King Charles III to Attend D-Day Anniversary in France

AFP/APP

London: King Charles III is to make his first overseas trip since being diagnosed with cancer, at an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

The 75-year-old British head of state, who only recently resumed public engagements, will be at a commemorative event at the British Normandy Memorial in northern France on June 6, a statement read.

The memorial, at Ver-sur-Mer, is near Gold Beach, the codename for one of five separate beachheads in northern France where Allied troops came ashore on June 6, 1944. 

Charles will be accompanied by his wife Queen Camilla, 76, and elder son Prince William, 41, who will join Canadian veterans at the Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer, along the Channel coast.

William will then join more than 25 heads of state, representing his father at the international commemorative ceremony at Omaha Beach, where US troops landed.

Charles and Camilla will head to France, where they made a three-day state visit last year, after attending the UK’s national commemorative event in Portsmouth, southern England, on June 5.

Senior royals will be out in force in both the UK and France for the anniversary, which is likely to be among the last to feature veterans who served in World War II.

As head of state, Charles is commander-in-chief of the British armed forces but also served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. His heir William was an RAF search and rescue pilot before becoming a full-time royal. 

One notable absentee from the commemorations will be William’s wife Catherine, 42, who is receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and was last seen at a public engagement in December last year.

Charles announced his diagnosis in February but last month royal officials said doctors were “very encouraged” by the progress of his treatment, allowing him to resume his official duties.

This week he has attended a Buckingham Palace garden party and a commemoration service at St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as unveiling a new official portrait of himself.