Royal family members and world leaders are set to gather in the northern French region.
A military piper has commenced the 80th anniversary commemorations of D-Day in Normandy by playing a lament at sea at the precise moment of the beach invasion in 1944.
Royal family members and world leaders are set to gather with veterans in the northern French region to mark the occasion on Thursday.
At Gold Beach in Arromanches, Major Trevor Macey-Lillie honored fallen veterans, who led the largest seaborne invasion in military history, by playing “Highland Laddie” as he came ashore.
This performance also remembered a lone piper who played during the Normandy landings and was never shot at.
Maj Macey-Lillie began in a landing craft utility before being driven up the beach in a DUKW amphibious vehicle.
Crowds of re-enactors with their wartime vehicles and visitors had previously filled the area as the sun rose, with some writing in the sand and others cupping hot drinks as they looked out to sea.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was spotted coming down to Gold Beach ahead of the tribute.
Also on Thursday, the King and Queen will pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the UK’s national commemoration event at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, along with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The site, which opened in 2021, pays tribute to 22,442 service personnel under British command who died on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
This will be the first major anniversary event hosted at the memorial, and Charles and Camilla will officially open the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning following the commemorations on Thursday.
Their visit comes after an emotional ceremony in Portsmouth on Wednesday, where the King appeared to wipe away a tear during an event where he paid tribute to the “courage, resilience, and solidarity” of veterans.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales is set to attend the Canadian commemorative event at the Juno Beach Centre in Courseulles-sur-Mer, before joining more than 25 heads of state and veterans for the official international ceremony on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.
Following the piper on the beach in Arromanches, commemorations will continue in the French town including a veterans’ parade, air, and firework display.
Bayeux War Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in France, will host a service led by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
In the UK, an 80-strong flotilla of boats will depart from Falmouth, Cornwall, where thousands of troops left to participate in the invasion, while a beacon-lighting ceremony will take place in Aylesford, Kent.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join veterans at a Royal British Legion remembrance service at The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will meet veterans at a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The event, “D-Day 80: Remembering The Normandy Landings,” will be hosted by Davina McCall and feature music from the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, as well as Lulu, Katherine Jenkins, Emeli Sandé, and D-Day Darlings lead vocalist Katie Ashby.
The weather is expected to be “generally dry” during the commemorations, according to the Met Office.
