‘work for peace’ across hundreds of cathedrals.

The VE Day will culminate with a live concert by the Horse Guards Parade at 8pm. You can find the full list of VE Day events here.

War veterans and survivors of the Holocaust shared their harrowing memories to mark the historic anniversary.

The Nazi surrender 80 years ago was broadcast across the UK and Europe, where Churchill’s voice reached the mother of Steven Frank, who was just nine-years-old and close to death in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Steven, now 89, told Metro how he, his brothers and mum survived two death camps despite ‘rampant starvation’ – and what VE Day was like inside the camp where prisoners were tormented and killed.

A 99-year-old Normandy veteran, who lied about his age to join the Army, spoke about his ‘relief’ when he heard that the war was over when he was ‘in a pub, naturally.’

Donald Turrell was 17 when he wanted to join the fighting in France. He lied that he was 18, and some months later, he was already crossing the English Channel shortly after D-Day.

He told of his memories of the original VE Day after being seriously injured during a battle near Eterville: ‘I was in a pub, naturally.

‘I never heard a Churchill speech or anything, but I knew the war was over.

‘So I met all the local lads who were in my class, and those who were on leave, etc and we had a damned good time.’

While he wasn’t able to go to London because of being on crutches, the moment ‘was a relief, because I was alive.’

Red Arrows fly past

In case you missed the roaring Red Arrows above London, here is how the flyover looks like for the pilots in the cockpit as they zoomed over the capital.

Thousands of people gathered outside Buckingham Palace to watch the Red Arrows fly past on the bank holiday Monday. But don’t worry if you didn’t see the aircraft as they will tour the UK this summer.

The royal family marvelled at the Royal Air Force display from the palace balcony – the same spot where the future Queen Elizabeth stood as a 19-year-old princess with King George VI, Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 1945.

King George VI delivered his iconic address to the nation at 9pm on May 8, 1945. It was followed by late Queen Elizabeth 75 years later, and today will see Charles deliver his message at 9pm.

King and Queen hosted their first summer garden party at Buckingham Palace yesterday, just days after Charles reflected on his ‘frightening’ cancer journey.

The 76-year-old monarch, who was diagnosed at the start of last year, said ‘cancer diagnosis need never mean facing the future without hope and support.’

Kate and William shared a new image of Princess Charlotte to mark her 10th birthday.

The snap, taken by Kate, showed smiling Charlotte dressed in a camouflage jacket on an outdoor walk with a hillside landscape as a backdrop.

A Buckingham Palace aid said ahead of the service: ‘The King, Queen and other members of The Royal Family are much looking forward to all the week’s VE Day events, when they will unite with the rest of the nation and those across the Commonwealth and wider world in celebrating, commemorating and giving thanks to the wartime generation whose selfless devotion duty and service should stand as an enduring example to us all – and must never be forgotten.’

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